I've had the old version of Neewers for three years and love it. But I needed another friction lever to set up a tripod for my second camera. I saw that they had a new version of the hand. I was very skeptical when I saw it for the first time, but ended up buying it because it was so cheap. A great friction lever so far. The old version was more flexible and you could actually get the angles you wanted. This new version takes a little longer to reach the correct position. The little red bit that helps you screw into whatever gear you're using was a great addition to the friction arm, which I like. This is a very good friction lever for the price. The only reason I gave it four stars is because it's pretty harsh.