I was afraid I would have to send this gimbal back when I first fitted it to my Canon EOS M I took it off a few times, it became the perfect amount of coziness. The handle is made of metal, the clamping bolt is made of hard plastic. There's no need to loosen the tension bolt once it's firmly attached to the shoe, so it should last a long time, but only time will tell. When I bought it, it was less than $15, which is $3-5 less than the competition. If you have a Canon camera this item will fit you perfectly, but if you have a camera with smaller shoes you should shop elsewhere.