I live near a large lake, and a spotting scope is necessary if one wants to identify waterfowl over miles of open water. This is my third tripod, and each of them has operated differently. My scope is a straight-through type rather than the ones with angled eyepieces. So I need a tall scope. The Celestron Regal fits my needs well with several inches to spare--the center post doesn't need to extend fully. I wasn't sure what a "fluid pan head" was, but I've been very pleased to learn that it makes scoping very easy. Once the adjustment knobs for pan and tilt are loosened a bit, I can scan as much as I want with no further knob adjustments. (The adjustment bar is used only for panning--doesn't tighten or loosen anything, and it doesn't need to.) Once my hands are removed, the scope remains pointed where I last looked. And the balance rail helps in my case. My scope is heavier toward the rear, and my last scope required tightening when I took a break from scoping in order to prevent the scope from tilting toward the sky. So on the Celestron I loosened the balance rail, and moved the scope forward in order to balance it a lot better. For the past two days I've scoped for waterfowl in pretty strong winds. The scope wobbled a bit with hands off but one hand on the adjustment bar and the other resting either on my scope or the tripod steadied the scope enough to identify ducks quite a ways out, an ability I didn't have with previous tripods. The scope is a bit heavier than others I've owned, but I think that helps make it more stable so I don't mind. The quality is top notch especially given its price range. A nice feature I discovered: if the adjustment knobs are in the way of anything, they can be pulled outward and rotated to a more convenient position. That's definitely not required, but is a very nice touch that the folks at Celestron added to this tripod. Highly recommended.