Sunpak Ultra 600PG Tripod Review

When you are first starting out in photography cost plays a big role in the equipment you purchase.  I am cheap, so I always try the least expensive version of any item I can find.  Sometimes this works, sometimes I waste my money.  When it comes to tripods, you don't want to go cheap.

My first attempt at a tripod was a $15 tripod from Target.  It lasted about two months and it tipped over shatter the cheap plastic mounting plate.  So I decided to spend a little more money and bought the Sunpak Ultra 600PG Tripod from Best Buy.  I paid around $40 for this tripod, thinking it was a huge upgrade.  It was an upgrade from the Target tripod, but it still was not a wise investment.

I do not do a lot of shooting from a tripod.  90% of my photography is handheld.  But their are times I was one.  Lately I was been on a long exposure kick trying different things.  But this tripod has performed terribly.


It simply is not stable.  Yes, I get a few good shots off, but those are a few and far between.  If you plan on pushing the shutter button, forget about it.  You can see the camera move in the viewfinder.  Either remote control or timer is the only way to go with this tripod.

Uneven ground is also not going to happen with this tripod.  And you can not extend the elevator up either.  It is so cheap and flimsy you can see it sway with any breeze.

Take a look at these sample shots.  They were all set using a timer on my Canon 7D with a 28-135 lens.  You can see they are blurry.  You can see the car lights bouncing in the picture.  Their was a very slight breeze that night.

As for the pictures of the river, I actually dug the tripod legs into the sand along the river bank for stability.  It still took about 10 tries to get one decent picture.

If you are just wanting it to shoot family portraits with a decent shutter speed, yes this tripod will work.  But if you ever want to take any night pictures with a slow shutter speed, wait and save your money.