Photography News | Issue 44 | absolutephoto.com
60 First tests
BenroFTA18CC Travel Angel £209
Verdict
Specs
Price £209 legs only In the box
I really enjoyed my time with the Benro FTA18CC Travel Angel. It just got on with things without distracting me from the job in hand and was light enough to be a companion all day long without too much back-and-shoulder ache afterwards. For a quality carbon- fibre tripod it is temptingly priced too and all you need then is a decent head. Pros Compact, light, gives very good stability for its size, good price for a carbon-fibre tripod Cons No really low camera position unless you reverse the centre column
Benro’s huge tripod range is broken down into user-targeted collections; Adventure, Mach3, SystemGo Plus and Travel Angel, which is where the winner of Travel Tripod of the Year in PN ’s Awards resides. The Travel Angel collection comprises compact models with features such as reverse-folding legs, twist-lock legs and with this model, a detachable leg that becomes a monopod. For this test we added the Arca Swiss-compatible Benro V0E ball head which costs £130. The FTA18CC’s legs are made from 9x carbon fibre with the shoulder cast from magnesium. Rubber twist-grips lock the legs securely into position and don’t need too much loosening to free the legs or too much tightening to lock solidly. The legs have two locked positions, one for normal working and a splayed position for lower level shooting or maximum stability. Compactness and light weight are important with a travel tripod and no problem in either regard on this model. The reverse folding legs will help maximise space in the suitcase but it’ll fit most cases even without this feature, and weighing 1.21kg it is not too much effort to carry the tripod around for long periods. In fact, I walked eight miles over a ten-hour period with it (and a camera bag) on Blackpool beach and I wasn’t cursing
it by day’s end, so that says something. I had the standard rubber feet in place and while they needed a rinse in the shower to get rid of the sand, I enjoyed the experience of using it. The payoff for compactness is lower maximum head height. To be honest for me that is not usually a problem as I prefer a lower-than-head-height viewpoint, but that is obviously a personal thing. I’m 1.75m tall and the max extension is 1.5m with the centre column extended. With the ball head and camera in place that is my eye level with me standing straight upright so good enough should I need the height. Maximum centre column extension can potentially compromise stability but I thought this tripod was still impressively solid and with good technique and a calm day, extreme long exposures should be fine. With the centre column down stability improves and height is fine for most shots. A ballast hook is fitted to the centre column as standard. The leg with the foam handgrip can become a monopod. You just have to unscrew the ballast hook to let you slide out the centre column which then screws into the monopod leg. The idea is good but the downside is that you end up with an 80cm-long monopod even when collapsed. All told, though, I thought handling and usability rated very highly. WC
Legs, spiked feet, hex key, travel case with strap, no head supplied – we used a Benro V0E Triple Action ball head (max load 8kg and weighs 370g) Leg sections Four, twist locks Material Carbon-fibre legs and magnesium castings Max height (with head) 1.17m (centre column down), 1.5m (centre column extended) Min height 41.9cm Max load 10kg Closed length 41.9cm Weight 1.21kg Contact benroeu.com
Compactness and light weight are important with a travel tripod
Above The Benro FTA18CC Travel Angel Tripod collapses down to 41.9cm and has reverse-folding legs that help to minimise the space it takes up in the suitcase.
KenroUltimateTravel TripodKENTR401C £259.99
Specs
Verdict
Price £259.99
A carbon-fibre tripod at this price that comes with a ball head and gives shooting positions from near- ground height to high enough to suit a pro basketball player, and then to be able to set the centre column at right angles, and still remain respectably portable, is an impressive feat. Very impressive. While I took very slight umbrage at Kenro using the word ‘travel’ in the product’s name, I think ‘ultimate’ is perfectly fair and justified. A tripod well worth a close look. Pros Great looks, comes with a ball head, impressive working range, handy right angle mechanism Cons Less good stability at maximum extension, arguably too heavy for a travel tripod
In the box Legs, KENBC2 ball head, carrying case with strap, short centre column, hex key Leg sections Four, legs have twist grips Material Carbon fibre legs Max height 144cm (with centre column retracted but with head) 190cm (with head and both centre columns extended) Min height 20.5cm (with supplied short column and legs splayed) Max load 10kg Closed length 48cm Weight 1.93kg Contact kenro.co.uk
To be voted Best Carbon-fibre Tripod is a magnificent achievement given the many great models around, but that’s the accolade PN readers gave the Kenro Karoo Ultimate Travel Tripod. It is an impressive looking, highly specified piece of kit. Obviously good looks have no say in how a tripod performs but the sheen of the metal finish and lovely lustre of the carbon- fibre legs really do give a solid first impression. This is embellished further when you use it. For example, the twist-grip legs work smoothly and positively and one leg can be unscrewed to become a monopod. Kenro has given this tripod the travel tag and its reverse folding legs mean it’ll fit in a full-sized suitcase. It will fit even with the legs in normal position. But its size and weight do
put it on the cusp when it comes to travel ’pods because of its weight and size – well, that’s my view. Labelling aside, there is no denying this product’s attributes as a quality camera support and very good value too when you factor in the inclusion of a decent quality Arca Swiss- compatible ball head with spirit level. The ball head has three controls. One to lock its rotation, one to lock/ unlock the ball and one to control the ball’s resistance. If anything, the ball head does not have the precision smoothness of more expensive units but it does the job adequately enough. One lovely feature is the ability to unlock and lift up the top half of the two-section centre column and reposition it 90° horizontally and then rotate it on its axis if needed. For
shooting straight down (or up) this is a great idea that works very well. The two-section column also means when you want maximum height you can get an extension of up to 46cm from its normal full working height giving a camera position of 1.9m. That puts the camera in a perfect position for someone who’s 2m tall, although stability is compromised. Just extending the thicker centre column and the camera platform is still an impressive 168cm from the ground and stability is good. Should you want a super-low shooting position you can invert the centre column or with a few minutes unscrewing and screwing in various bits, using the supplied short column and splaying the pod’s legs gives a camera platform of under 21cm. WC
Lift up the top half of the two-section centre column and reposition it 90° horizontally and then rotate it
Right The versatile Kenro Karoo Ultimate Travel Tripod KENTR401C has carbon-fibre legs and an impressive finish.
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