I've an aluminum one that extends out to about chest height and one of those little guys.

Hardly every use the little guy anymore since its so difficult to get my eyeball down to sight from in and difficult to find things to set it on. For all the hassle the big on works fine.

The big one is old...have had it for many years...has the screw into the bottom of the camera attachment so it looks kinda weird with my little digital on top but saves worries about the camera coming loose.

Not much on photography, my best pics come hand held from my lady who's a radiology dept manager and takes pics for a living. I do try and figure out the shot before hand, background, sunlight, etc. Then when peering through the lens I look for a physical marker to stand at. If that don't work I can readjust the next shot...the beauty of digital is the delete button.

One thing we've talked about is how some tartans scramble the brains of digital cameras but that has nothing to do with the tripod.

Show us how it works for you.

Ron