I had one for a few years and sold it last year. It's a nice 'pod, but you should also compare it with Benro. I think the Benro extension column locking mechanism is a little more rigid than the Velbon.
Richard Nye wrote:
I had one for a few years and sold it last year. It's a nice 'pod, but you should also compare it with Benro. I think the Benro extension column locking mechanism is a little more rigid than the Velbon.
Which Benro is comparable to it? The thing that's nice on the Velbon is that the legs will get you to 64" without a center column and it's only 3 section. I didn't see any benros with that spec. There is an induro tripod (The CT-213) that I've been looking at but it has the twist lock legs and those failed repeatedly on my gitzo g2220 so I'm a little gun shy about that technology.
I have found this Velbon to be the toughest tripod I've ever used - and I've got nine or ten other tripods on the shelf, all large and mostly expensive ones. This Velbon had held up a lot better than my $800 Gitzos that keep falling apart. The only issue I've had is that the metal spiked feet don't really work well - it needs a dedicated set that are longer (I now have 3" spiked on my new RRS tripod, which I've not had long enough to tell if it will fall apart like the Gitzos or not - I'm hopeful not). I've tried to recommend the Velbon to others but have not seen it available anywhere lately. One last point in favor of the Velbon - the legs are thicker and it just seems to feel better in the hand and easier to setup as a result.
Tim Ernst wrote:
I have found this Velbon to be the toughest tripod I've ever used - and I've got nine or ten other tripods on the shelf, all large and mostly expensive ones. This Velbon had held up a lot better than my $800 Gitzos that keep falling apart. The only issue I've had is that the metal spiked feet don't really work well - it needs a dedicated set that are longer (I now have 3" spiked on my new RRS tripod, which I've not had long enough to tell if it will fall apart like the Gitzos or not - I'm hopeful not). I've tried to recommend the Velbon to others but have not seen it available anywhere lately. One last point in favor of the Velbon - the legs are thicker and it just seems to feel better in the hand and easier to setup as a result....Show more →
by the way the gitzo 1.5" spikes fit on the RRS legset. this allows for keeping them on and having feet on them when the floor is kinda pricey and the owners don't appreciate divots and scribe lines. in addition with the feet on them they reduce the skewer factor for you/to you too
