I know the knock off brands of CF tripods are sometimes looked down upon by manyt professionals and they stand by the originals. I totally understand the rationals of buying the best if your a professional and your paycheque relies on the best of equipment made the peace of mind that goes with it.
However I am not in that category but I do need a sturdy light tripod and a quality ball head mainly for my Sigma 500mm which I plan to use in the remote mackenzie mountains in the next couple of weeks.
I looked at the Gitzo tripods and just could not justifiy the cost. Instead I researched Benro prodcuts and decided to take a chance. What I purchased was the C228N6 carbon fiber tripod, the brand new B-2 ball head and a PU-50 quick release plate. The total of these three components cost me $487 cdn.
After receiving this set-up and playing with it for a day or two I must say I'm very very impressed with the Benro products. The built quality appears be top shelf. The tripod is very sturdy well constructed and has all the features of a Gitzo. The new ball heads appear to be redesigned to make up for some earlier issues about build quality. I find the B-2 ball head to be easy to use, smooth and locks up very solid with very little pressure applied to the locking\tension knobs.
The only things I didn't like are: The quick release plate requires an allen key to lock it in and the ball head panning could be smoother, when you loosen it all the way it still has some resistance on it.
The real torture test however will be my 10 day trip to the very harsh and remote Mackenzie mountains of northern Canada. Once i return I'll let you know how the Benro products held up.
I have been using it for the past week and I must say it has been excellent so far. I been attaching my 500mm to it and so far it been sturdy, easy to set up and adjust. The leg joints have a seal to them so even when I've set the tripod up in sand and water the Benro tripod keeps the crap out.
The real torture test will be my trip however, lots of mud, frost, rain and snow. The tripod will be strapped to the rack of my ATV for hours over very rough trails and also to my backpack while hike into the high alpine, so it should be interesting to see how it'll hold up.
Google search benro fiesol... and there are tear down tests of the equipment. Basically with chinese made products the QC of the metal is suspect. It may work now but is the additional cost of 2-300 dollars when you have spent thousands for your set up. Your sigma has no IS and that extra degree of stability will help the results you want. I have a wimberly and a 1227 I would pack that in anytime I thought I would need the tripod.
Yeah I read pretty much everything out there about the Benro\Induro\fiesol\Gitzo and so on. A lot of the critism comes from a tear down by Tom Webster on a KS series ball head. The one I purchased is the B-2, one of the brand new B series which supposedly addressed some of the quality issues, looks good so far ... we'll see in the long run but I was willing to take a chance.
The tripod reviews seemed pretty good over all, haven't heard too much really bad to scare me off.
Nothing against Fiesol at all and would have bought one but the Benro was easier and quicker to get a hold of in Canada than the Fiesol.
I bought a couple of Benro C-438 carbon fiber tripods at B&H for $279.95 plus $11.75 shipping. For the price, I haven't seen anything close. This is a big and beefy tripod, when I put my camera and 200mm f/2.8 lens on it, it does not budge.
I priced these wholesale directly from Benro thru a chinese friend at $480 each, so I wonder how B&H does it.
I did buy my heads directly from Benro for $88 each rather than $149 in the US.
I bought a Benro C158 from B&H a couple weeks ago. Used it for one weekend trip. Have since sold it. Nothing wrong with the workmanship, it seemed like a very good tripod, everything worked smoothly and it was very stable for its size. The case it comes with is nicely made, padded, with a pocket for the tools and the spike feet. One heck of a value, IMO.
However, it was lower than I would prefer with the center not extended. I sold it and my Manfrotto 055MF3 and let Gitzo stick it to me again, this time with a GT2531. It's perfect for my modest needs, just WAY too much money.
Well I got back last night after a hellish 22hr drive with 2hr nap in the cab of the truck after seeing leprechauns fencing with bull elk in the ditch.
Anywho I'm glad to report the Benro C228N6 and B2 ball head combo worked out flawless. I had it strapped to the frond end of my quad bungied on top of my Pelican case. The area I was in was incredibly rough country we had everything from a constant drizzel to sleet to snow and tons of mud. Benro was out in it all with no problems with slippage, leaking seals or anything else. The only complaint I had was the rubber grip ring on the largest ball adjustment dial slipped slightly when it was totally soaked with rain, but once it dried out it seemed go away.
I even used it in the most unique way.
We hada spike camp about 4 hours from our main camp. It was located at the top of a river valley and a couple guys were getting late back into camp in the dark and foggy rain. We had a Argo with a hard top on top of the roll bar. So I took a spot light and tied it to the ball head and set the tripod as high as it would go, so on top of the Argo it was about 15ft high. The spot light was positioned shining down into the valley and acted like a light house so our guys could find there way back to camp.
All in all I'm very very happy with this Benro set up. I can't image a harsher field test for it. Time will tell if it will continue to perform as well as it did for this trip.
Lighthouse? Whod've thunk it. Glad everything worked out. Now, about leprechauns fencing with elk. Do you have thises dreams often? Maybe some Cuervo Gold and some Fine COllumbian (whatever that is) to make the night a wonderful day. Hey, it works for Steely Dan.
No, not dreams just sleep depravation and it's wonderful effects. Just a bit of sleep and a chance to stretch your legs once in a while to keep the sleep monsters away.
Granted, a couple weeks in the boonies isn't a real test of a tripod's longevity, but it is a good indicator of ability to hold a camera and lenses steady. I just have to wonder, where are all the naysayers now?
I will chime in on this one. Over a year ago I bought the Benro C-328 tripod and KS-1 ballhead and to date have not had the first problem. The tripod is very solid as well as the ballhead. I routinely use a 300mm with TC on it and the whole rig has performed well.
