I ordered the tripod through Amazon. The vendor turned out to be Adorama. I got the tripod on time but the outer box had a big gash in it as though it was ripped by a sharp object. I don't know why they bothered to put it into an outer cardboard box because there was no foam or popcorn inside the box to provide protection against rough handling. Needless to say the panhead was broken into 2 pieaces.I tried to contact Adorama, but they don't keep open late Friday (6:15 PM) and they are closed on Saturday. So I will have to wait till Sunday.The tripod seems to be well suited for a 60x magnification scope. I intend to use it as a super telephoto lens and I need steady support for the camera-scope assembly.