Vanguard MAK 233

I got this tripod along with my Canon 1100D and I have used it with 55-250mm lens a lot of times.
Pros:
1. Sturdy enough.
2. Made of good quality aluminum
3. 3 way panhead helps you a lot
4. Easy to carry as it is not much heavy

Cons:
1. Max weight it can carry might fall short if you use bulkier cameras with battery grip and heavy L lenses. But this would be rare.

Summary: Really great tripod for a beginner DSLR owner. You wont regret buying it.
(P.S. I did not buy it from Flipkart so no affiliation, I share my exp here as this is the place people come for reviews. :) )

I bought the VAnguard MAK233 from flipkart through a friend so my name will not appear as a certified buyer. I have been using this tripod for more than a month and I would like to share my experience (Pros and Cons) about using this tripod.
Lets go through the cons first:
1. The most irritating part of this tripod is the "tilt head handle"- (the handle with which one tilts the camera up and down). When you start tightening the tilt head with the handle after having locked your subject and composed the frame, the subject is thrown out of the frame and by the time you finally lock the tilt-head handle, the subject is half-way out of the framed and almost out of focus. This happens not one time but again and again. There is nothing like practice that will help you, this problems stays whatever you do.

2. The Quick Release Shoe has just one lock which doesn't give you confidence of releasing your camera (obviously it is going to be expensive) without risk of flipping it over and crashing it down on the mother earth. Now it may be a matter of personal preference and many may not agree with me, but accidents don't happen when your are careful. You cannot always keep the thing in mind in every shot you take as you are concentrating on your snapping rather than thinking about an accident that may happen with your camera. A simple tip in such situation is to hang your strap on the neck so if accidentally the camera trips over it will not fall to the ground.

3. There is only one bubble level on the central column. This may appear as a silly protest, as it appeared to me when a person complained about absence of second level ensuring device on another product in flipkart. But with use now I know how correct he was. There is another dire need for a bubble level on the head also because the tilt head can be tilted vertically and horizontally. It is then that you need this level bubble. Of course this may not be a problem with an experienced photographer or even a beginner with discerning eye.

4. About it being sturdy ??? Well it is just about ok. Slight impact with any thing hard will dis-align the lowest leg (I had to bear the brunt). the result is that the one of the leg has to be yanked out now. And the plastic feel of the locks and knobs gives me jitters about the usability of this product for long time (giving it high price).

5. Panning head is not smooth at all. Much is desired

Pros:
1. Great height extension. You will never stress your knees, thighs or neck with the reach this tripod provides.

2. Fairly portable. The weight is great even for a slender built person and the minimum height of 620 mm is not a problem if you can strap if on your backpack (like the Digiflip Wizard CB001- reviewed separately) with the help of balcrow.

Well initially I had decided to buy the MAK 203 after going through a fantastic personnal review of that product outside flipkart. In that review the guy has talked about having a Quick Release Shoe on the MAK 203. As the specifications on Flipkart did not mention the Quick Release Shoe (QRS), and I wanted to be on a safer size with the Quick Release Shoe (mind it that QRS is necessary for every user) and the specifications for MAK 233 showed it, so I decided to go for this expensive version.. May be the mention of QRS on the MAK 203 specification may have an impact on my decision to go for this version. So you folks check out with flipkart about the QRS on MAK 203 to save some money but at expense of height extension ( The MAK 203 gives max. ht of 1550 mm while MAK 233 gives you 1650mm).
AT the end the service of flipkart was great and their after sales support is just about fantastic.
Happy hunting for a good tripod, but hopefully this review helps to an extent. ANy thing new will be shared in future (though I doubt there will be anything, but still).
BTW any experienced tripod user can help me to find a additional Quick Release Shoe and an additional head (if applicable) for this model

Pros:
* Sturdy enough
* Length is more than adequate (but won't be stable at longer height)
* Light weight

Cons:
* 3-way pan head could have been better. It only has one handle for panning others are screw type.
* In extended height, it is unstable.
* Not so portable. 620 mm(24.4 Inch) foldaway height.

This is my first tripod. I have a A200 which is not heavy and didn't really need a ball head. The tripod holds sturdy enough, have not tested it in very windy conditions though. i would go for something better if I had an expensive SLR as this does not seem very reliable.

Worth the price and functional for basic SLRs.

The build quality is fine for most users, is quite stable, i believe the price is a bit high for such a tripod, check out other inexpensive alternatives.. I highly recommend "Benro T-880EX Tripod". 3 stars only due to high price.