Benbo Tripods 7 - Trekker

Imagine watching the English trying to put up a deck chair on a beach on a very windy day and you will have some idea what living with a Benbo is like. Its eccentric design is a love or hate affair. Erecting a Benbo is not a joy, it is a skill mastered after many years of fighting a four legged moster with a will of its own! Having said that it is in fact a versatile tripod that is usefull in all terrains, all surfaces and is sturdy. The build quality is excellent, but the downsideis that it is heavy and a little cumbersome. It is superb for still life and macro work, but my biggest criticism of the tripod is the low tripod height once erected, with the centre pole down. Okay so the centre pole is long, but with a long lens (E.g. Sigma Bigma 50-500mm) it wibbles about in the wind. I have had my Benbo about 3 years now and would not replace it for macro work, but I am looking for a taller tripod for those windy days.

Strength and build quality.It is a solid, rugged and strong design made from aluminium, but it feels as heavy as steel. It has a unique design that will allow you to erect it upon any terrain quite easily and quickly. I like the big knobs to tighten the legs as this can be done easily with big thick gloves on when temperatures drop below zero. It is superb in shallow water and in muddy/boggy conditions. I would recommend this tripod for the macro user, marsh dwellers, residents of Blackpool/Eastbourne and similar and for people who enjoy wrestling with giant squid. I would not recommend this for people who don't have a sense of humour, or are short tempered or who own a huge lens and live in a windy area.

It could do with a foam covering for the lower legs so that it can be carried on cold days without freezing your skin onto the metal surface. (I have actually stuck some self adhesive foam on all 3 of my tripod legs. It does the job, sort of) It could also do with having three section legs and being much taller. I would also like to be able to remove the centre column and replace it with a really short one so I could get really low and shot macro from very low angles.

Deck-chair, bagpipes, baby giraffe, Giant Squid.

Never used. I should imagine that working for Benbo Customer Service is quite a cushy job.

I'm looking at it now - the paint's all chipped and it looks pretty battered. But then I HAVE had it for over 20 years and used it for photography and video on every continent except Antarctica. In fact I'm tarting up the chipped paintwork (with black hammer-finish paint on the legs and smooth enamel on the column) to flog it off to someone who’s likely to appreciate its strengths (VERY versatile), can manage its weight (I no longer feel up to it) and is blessed with a karma that will accept using it as a pleasure rather than some weird kind of initiation rite. When I was a pro (I’m now retired) I used to play two tricks on new assistants: one was to ask them to get the round Lastolite reflector back into its impossibly small bag, and the other, (you guessed it) was to ‘put up the Benbo’. My last assistant used to call it ‘The Bagpipes’, which anyone who’s lived with a Trekker would understand. The original - which mine very obviously is - was made here in the UK by a firm called Kennett Engineering and later by Unilock. In fact after the original clamp sheared on mine, I fitted a Unilock replacement which works fine. Its later incarnation (Mk 2 - with articulated column) is still going strong. It’s distributed by Paterson Photographic in the UK and (I think) BH Photo in the US. It seems to enjoy a reputation as a nature photographer's tripod. Its lower legs – which are ‘closed’ and WIDER than the section above - are the only ones I know that don’t mind being used in a pond. Don’t forget the waders though - because yours probably will!

Very flexible and (once you get used to it) quite quick to set up on all kinds of terrain. Can get a camera into difficult places relatively easily. The single point lock allows the column to be turned horizontal in one move. If used with a good ball head (my original head had a nasty habit of locking up) the Benbo Trekker is capable of carrying quite heavy loads. The lower legs are 'waterproof'

Rather ungainly and heavy for what it is. When folded, still bigger and bulkier than most 'trekkers' will be happy with. It's one-point clamp system can prove a bit maddening at first. The thing seems to have a mind of its own. Based on the finish on my soon-to-be-restored original, 20 years of knocks and bangs have taken their toll - on me as well!

There are none quite as flexible but my carbon Manfrotto 440 allows horizontal and reversed column use. It's also a lot lighter and much more compact.

I had no problem getting a spare part, but the situation nowadays may be another matter entirely.

Fairly heavy and slightly cumbersome, the name trekker is a bit of a joke. The tripod bag is pretty ungainly as well [constantly slips off your shoulder] and the bundled ball and socket is not up to holding my T90 with anything heavier than a standard. Having said that, I've bought a pro Benbo ball and socket [on a rotating cylinder - which makes a huge difference] and get my girlfriend to carry it around for me now so I've got no complaints anymore. It's possible to set this tripod up in some pretty odd positions and with a camera bag hooked on the centre column it's actually as solid as any cross-spar tripod. As others have stated, don't fully extend the centre column as it goes a bit waggly I'm off to india in a few months so we'll see just how portable this tripod is then

strong, weatherproof [more or less], sturdy if set up properly, most importantly it's extremely dynamic

bundled ball and socket head is too weak for anything more than a kilo, folded size isn't small

walls and shoulders

Very versatile and lightweight tripod. Does everything, from low level macro work to medium format (at a push). As it says in the instructions, don't overtighten the knobs!

Versatility. Sturdy (within limits, but I even used this with a Bronica ETRSi for a while with no problems). Weight. Waterproof lower legs.

Stays long when closed down. Ball/socket head fiddly. If you have Gorilla fingers, you will damage the friction brakes.

Manfrotto monopod. Various 'conventional' tripods.

Not needed

Like many of you have already said, this tripod is very good for macro shots. But for conventional photography, like taking group photo of a bunch of people, I still prefer the traditional tripod type. I now find it useful for mounting my Canon EX550 flash for some offshoe flash studio shots with the stock ball joint. But boy, this thing is pretty heavy, I have handled the Gitzo carbon fibre tripod and I was really impressed. With my camera and those giant f2.8 tele lenses, I don't think I want to bring it out on any occations. Well, anyway, it can't take the weight of these white lenses anyway. As a matter of fact, one of the legs on my Benbo has started to get lossen up, don't know what the problem is.

Can take some very awkward angles for macro works, useful if you are going to mount your remote flash on it for various flash effect in studio. If you are a forensic scientist, it may also be useful to take sharp pictures of your dead bodies without the need to strp on thier toes!!

Heavy, pretty difficult to manipulate. Not strong enough for pro camera setups.