| Joined: | Mon Apr 2nd, 2012 |
| Location: | South Lakeland, UK |
| Posts: | 4066 |
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I bought it about 1986 for my Bronica S2a. It's still in regular use, although one of the slide lock clamps should be renewed, I'm too tight to spend the aprox £15 for a new part, it still works well enough thirty years on.
I have looked at many tripods over the years, they are mostly either heavy, flimsy or very expensive or a combination of those. I feel the Benbo is a good compromise being fairly rigid, not too heavy and not too expensive, even now, thirty years on. The swivel mechanism at the top is very interesting being based on an old field gun undercarriage principle, it is a very robust and versatile joint.
I don't think an expensive, precision tripod would be suitable for robust use in the field. More of a showpiece or a studio thing.
A side note on alternative uses for tripods. I was photographing in a large botanic garden a couple of years ago when a couple turned up, both sporting top of the range Canon cameras with fast pro lenses and a huge bag full of gear on a trolly, they spotted a magnificent Magnolia tree but the best blooms were just out of range of their lenses, they discussed the solution, then reached for their largest tripod, hooked it onto the poor Magnolia branch and hauled it down to shooting range, photographed the flowers but unfortunately the branch snapped. Selfish cretins.
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Robert.