I am a photographer and I have several tripods. But with all on them they don't shrink to the smallest size that I need. Sometimes when I am on the beach I want to take a photo only a few inches off the ground. Unless I lay on the beach it is really hard to get the shot. But this tripdod is perfect for this situation. The legs on this can be bent for whatever height you would like and it is sturdy enough for a DSLR camera, mine is the Canon Rebel. This tripod can even wrap around a post. It really is becoming my fav tripod. I love it. It also comes with adaptions that can hold your cellphone or a vdeo camera.