First test
PRICE: £100/£140
BENROEU.COM
A good tripod is vital for creative photography at home or abroad, and Benro’s SlimTall range promises extra portability. So should you buy one? Benro Slim Tall tripod kit
SPECS
› Price £100 /£140 › In the box Benro SlimTall aluminiumor carbon legs, N00 ball head, Arca Swiss-style quick- release plate, carry bag, and allen key › Leg sections Four › Material Aluminium/ carbon fibre › Max height 164cm centre column extended; 135cm centre column retracted › Min height 52cm › Max load 4kg (N00 head 4kg) › Closed length 55cm › Weight 1.2kg/1.1kg/0.2kg ball head › Contact benroeu.com
Benro’s Slim tripods use a narrower shoulder – or should that be hip? – assembly than you’d normally find, and this is with the intention of making them more compact and travel friendly. They come in carbon or aluminum legs variants, and these ‘Tall’ versions have been recently added, promising greater height and more comfort for tall photographers, too, with only a small weight gain. Aside from the weight and handling differences between the materials, the products are identical in spec. Both tripods come with a removable Benro N00 ball head, but the carbon version is £40 more. We tested both to see if they’re a worthy addition to your kit. The thinness of the Slim Tall tripods is immediately obvious, and
though the amount of space saving depends on what you’re currently using, they’re certainly streamlined. This, and their lightness, gives them obvious travel appeal, although their 55cm folded length is not all that impressive from that point of view – unlike many small tripods, the legs don’t fold over the head to keep the folded length down. That said, you can always remove the head and stow it in a pocket or in your bag. With the four leg sections extended, the Slim Tall’s maximum shooting height is 135cm, which is good, and about chest height on a tall human. And that’s without the centre column extended. Add in the centre column and shooting height increases to 164cm. Minimum height, factoring in the head, is about 52cm, which is not exactly great, but fine for most tasks. If you want to go lower, you can reverse the centre column and shoot inverted, which only takes a few seconds to do. It would be nice to have a short centre column included to give more versatility, but at this price, it’s understandably absent, and you can pick one up for about £25. The four-section legs use twist locks and extend easily. There are three locks and I could twist all of them and pull out the leg
Verdict The Benro SlimTall tripods are decent legs at a decent price.They’re fairly light, but strong, easy to use, and offer a good range of heights, meaning you’re less likely to need to use the centre column, which compromises stability. The carbon fibre version is noticeably lighter than the aluminiumone, but it also has a bit more whip to the legs. Carbon is also more comfortable to use thanmetal in the cold, but that bare hand benefit is slightly compromised by themetal legs locks, which I also found a bit slippery in use.While it’s fine for beginners, the single action head might frustrate those who are used to separate locking controls. PROS Slimline, sturdy and versatile, at a decent price CONS Single action head, not the shortest legs when folded
Both the collar and the head have a bubble level, although on the latter you need to remove the quick- release plate to see it. Therefore you need to remove the camera before fine levelling, which is a bit weird. The included N00 head is basic but does an OK job. It has a good sized, ratched-type lock and feels very secure, but the lock controls both the ball assembly and the horizontal rotation, which means you really need to hold your camera steady when adjusting either. There’s no additional control for tension either, but again that’s not surprising for a head in this bracket. The PU30 quick-release plate is an Arca Swiss style and like the leg locks, made of blue anodised aluminium. It’s a bit gaudy looking, but it does make it easier to find in your bag. The tripod comes with an unpadded nylon bag, and an allen key for maintenance. KS
bottom of the column for adding ballast or a lamp if you’re working in low light. The hook unscrews if you need to remove the centre column. The feet are rubber, and fixed, so can’t be removed for replacement. They’re slightly grip even in the wet. Leg angle – which can be set at about 25º, 55º or 80º – is controlled by hammerhead levers at the shoulder. You pull them out to free the leg angle, which can be done one-handed, and the only problem I found was that they lacked a click stop. For example, you can’t move them from 80º to lock at 55º without pressing the lever back in manually with your thumb as you push on the leg – the leg remains ‘free’ until you push the lever in. spiked in shape, and though they’re small they gave decent
in one smooth movement, so operation is fast, too. The locks are made of grooved, anodized aluminum, and for me did not provide the same grip as rubberised versions. If operating them in gloves, this will increase or decrease grip depending on
the material they’re made out of. At full leg extension, the locks hold very well, even putting more than the prescribed weight through them, but they do have a bit of whip to them, particularly the carbon fibre version which flexes quite obviously. That said, I did not notice any loss of sharpness when shooting with correct technique. The centre column has a locking knob like a wing nut, so operating it is very easy, even in gloves, and as expected there’s a hook on the
ABOVE The locking knob on the centre column is easy to use, and the leg locks hold well even when the tripod is fully extended
Issue 74 | Photography News 53
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