Review of the rocket fish 65" carbon fiber tripod $149.99 at Best Buy

[Drakeskakes]

So there's was an earlier post that turned into a flame war from other posters so I felt it would be better to start a new thread.

I just picked up the Rocketfish 65" Carbon fiber tripod and will give some feedback. Let me just first state I am in no way an expert in terms of tripods, infact the only experience I have with them is the cheapo Merkury Innovations aluminum tripod I got 2years ago when I bought a Sony alpha. The reason for my upgrade is the tripod i had was no were near stable enough to support my camera anymore and long exposures were coming out gross cause the slghtest bit of wind or other element would shake it.

I originally got the manfroto 7322YB but immediately returned it because the ball head was extremely tiny, and it had no quick release which I found irritating. I though I would give the Rocket Fish a try.

Out of the box it was heavier than I had expected and it's annoying that the handles need to be removed everytime you store the tripod in it's bag. The handles are also extremely tight and tough to take off, which i'm sure will get easier over time.

I set up the tripod and put my Gripped 50d with 2 bp511's and a flash bracket with a 430exii mounted on the right side sticking out. There was no fluxuation on the bubble level indicating the tripod was very receptive to the imbalance. It feels very sturdy and I'm 100% confident it will support the weight of my camera. We also did a few "oops I kicked a leg" or "bump into the tripod" test (my gf held the camera strap incase) and it held up very well. 1 major flaw is the lack of being able to pan in Portrait mode, but a L plate will take car of that problem.

It gets extremtely low to the ground. All the legs have more than a 90deg angle of mobility so my new found love of macro photog can take on new levels of creativity since I can get the camera ad low as 4 inches mounted on the tripod. The logs lock in 3 different positions which is also fairly nice. The quick release plate has a double secure safetly feature. Incase you forget the clamp, like it did when I rotated to portrait, the 2 safety kept it from falling to the ground.

I'm fairly happy with the tripod and I'm pretty sure I'm going to keep it for a little while. I was lucky enough to only pay 70$ since my buddy gets a discount working at BestBuy. Compared to the Manfroto I had owned prior, there's certainly a difference in build quality and feel, favorinh manfroto but as an amature/hobbyist I feel it's a very capable tripod with versatility. I'm also 6'2" and at max extension I need to stand on my tippytoes to see in the view finder.

Again, rememebr I've never had experience with high end manfroto/gitzo buy i feel I can safely assume the features I'm boasting about on the RF are also standard on those brands, and the build quality is superior but for a financially less expensive option I think the RF is a good choice.

Hole this helps, Neill

ps. I wrote this on an iPhone so I'm sorry for the terrible spelling/typos

[FuturamaJSP]

It sounds like a nice and cheap tripod. I just looked at BestBuy.ca here and they sell those for 120 CAD :D but it doesn't say anything about max load and how much it weighs. Do you have any numbers? and how far does those legs extend? I wonder if it will be steady once you mount a 50D + flash + 24-70L or 70-200 2.8L

[Drakeskakes]

It's max load is rates at 14 and some change pounds. The numbers are on the box at home. It supports my gripped 50D with 2 batteries, 430exii and. 100mm macro and doesn't flinch. I think you'll be fine.

[FuturamaJSP]

It's max load is rates at 14 and some change pounds. The numbers are on the box at home. It supports my gripped 50D with 2 batteries, 430exii and. 100mm macro and doesn't flinch. I think you'll be fine.

ah great! Thanks!
Well I am still not sure if I should save for a pro tripod like Manfrotto 190CXPRO3 which cost 4 times more :( or this cheap one :confused:

[Drakeskakes]

A littlw bit of insider advise. Buy the rocketfish and play with it for as long as you need. Be careful and don't scratch it. When your ready for a probtripod, return the RF and say you don't have a recipt. Since you'll be over the return policy time limit. BB can't say no since rocketfish is exclusive to beat buy. As long as it looks ok you'll hey store credit. bestBuy has high quality manfroto online only but u can't use store credit to buy it

[Drakeskakes]

Typed on an iPhone sorry for poor spelling

[JohnJ80]

How do you know how well it damps vibration? That is one of the prime, if not the most important, function of a tripod.

Load ratings are almost worse than meaningless since no two tripod mfgs measure it the same way. Finish (i.e. paint job) is also meaningless.

J.

[CxThree]

That's BS advice. Telling someone to intentionally rip opff a store is not what this site is about. I can't believe a mod has not removed it yet.

Remember the advice you just gave the next time someone rips you off.

If you need a better tripod, save for it. If you want the rocketfish, buy it and use it. If you find you need a better one, find another use for the rocketfish, sell it, or use it as a backup.

What the hell is wrong with people these days?

[JohnJ80]

^^ http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys/smiley-signs009.gif (http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys.php)

J.

[Skip Souza]

He is not really advocating stealing from Best Buy. In his scenario BB gets $150 and does not lose it. If the buyer decides not to keep the tripod he returns it and gets store credit, 'The store still has the money and the tripod. The customer trades the credit for something else. No loss to the store.

