I'm actually kinda impressed by this. Maybe because I havent tried the more "professional" grade models, but then Indidnt spend almost $200 either. So far it's great. True, as in my case, you have to tighten it a bit to get it to stay, I would say that's just common sense when using it as I am. Ive tried it with stars, macro, even rotating the camera 90 degrees
for a vertical shot. It fits all four of my tripods because of the two different thread sizes on the base, or sits flat and stable on it...