Benro C-169M8 Travel Angel Carbon Fiber Tripod with B-0 Ballhead

Comments about Benro C-169M8 Travel Angel Carbon Fiber Tripod with B-0 Ballhead:

I purchased this to replace my 40yr old "Gitzo Weekend." (Can't find parts.) The Benro is very light weight and sturdy for its size. Included head is well made and matched nicely to the size of the tripod. I planned to use it mostly for macro use, but in a bind it will work with a 70-300 or even my 200-500 (Probably not a good idea.). Nice case. It would be nice if spiked feet were included with the tripod.

Comments about Benro C-169M8 Travel Angel Carbon Fiber Tripod with B-0 Ballhead:

Fairly lightweight for its size, good height, even without center column extended. Slow to set up and take down, but very compact size.

Comments about Benro C-169M8 Travel Angel Carbon Fiber Tripod with B-0 Ballhead:

This is a very impressive tripod. It packs very small, extends large, and is very stable. The ball head works smoothly and locks well. I have read reviews that say the tripod is a little wobbly when the legs are fully extended, and I enthusiastically disagree. I am taking this little beauty on every hike!

Comments about Benro C-169M8 Travel Angel Carbon Fiber Tripod with B-0 Ballhead:

This tripod is really light. If you're wanting to save every ounce of weight, you need something like this. Fairly sturdy for it's weight, the only criticism is the time consuming twist and turn ritual to extend the legs or collapse them. Some sort of quick release mechanism would give it 5 stars.

Comments about Benro C-169M8 Travel Angel Carbon Fiber Tripod with B-0 Ballhead:

Very compact and very easy to use. It's also stable and impressive for the size and weight it has.

Comments about Benro C-169M8 Travel Angel Carbon Fiber Tripod with B-0 Ballhead:

Even though this is a travel tripod and very lightweight, this tripod is sturdy. Folds up very small for travel, fits my Kata Bumblebee DL-210 backpack and my D5000 very nicely.

Comments about Benro C-169M8 Travel Angel Carbon Fiber Tripod with B-0 Ballhead:

I have owned this tripod for about a month now and I am very pleased with its performance so far. It is very compact to carry and does an excellent job supporting my Canon 7D with a moderate to small telephoto zoom (28-135 f3.5-5.6 IS USM) attached. The B-0 Ball Head is quite steady with this setup and the extra panorama contol is a nice addition over the cheaper Manfrotto ball head I used to carry when I went out shooting. The C-169 is not as light as the smaller Benro C-069 model but to me the extra stability and camera support is worth the weight penalty (I would absolutely hate to drop an almost $2000 camera and lens because I saved a little bit of weight with my tripod).
The Travel Angel folds small enough to fit into my luggage when I travel and I'll be taking it with me on an upcoming trip where I would never have considered packing a tripod before. The small size and weight actually make it quite likely that I will be using a tripod far more then I used to for all of my shooting.
The price jump between this model and the equivalent aluminum model is fairly steep for a minimum saving in weight but the extra stability of carbon fiber (this is the first carbon fiber tripod I have owned)is quite noticeable and I feel it makes the cost worthwhile.

Comments about Benro C-169M8 Travel Angel Carbon Fiber Tripod with B-0 Ballhead:

First off, left me state that the only reason I bought this tripod was for its carrying size and weight. I wanted a small tripod to put on my backpack that would not flop around or present too much additional weight. I had a little bit of a disappointment when I found that the head was not as "rock" solid as my larger 300-series Induro, but I did know there was going to be a stability trade-off when I sized down.

The tripod comes with rubber feet, but can be unscrewed and replaced with spiked feet. The spikes from my Induro fit right into place.

The head fits my RRS L-plate perfectly. Not having to buy into another mounting plate system was another purchasing point for me.

As for the "wobble" I mentioned, the tripod holds my D700 with a 70-300mm securely enough to take fractional second exposures with a finger press as long as you are careful. I definitely recommend attaching some weight to the hook and using a cable release for the longer exposures.

