I have a tripod by Velbon that I fly with and have used on the bike. Though it is light, it is very stable. I routinely do 30 second exposures with it, and use it with my Canon 70-200 F/4 L IS with no issues. They have changed the product lineup a bit since I got mine. Mine has a ball head. Here is a link to the Ultra Series: http://www.velbon.biz/product/ultra.html