Benro MP-96M8 Aluminum 4-Section Monopod

Comments about Benro MP-96M8 Aluminum 4-Section Monopod:

very light weight, compact plan to use in overseas holiday.

Comments about Benro MP-96M8 Aluminum 4-Section Monopod:

Great build Lite but Strong, Extends high and collapses short. The support legs are great for those tight situations where you can not use a tripod and also for support of a Camcorder for smooth recording.

Was tricky getting use to the twist locks at first but figured out I thought I was locking the leg I was twisting but in fact I was locking the leg below the lock. It was late at night and half asleep.

The support legs seem to not support that well with the pod extended and with a load 4 pounds or over. It tends to sway when pressing the shutter but I guess tha is what a tripod is for.

Comments about Benro MP-96M8 Aluminum 4-Section Monopod:

It has been great so far. I purchased this model for it's height, I am 6'4", and it's more than enough. Slightly bigger than I expected.

Comments about Benro MP-96M8 Aluminum 4-Section Monopod:

I've purchased something similar to that, which was Benro MA-96M8 Aluminum monopod, and the specifications listed here are the same, so I believe it will have the same criteria I'm mentioning here.

This is my first monopod ever, and I'm planning to take it with me when I travel. The mini-tripod legs are nice, but not so dependable. The overall weight is reasonable (less than 1 kg).

The head of this monopod has a changing adapter to fit the various sizes of screws (mainly 2 known sizes), and that fits me perfectly. Maybe you must consider having a variable attachable head to go with this monopod, since once you attach your camera to it you won't be able to tilt the camera up and down, but you must tilt the whole monopod, of course without using the mini-tripod legs.

The lock system for the extentions are a bit frustrating in the beginning, but with time you might get used to it and would do it as fast as possible. The only thing here is the bottom-most screw which releases the legs of the mini-tripod. Moving the monopod here and there might make it loose and you have to check now and then that it is tightened properly. Beside that as well, I was not able to deal with this last screw as fast as it should.

The bottom of the monopod is provided with a hard rubber surface, and it grabs well on smooth surfaces. I've tried it on a tiled floor of porcelain and tilted the monopod in various directions while pushing my hand down (but not so hard) and the monopod's bottom remained firm.

The monopod can take quite a load as stated by the manufacturer (around 20kg). As an experiment, I went on shooting a panorama with my Manfrotto SPH303 VR-head attached to it. It bore the weight nicely and moving the VR-head around was relatively easy, but as a main tip, while working you should always hold the stem of the monopod gently to lessen the vibrations. The mini-tripod legs are not so firm and can't be left alone, but they help on standing up the monopod. There might have been a gentle tilt after attaching the VR-head and the camera to the monopod, but I kept the system like that for few minutes and kept away, and it remained stable. On shooting the panorama, I always kept my fingers gently on the VR-head to reduce the shake, and it turned out good, except of one specific angle where my hand did not help me, but the overall stitch of the panorama was done easily then after.
I believe as well that such monopod can help on shooting a less-problematic nadir (bottom). This is something I didn't try yet.