Dolica 62-Inch Proline Ball Head Tripod AX620B100 – Review

Prologue | Specifications | Recommendation | Ratings

Price –

Around $48

Buy New : Amazon

Buy Used : Amazon

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Prologue –

Dolica is a popular name when it comes to affordable photo or video tripods and the Dolica 62-Inch Proline Ball Head Tripod or the Dolica AX620B100 is their killer deal in sub $100 segment. Obviously being a budget bee myself I went swarming to amazon and bought one, used it myself for couple of days and then gave it to one of my photo-enthusiastic friend. I have faced a lot of criticism for using the cheap accessories like dolica and amazonbasics with my expensive gear but for me it’s all about the quality to price ratio and not the price alone.

If I see a product that I feel will perform well enough in my bracket of expectations and put non-existent burden on my pocket, you better give me a solid reason to stop me from buying it. There is no precision mechanics involved in these kinds of things and they return much more than what you pay for. The Dolica AX620B100 is strictly a photo tripod. What differentiates photo tripod from video tripod is their “head”.

Ball head is the most popular choice for still photography enthusiasts and professionals alike. The versatile position adjustment and angle control has always been the USP of ball-head tripods. But the most unfortunate thing about photo tripods is that they are usually expensive, start from $ 100 and the popular ones might cost you a fortune. Leave alone the tripod, the actual head itself costs hundreds of dollars. But we are lucky folks, we are smart and we research before buying so for us there are some cheap yet effective options available like AmazonBasics 62-Inch, Ravelli 65″ and the Dolica AX620B100 62-Inch Proline Tripod itself. They are almost the same thing in regard to quality, utility and price so you can pick one without much thought or you can read their respective articles if u are a paranoid like me to dig even deeper.

Specifications –

Head :

Dolica 62-Inch Proline Ball Head Tripod has got a small yet decent  ball head. It being a photo tripod, video acts like panning and tilting are not available by default. Mounting is served with a quick release plate which I found quite flimsy. It gets the job done but the one on ravelli and amazonbasics feels much better when compared.

Maximum Height :

62″ inches (157.5 cm). The height is good enough. I am a fairly tall guy so take my word, for most people it will suffice.

Minimum Height :

22.5 inches (57.15 cm).  Quite portable and handy. It is one inches more than the Ravelli 65″ Ball Head Camera Photo Tripod and two inches more than the AmazonBasics 62-Inch Ball Head Tripod, just in case it makes any difference to you. For me it fits perfectly in most of my backpacks and suitcases so I am content.

Minimum to shoot :

Minimum height with the reverse mounted center column for Dolica 62-Inch Proline Ball Head Tripod is practically 0″ inches. I was able to get this tripod almost to ground level both with feet spread or centre column reversed. This is good considering it gives great flexibility to shoot macro. I believe this is one feature that is always good to have.

Maximum Load Capacity :

Rated capacity for Dolica 62-Inch Proline Ball Head Tripod is 13.2 lbs or 6 kg. This looks self sufficient in itself unless you are willing to mount your kids on that.

Weight of the Tripod itself :

2.5 lbs (1.1 kg). This thing is fairly light and can be a reason alone to make the purchase. If you are looking for something feather light, go for carbon-fibre.

Camera mount screw size :

1/4″ . The universal quarter inch screw is available for mounting cameras or any other gear with the regular 1/4″ screw threads.

Material :

Legs are made up of aluminium. The lock knobs on both feet and head including the skeleton are plastic and probably not of the best quality either. I stay extra precautious dealing with such stuff. Make sure you don’t leave it in sun for long. Plastic and sun don’t like each other. Yup! They don’t.

Warranty :

5- year limited warranty. You would be like REALLY?

Pixelarge recommendation –

If I was to list the Positives about the Dolica 62-Inch Proline Ball Head Tripod, they would be the

• Ball head that provides smooth and versatile adjustments,
• Quick Release Camera Plate,
• Rubber feet with metal spikes for better grip in snow and sand,
• Built in bubble level and a hook on centre column to hang some weight for added stability .
• Centre column and the legs can be inverted for low angle shots and
• Foam grips are there on all three legs.

The tripod comes with a carry bag and manages to serve the purpose.

The negatives are not many but it’s worth mentioning that

• The ball head is not big and strong enough to hold bulky Dslr and it is prone to scratches with slight over tightening.
• The quick release plate is not the best one and the lock knobs feel fragile.

Other than that I wasn’t able to find anything substantial in the cons segment.

So do I recommend this tripod?

For Novices/ Beginners – It is a decent tripod and probably it’s the only tripod you will ever need. The build quality is good enough for entry level Dslrs. AmazonBasics 62-Inch and Ravelli 65″ Ball Head Camera Photo Tripod are also there to choose from. They are equally good and almost the same thing, even in terms of price.

For Enthusiasts – If you are on budget then you can buy this thing without hesitation. Dolica is a decent option but only for the given the price. Also you might  consider the Ravelli Professional 65-inch Carbon Fiber 3 Axis Ball Head Camera Video Photo Tripod and the AmazonBasics 70-Inch Pistol Grip Head Tripod . Ravelli is a great carbon fiber update for sub $100 price on amazon.

For Pros- For a spare tripod you can consider Dolica but other than that you better trust this tripod with your expensive gear on your own risk. Though this tripod is a decent buy overall, but the head is not big enough to support the pro gear. The carbon fiber version is there for the folks hitting a low in the budget section.