Benbo 2 Tripod

Comments about Benbo 2 Tripod:

I've owned my Benbo tripod for over 20 years. I have used it in just about every situation imaginable. It is adaptable to condition like no other tripod I know. Now this extreme adaptability can be off-putting to some, because once you loosen that center section, the entire tripod loosens up. So getting everything repositioned may take a bit of practice at first. But you quickly get used to this, and after a while it's no big deal.

I really like the way the legs are designed such that the top sections slide into the bottom sections, which allows the photographer to place the tripod in water or mud or other areas that might mess up a regular tripod leg's operation.

But I especially like having that adjustable center column. It is so handy for macro close-ups in the field, or shots taken from unusual angles.

Comments about Benbo 2 Tripod:

Some love them, some hate them.
Benbo can place your camera where it has never been before. this large model (benbo2) can be placed in water up to 1m deep(!!). stuck in the mud, placed upside down between rocks, or serve as a backdrop stand for indoors table top photography.
i had the trekker version before, i bought this one for 617 panoramics of water close ups.
for new comers it may take some time to get used to it. but once you do - you can make images of unique viewpoints.
not for every day travel (big-heavy), but great if you are 'going" to photograph.

Comments about Benbo 2 Tripod:

I have used this tripod extensively in the field, and so far have been very happy with it.

It is not small (since the legs have only 2 sections), but it is pretty light compared to a full-size metal tripod. It is definitely shakier than a large metal tripod, due to its design, but it is also much more flexible. I only use it when there isn't too much wind.

What I love about it is that it can hold a heavy camera, and bring the camera right down to the ground (upside down, less than an inch from the ground) or up to at least 11 feet over the ground. This kind of flexibility is amazing. I have stood on top of my truck, with the tripod on the ground, to take photos 11-12 feet high, and then shifted it to take close-ups of plants at ground level. I often carry this tripod plus a ladder or step stool to get good landscape photos. In the forest, I have climbed up onto a stump with the tripod on the ground.

Setting up the tripod is not intuitive, but once you get the hang of it, it is quite rapid. And the solid lower tubes mean that you can set it up in a pond or stream and not get water into the legs.

The only issue I have with it is that it comes with a 1/4" screw at one end of the upper arm and a 3/8" screw at the other. If your head has a 3/8" thread, you should get an adapter so you can screw the head into either end, as you want to use one end when setting up for high shots and the other for low shots.

And, because it is very tall and made of plastic, you have to be very careful when releasing the shutter. Use mirror lockup if you have it, and avoid windy days.

Finally, it has survived 6 years of hard use without any problems, which can't be said of my pricey carbon fiber tripod!

Comments about Benbo 2 Tripod:

Get's you where you need to be.

Comments about Benbo 2 Tripod:

We bought this to horizontally mount our camera in a lightbox.

We're not professional photographers so we don't ask too much from our equipment.

We found the tripod easy to use and very stable.

It was nice that the boom came with 2 different adapters to mount various cameras with

Only wish is that it came with a bubble level indicator to let you know that the camera was straight, but haven't had an issue with out it.

Comments about Benbo 2 Tripod:

Easy to set up, looks to be able to hold just about any hand held camera or video camera that you would want to hold in 1 hand. Best for fixed settings, may work with optional mounts to allow more transitional pictures (I have not tried optional mount.) It will extend to a very tall setting and only requires a small footprint. We use this in a Church to shoot fixed video over peoples heads and it only takes up slightly more space than 1 chair in space.