The carbon fiber in this tripod does an amazing job at keeping the whole thing very light and portable. The rest of the hardware (locking cams to extend the legs, adjustable center post) are also high quality, durable, and rugged.The included ball head is just ok though - it's fine, but not excellent. I likely will swap it out for one of my higher-quality heads, but for testing this tripod the included ball head is fine. It does fit common lock plates, and I had no trouble fitting my mirrorless camera with an existing lock plate onto the ball head. The ball head itself has what feels like a plastic handle, and a plastic ball. Also, the top plate was not securely attached when the tripod arrived, and even though it came with an allen wrench to tighten things, I *really* had to crank down on the center bolt in the ball head top plate to get it secured. The whole design of the ball head is... mediocre.The center post also has a sturdy hook where you can hang a sand bag or your camera bag to add some extra stability for a shoot. The ability to convert 1 leg into a monopod is a great feature, and is one that I've used extensively on some of my other tripods, so I was very glad to see that included.This tripod is an excellent choice when traveling, or whenever you need to save weight but still need a good tripod for your camera.