Benro

[pteppic]

I've been seeing bits of comments on Benro tripods for a while now, and I'm

attempting to upgrade from my God-awful twenty-pound back of the donkey cart

tripod to something a little more substansial.

 

Do members have any opinions on the Benro tripods and ball heads? I'm looking

for a combination for approximately ﾣ200 that will accomodate me for

backpacking, street photography and portraiture (I know a multitude of sins).

 

They appear to make an interesting range of Carbon fibre tripods. I would be

grateful to any links for reviews of the tripods and heads (or any products from

Benro for that matter) that members might have.

 

Thanks,

Kian Ryan

[arieh]

Hello Kian,

 

I'm fairly new to the hobby, but I recently spent a week trying to research the same issue you're facing & now own a Benro ball head. I wish I'd saved all the links to reviews and opinions about Benro's carbon fiber tripods and ball heads. But I can tell you the bottom line I took away from ten or twenty useful threads I located: The Benro carbon fiber tripods were generally praised as very close (even rudely close) clones of particular Gitzos. Meanwhile the Benro ball heads were usually described as meticulous clones of Markin or Arca Swiss entry-level ball heads.

 

I've had my Benro KS-1 ball head for a week and it seems to me like a remarkable value. It looks, feels, and moves precisely like the brand name $300-ish ball heads I've admired on friends' tripods. No idea if it will wear as well. And I don't expect any technical support.

 

My one concern (see my post just a couple posts after yours) is that I can't yet get the Benro ball head to work with the Kirk L-bracket for my D70. It gets stuck on the safety pin.

 

If unsolveable I'd think this would be a serious limitation for many of us. Perhaps someone will solve it on that thread.

[andrew robertson]

Make sure to get a nice Noboflax or Borgen brand name head for it.

[studor13]

Kian, I have the basic entry Benro head, the KB-1 (actually there is the KB-0). I think you get what you pay for. It's not bad but probably not as precise as the more expensive brands. For around the same price you can get the Manfrotto 488 RC2 which has good reviews.

 

I did a lot of research but decided on the KB-1 because it meets my needs and pocket. Apart from a D70, I use it on a Hasselblad so I needed the extra load that the head can hold (12kg vs around 8kg (18 lb) for the 488RC2).

 

For tripod I went for the Manfrotto 3021 (here in Europe it is the 055PROB) and it's great. A bit heavy for hiking but I don't walk for more than a couple of hours so that's ok.

 

Some say that the center column may make it less sturdy than the same model minus the PRO option, but from what little I have used so far, the center column is a winner. Some shots, say over a bridge that has railings, the center column which converts to a horizontal one lets me make shots which are otherwise not possible.

 

Also for macros, the horizontal column lets you shoot directly from above which is something else that I wanted.

 

So, I can't help you out with Benro tripods, but from what I remember, their carbon fibres are not that cheap, so I settled on a heavier but cheaper Manfrotto which I think is about as good as what most people need.

[pteppic]

Thanks for your opinions. I'll keep them in mind. I have some confidence now in making a purchase, if anyone has any more to contribute I would be grateful to hear them.

[arieh]

Unfortunately, the Benro ball heads are alleged to have evolved without changing model number (possibly 3rd generation now), complicating everybody's comparative impressions. Hopefully you'll locate a recent comparative review.

 

Here's one discussion: http://tinyurl.com/rdts2.

[glen_g]

Benro makes some decent tripods but Gitzo is a lot lighter and probably the strongest out there.

[emre_safak]

Benro has CF tripods that weigh as little as 1kg. How much lighter can you get?

[nick_warrener]

I have just recently purchased a Benro Tripod - the A-069 in the 'Travel Angel' series - and also a Benro ball head - the BH-0.

 

I bought this off ebay (from Hong Kong) for around ﾣ110 and would highly recommend it.

 

I'm also new to tripods, having broken a cheap Jessops one last year in Venice. I thought rather than keep buying cheap ones why not invest in something quite good. This lead me onto research into tripods and I soon found out the market is saturated with so many!! I was so confused. My dilemma was, like many tripod-buyers, to find one that was light, small but able to a take a hefty load. I travel a lot and am most into this field of photography so a light tripod and compact size were the key issues for me (also I haven't got too many heavy lenses so knew I wouldn't need one of those mega strong tripods that can support 10kg plus). This is when I came across the chinese make Benro. After further researching I learnt it was a company in China, near Hong Kong, which had started to make decent copies of Gitzo tripods (which I learnt were pretty much the top of the range in the market). I had read they had got Gitzo's blueprints and model information etc and started making there own. Gitzo now, or possbily were going to, take action against Benro since this may infringe on copyrights and all that stuff. The main thing that struck me with Benro was they looked similar, people said they were similar but were much lower in price. It appears to me travel tripods are one of the most expensive kind since as I mentioned above people require light weight, compact but sturdy. Of course the ﾣ400 carbon fibre Gitzo pods would do the job but unfortunately I didn't have that sort of money. I then checked out ebay, looked at many tripods, zoned in on benro, sourced out the best deals - good specs etc - and ended up with the A-069.

 

It set me back a bit, but it came through the other day and it looks great. I don't know too much about pods but it appears exactly how I thought it would - light, small and sturdy. I can't really go into detail about it plus the head as I dont really know, but I would recommend it! I was proud of it being 'made in China.' From reviews I'd say if you got the cash, go all out for a Gitzo - it'll last! However, if you want a good cheaper option but admittedly not quite so good, go for a Benro.

 

Sorry guys for writing an essay and it being unrelated to Kian's inital post years ago but whoever stumbles upon this thread and wants to know my story there it is.

Cheers.

Nick.

[dave92029]

I have been using a Benro M228n6 for well over a year. Each time I take the tripod out of the beautiful bag that it came with, I'm impressed with the quality of this tripod. It has always worked flawlessly, and provided rock solid support. A kirk ball head is mounted on the Benro M228 because I had the Kirk head before I purchased the Benro. I have a Bogen 484, that I have been using on a monopod and small Gitzo, G126, that I sometimes use. The Bogen is too small to properly support my EOS body w/70-200 f2.8 IS lens, so I decided to get a larger small ball head. Based on the wonderful experience I have had with the Benro M228, I just ordered a Benro BH-2 ball head. It is a small ball head with a 44mm ball for $55. Benro delivers quality products at a very reasonable price, so they will continue to be my first choice for camera support accessories. Now if they only cloned Canon EOS bodies at half the cost LOL