simon_stevens

I'll start by saying that I have a Benbo 1 and LOVE it. I'd disagree

with those that think that these tripods are only for wildlife and

nature photographers. I do a lot of location work and I find that it's

flexibility is very useful for me too. For example, a lot of times

when I take a corporate portrait I often have to work in a conference

room with the conference table still in place. The Benbo lets be angle

the column so that the camera is placed over the table - which a

normal tripod cannot do. Benbos are also great for working around

other furniture and clients are always impressed if you don't have to

rearrange their whole room.

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Now a couple of things to think about. Benbos are very flexible on

rough terrain and even wedding work isn't always on totally flat

ground. This tripod will let you set up stably with a minimum of fuss,

but I do find that I need a spirit level afterwards to level the

camera. I use the Hasselblad one but there are also ball heads

available with them built in. You also need to get into the habit of

holding the camera when you loosen the center nut. If you don't your

camera will come violently to the ground!

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Now to directly answer your question. From the column on up, this is

basically a conventional medium-weight tripod, which means if you put

the center column up all the way it can vibrate. If you want to

operate that high all the time you may need the Benbo 2, but that's a

big tripod. Personally I find the 1 is fine for my purposes, although

with longer lenses I sometimes lock the mirror up before firing if I

have to have the column up high.

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Hope this helps!

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Simon.

Camera Craftsman

http://www.wizard.net/~simon/

If you find the Softar II too much, you will probably like the Softar I. I use one and I find that it takes the edge off without creating an overly soft effect. I bought one used from KEH and paid about $100 so keep looking as $200 sounds very close to the new price. I haven't tried the B&W ones, but you might want to consider as an alternative the Carl Zeiss filters made for Contax 35mm cameras. The quality should be identical to Hasselblad Zeiss but the prices are somwhat less. With the appropriate step rings you will be able to use it on any camera. Hope this helps!

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P.S. To those individuals who have taken to calling one another names on this forum. At the risk of being accused of the same thing, please take your childishness elsewhere.