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SmallRig Heavy-Duty Fluid Head Tripod AD-01
The AD-01 with the heavy duty fluid head is an amazing piece of camera equipment. At time of purchase (Q1 2025) the AD-01 was $159 usd including the heavy duty fluid head. I almost purchased a tripod model (from the same manufacturer) which was 2 or 3 times more expensive. I am simply astonished by how good the quality of this model is. SmallRig makes another tripod even cheaper then the AD-01 and I would expect it to also be high quality kit for the price.
The SmallRig AD-01 adjusts from 33" (85 mm) set up in it’s lowest position all the way up to 73" (186 mm) fully extended. The tripod can be set up in it’s lowest position with all three legs fully retracted and be under three feet tall. With all three legs fully extended the tripod is just over 6 feet tall, to the bottom of the camera! Fully extended the tripod is huge yet still feels very stable and extremely sturdy.
When the SmallRig AD-01 is fully folded up it is 35" long. The pan bar lever folds down and whole rig fits in a very nice quality canvas carrying bag which is included with the SmallRig AD-01 tripod. It weighs 8.8 lbs (4 kg) so the tripod is by no means light but the strap on the carrying case extends from both ends and can be thrown over one shoulder. The case has double zippers so it closes from both ends and there is a zippered pocket inside to stash the Allen wrenches which come with the tripod and whatever else you need.
The AD-01 collapses and sets up very quickly from pulling it out of the case to shooting in minutes. Extending or retracting the legs is easily done by flipping three big levers on the legs. The levers are large enough to grab and operate with one hand while holding the tripod. Once released, the legs slid easily in or out. When you flip the lever back and lock it down, the leg is very securely locked in place. Each of the three legs must have the lever released to extend or retract and each leg has three section with two levers each. The procedure sounds more complicated as explained above and the reality is that once you’ve set it up it become second nature and quite easy.
The AD-01 as purchased came with the heavy duty fluid head. The head has an easy to use adjustment and a bubble level to quickly get the camera level. The whole head sits in a ball base with a locking knob sticking straight out the bottom. The knob is large enough to grasp and easy to loosen or tighten. Once loosened, the whole camera rig on top will swivel in any direction. A built in bubble level on top of the head allows you to quickly level the rig and lock it back down even if the tripod is set up at an odd angle.
The fluid head is damped in both pan and tilt. The head holds a whooping 17 lbs. (8 kg). With my Canon 90D mounted it is very sturdy even with a cage, handle, matte box and field monitor. The pan axis or the tilt axis can both be quickly locked or unlocked. For track side video recording of motor sports, the tilt can be locked down and the operator is free to use the pan bar lever to aim the camera. Because of the separately adjustable pan damping the shot will never by jittery and pan smoothly.
I am very impressed with the SmallRig AD-01 and several other SmallRig products I’ve purchased. These guys make really high quality equipment.