[CxThree]

BS. They give you an amount of time to return an item. He is saying to work around that by not keeping the receipt. The store has to sell the used item at a discount when they really should not have the responsibility to do so.


Do you guys allow this same type of behavior in your own personal business? If you do a shoot and a client pulled this crap, would you be happy?

[JohnJ80]

In no way is that sort of behavior on the part of the customer honest, fair or ethical. If my kids did this, there would be a lesson taught and they would have to go in, apologize and make amends.

J.

[Drakeskakes]

It's not stealing as a mod had stated. Its just using the system it it's higher potential. Cry more

[Drakeskakes]

Basically your just extending your return policy on a product since it's a best buy only product

[robscomputer]

That's BS advice. Telling someone to intentionally rip opff a store is not what this site is about. I can't believe a mod has not removed it yet.

Remember the advice you just gave the next time someone rips you off.

If you need a better tripod, save for it. If you want the rocketfish, buy it and use it. If you find you need a better one, find another use for the rocketfish, sell it, or use it as a backup.

What the hell is wrong with people these days?

This is the reason Costco now has a limit to the return on some items. People did this with iPods, buy the iPod, wait until the next version is released and return it for credit.

[Drakeskakes]

I love how people crawl out of the moral wood works when they wanna show off and impress

[JohnJ80]

It's not stealing as a mod had stated. Its just using the system it it's higher potential. Cry more

it absolutely is stealing.

J.

[Skip Souza]

The scenario given IS playing by the rules established by Best Buy who does not lose money or they would not allow the consumer to take advantage of the rules. Like robscomputer stated, if it becomes a real problem then BB would just change the rules. It is like the "Double Down" rule at Vegas. If it was not a good deal for the Casino, they would not allow it.

[Drakeskakes]

How? The company has their money. You return the tripod for store credit and use it for the use of putting the money toward a higher end manfroto that best carries. Where is the stealing?

[Drakeskakes]

All I'm saying is that if you use the tripod for more than 30 days you can still return it even though it's a 30 day return policy. Since rocketfish is owned by best buy, if you don't present a recipt with a proof of purchase they can't determine the date of purchase. So you can own the tripod for 31 days and exchange it for store credit.

[FuturamaJSP]

Oh lord! Cut this moral crap. I am sure you have ripped off stores or individuals too because it's in our nature so no need for this hypocritical stuff.
His advise isn't useful to me because I almost never buy anything from BestBuy so their store credit are of no use to me and they don't have those higher end tripods here anyway. Though I am grateful for the advise :D

[Vascilli]

Awesome, another Rocketfish-turned-flamewar thread. :D

[themadman]

Is this when I start talking about karma?...

[montanawild]

Kids.......always trying to rip someone off these days. The world is going to hell........

[FuturamaJSP]

Kids.......always trying to rip someone off these days. The world is going to hell........

It's not the ripping off part that is really bad it's the hypocrisy...
I have had friends and relatives who kept talking about God, moral values and decency but what they do are far from what they say and preach.

[montanawild]

If thats how you see it, that says a lot.

[FuturamaJSP]

If thats how you see it, that says a lot.

Well I am not sure about the members in this forum but a lot of the people I have known and know in the real life are just a bunch of hypocrites who keep judging others while using religion or whatever to justify their own shameful acts. I can't say that I am any better than everyone else but at least I do try not to be a hypocrite and come up with lots of excuses to justify all the bad things I have done or do and I think that's more important than acting holy and good.

[montanawild]

Why don't you just stop doing dumb ****? Seems easy enough.

[FuturamaJSP]

Why don't you just stop doing dumb ****? Seems easy enough.

ok so you are saying that you have never ever done anything bad?
It has nothing to do with me it's more about people who ACT like they are perfect and judge others.

[montanawild]

Of course not, but I don't steal and I don't tell other people to on an internet forum either. I am not going to get in a pissing match over this on here. I have way better things to do. Maybe I should get a free pirated version of CS4?

[FuturamaJSP]

Of course not, but I don't steal and I don't tell other people to on an internet forum either. I am not going to get in a pissing match over this on here. I have way better things to do. Maybe I should get a free pirated version of CS4?

What you do is your own business I would care less if you illegally download software. Also there are alot of other problems you may want to be concerned with than ripping off BestBuy like child molesters who get away because they have powerful employers :rolleyes:

[argyle]

It's not stealing as a mod had stated. Its just using the system it it's higher potential. Cry more

It sure as hell is. You're getting a store credit for the full price of the tripod (after using it), and now Best Buy has to take it back, carry it in inventory at a cost, and most likely sell it at a cheaper price, because it can't be sold as new. How the hell is that not stealing? A legal term could be "unjust enrichment". You can rationalize or couch it any way you like, but its obvious that Best Buy is getting the short end of the stick. Also doesn't say much about your ethics and character. Your parents must be proud...

[bohdank]

I agree that if your moral compass is bounded by only what you can get away with, one is aiming pretty low.

[Orogeny]

Well I am not sure about the members in this forum but a lot of the people I have known and know in the real life are just a bunch of hypocrites who keep judging others while using religion or whatever to justify their own shameful acts. Yeah, it's a good thing you are not into judging!:rolleyes:

Tim