A couple years ago I bought a Manfrotto 785B because is was compact enough to fit in my suitcase during cross country travel. It failed miserably when I tried to put the heavier camera on it. I realize that the Travel Angel is almost $400 more, but this is definitely a case of you get what you pay for. I should have bought my travel tripod only once; especially considering that there was one more travel tripod purchase between those. This Travel Angel is, in fact, 2" shorter that the 785B when compacted, and just shy of a pound heavier.

The real proof will come in a few weeks when I take it on the trail.

Comments about Benro C-169M8 Travel Angel Carbon Fiber Tripod with B-0 Ballhead:

I have a Benro C-358M8 which I love, but is 29" long and weighs 6.5lbs with my Markins M10 head; more with my Manfrotto 410 geared head. I had a Manfrotto 190 with 486 ball head but the size/weight advantage just wasn't notable, so I went with this combo for non-photo-specific travel and when I need to haul gear around for long periods. Fantastically portable, the C-169 legs aren't much longer when folded than the 069 legs, but are notably fatter and sturdier (the 069 still held a D700/80-200af-s combo fine though). The height is fine for most purposes, even without the column extended. I'm 5'10" and it requires a decent stoop, but with the column extended the viewfinder is only an inch below my natural eye position. If I'm shooting for a client all day or shooting very long exposures in wind etc. I prefer my much larger 'pod, but this one really does help you decide to take the tripod with you instead of leaving it at home.

The leg locks are very similar to my C-358M8 (great) which are very similar to the Gitzo locks. They're small size does make them slightly more finicky, but I'm glad I went with the 5 leg section 169 over the 168 for a little less length and a little more height. With a little practice it only takes about 20 seconds to flip over and extend the legs and retract the center column.

I wasn't expecting much from the b-0 ball head; I was mainly attracted to the combo because the legs without a ball head have a longer center column that pushes an added head out beyond the folded up legs. However when I saw that this had an arca clamp I thought perhaps it would work for me, and I'm pleasantly surprised with its performance. It's not a markins or RRS or arca swiss, but it's light, easily holds a D3 with 80-200af-s and TC20e steady enough for night shots at 400mm with careful handling and shutter delay mode/mirror up if the wind is low. I use L brackets on my cameras and of course tripod collars on my larger lenses, but I did test the head to see if it could hold a D300 and 80-200af-s out sideways, and it could do so fine. Truthfully it puts my greasy old Manfrotto 486 to shame, and weighs 2/3 less. The 4 knobs (idle tension, tension, panning, clamp) are of similar size and can confuse my hands after using the much larger and more spread out Markins M10, but they all work well. The main tension knob has more travel than I'd like, but it does tighten down relatively well. It was suggested I get the B-1 head for these legs, but I'm glad I saved the size and expense and stuck with the standard B-0 combo.

Truthfully if I'm bringing my tiny tripod I'm usually also bringing smaller lighter equipment anyway; an E-P1 and 7-14mm lens are supported effortlessly, but if I have a pro body and large glass I'm still covered.

Overall an excellent deal; a tripod that can hold a full size pro body and glass reasonably steady while folding up to be 14" long and under 3lbs? A great product, and truthfully quite cheap.

Comments about Benro C-169M8 Travel Angel Carbon Fiber Tripod with B-0 Ballhead:

Just bought to carry on airplane for travelling. It's short and light weight and has nice carry bag.Strong enough to supports 5D Mk2 and 24-70 lens. This system is shorter and lighter than gitzo and at half the price. I'm lovin it. The ball lock does move with strong push.

Comments about Benro C-169M8 Travel Angel Carbon Fiber Tripod with B-0 Ballhead:

It's not Gitzo but it's functionality is as good as Gitzo.
I have 1329 Gitzo so I know how well Gitzo is made but I did not want to spend too much money for light travel tripod & head this time. So I went with Benro set.
It worked out great for 10 day road trip. Good stability very very light to carry. I couldn't complain.