I purchased this tripod nearly a year ago, and don't regret it. I've been using this tripod ever since I started my YouTube channel, in September of 2022, and I love it!
Lately I've been contemplating purchasing a more updated tripod , but I think I'll hold out on that thought.ðŸ˜

Easy to use, and excellent for taking photos of books and other aerial perspective photography or video

I have two professional-grade vertical photographic copy stands and two professional tripods for copying with my SLR cameras. However, more recently I'm finding that my cell phone does an excellent job of document copying for many applications...and it requires far less effort than dragging out the big cameras and copy stands.

However, to achieve good sharpness and framing one needs to support the phone on some sort of simple copy stand, and, ideally, one needs to trigger the phone with a remote shutter release to avoid shaking the camera during the exposure. The big advantage of the phone is its very light weight, which allows for a lightweight and compact stand. For my system I purchased the ChromLives Scissor Boom Arm Articulating Phone Stand and a remote shutter release that works with my Samsung S20 phone. I found that the Chromlives base-clamp works well on my workbench with its 1.75 inch grip range, and the articulating arms are able to hold the phone up to 25 inches above the bench surface for horizontal copying. For storage, the unit folds compactly into a 16" x 4" x 2" bundle.

In operation, when taking photos of a subject below the phone (the normal copy orientation), the phone screen needs to face up so you can see it, and the phone's camera needs to face down toward the subject being copied. Thus, to work properly, the phone clamp has to be located on the back of the camera (below the camera), be narrow enough to not block the camera's field of view, and be positioned so that the clamp doesn't push any phone buttons on the side of the phone. The clamp size and positioning capability worked out great with my Samsung Galaxy S20, but you might want to check the needs of your phone. Note that the manufacturer's image does not show the correct manner to hold the phone.

In terms of the boom operation, the scissor-boom's joints hold tight, work smoothly, and hold the phone quite stably. However, I knocked off a star because the phone mount is spring loaded with a very strong spring that makes it very difficult to install and remove the phone without disturbing the photographic setup or pushing the phone's side buttons. Also, the supplied ball joint is not very smooth to operate. This is important to me, as I pull the phone on and off the copy stand often during a shoot to view the images I've taken on my computer.

For my setup, I replaced the phone mount with a screw-clamp style phone mount and substituted a better quality ball joint (see photo). With these items replaced, and using my remote shutter release, the ChromLives Phone Stand works like a champ. I use it all the time.

For bigger items, like blue prints, I clamp the Chromlives base-clamp onto the ball head of one of my big camera tripods. This allows me to photograph very large prints with the cell phone.

I am a food blogger and have reluctantly had to pivot to some video work. This is good for overhead shots. It doesn't take too much to get it set up. I pretty much keep it clamped on to my kitchen island at all times just so I can set up a shot on a whim. It's pretty east to use and reminds me of those old desk lamps I used to have.

As described and in time. Good for top looking down and for video calls. Light works well.