- Today, it's all about travel tripods
and I never thought that a tripod would be
a hot topic conversation but recently,
they've really become one and there's a whole lotta hype
around different travel tripods
and it's all totally ridiculous and this has been
on my video making list for a while.
This is my favorite tripod ever.
Been using it for over a year.
This is not a paid video but wow,
I wanna help you save money on a travel tripod.
The problem is, that I've heard some people say they spend
400, 500, even $1000 on a small compact travel tripod
like this.
And that's totally insane.
Never spend $1000 on the tripod.
In all my years of doing video,
the only time I can really think of needing
a heavy duty tripod that will cost over $1000
is for some of the cameras that I use at work
where we have a big full size camera
and a big full size teleprompter and it needs to move around
and tilt up and down and lift and lower
and those sometimes need big heavy duty tripods.
But for pretty much everything else, you don't need that.
And there's a couple of reasons why I think
you should really look at this tripod.
First and foremost, this tripod is $200.
That is a reasonable price for a tripod
but it's also really durable, really reliable
and has a ton of cool features that are actually helpful.
I've traveled all over the world with this tripod,
I've used it in pretty much every weather condition
you can imagine, it has held up terrific.
So user basic, oh, how do you just screen a code in
in an iPad?
There, now I think I'm doing it.
I bought mine from B&H Photo
because I like B&H Photo
this is the Benro Travel Angel Series 1 tripod
and it comes in a few different options.
This one is the Aluminum version
which has a maximum load capacity of 17.6 pounds,
it has a maximum height of 58.5 inches
and a minimum height of 16.5 inches,
and it's folded length is 22.6 inches.
It's weight is 3.9 pounds so it's basically four pounds.
It costs $199.
You can get a heavier duty version
that can take up to 22 pounds that costs $250.
There's also a Carbon Fiber version
which costs a little bit more.
It's $296 for a version that takes 17.6 pounds
and for a version that takes 22 pounds is $400.
So the most expensive version of this tripod is $400.
The Carbon Fiber, 17.6 pound capacity
weighs 3.4 pounds.
So the reason that I got the Aluminum version
as cool as Carbon Fiber is,
is there's only a half pound difference
between the two.
And that honestly doesn't make that much of a difference.
To give you frame of reference
for 17.6 pounds of load capacity on here,
I normally use this tripod with my Cannon 6D Mark II.
That's the camera that I'm using
to film this video right now.
And usually, that camera has a battery grip attached to it
and often times I use a variety of lenses
but very frequently, it's the 24-105
and the 16-35 on this tripod.
Both of those are very big lenses.
And more often than not, I actually have
this Rode Videomic Pro
attached at the top of the camera as well.
And this tripod has no problem handling all of those things
all at once.
Over the past year, this tripod has pretty much replaced
my Joby GorillaPod that I used to use a lot.
And obviously, there's quite a difference in size
between these two but the flexibility and stability
and control of this is really worth it.
The legs have multiple adjustments,
you can just pop these little levers out
and then, if you want the legs to go up a little bit wider,
or get really low to the ground,
the tripod gives you that option.
There's also the option to completely take out
the center column and mount it up-side down
which I've done a few times it's really cool
'cause then your camera is mounted really low to the ground.
It's really the only thing I don't like
about this tripod though because I have a hard time
getting the center column back in once I do that.
So that's why I'm not doing it right now.
This is one of the things that made me
wanna start making this video
because I saw a few examples of new tripods
that have come out on Kickstarter and other campaigns
that are really expensive
and they're supposed to be super revolutionary.
And I've seen a few videos where people take tripods
like this that have the twist releases
for these legs sections
and they try to act like this a really hard thing
to deal with on a travel tripod.
The only downside to a twist lock is,
that when you just glance at it, you can't tell
if it's open or closed.
If you have a clamp lock
or one that is a tab that opens and closes,
it's very easy to look at it and know if it's locked or not.
It's the only downside.
I've seen videos where people are going,
yeah, my twist old tripod, you have to open it
and put it out and open it and take it out
and open it and take it out.
And you have to do that for all the legs.
That's totally insane.
(laughs)
That is not at all how you take out a travel tripod.
All you do, you just grab all these at once,
unlock them, extend it,
close them, that's it.
To kind give you a better idea of that,
let's put the timer on the screen
and we'll see how long it takes me to take these
from fully compact to fully extensive.
(gentle music)
Aside from the legs, the head of this tripod
is Benro B0 and I know they have a few different models
of this B Series head.
But it's basically a standard fluid ball head.
You have a pan control,
you have the ball adjustment
and then you also have a friction control
which lets you decide how tough or easy it is
to move everything around.
It's very free-moving, it's easy to mount your camera
at any angle that you want.
And even though this is really not of a video fluid heads
since it's a ball mount, it is a really smooth tripod head
and I've actually been able to use it very carefully
to get some pretty smooth shots when I need to in a pinch.
So this is the only tripod that I have
and I've got my camera on it.
I just wanna get that quick little pan.
This actually works pretty well.
The plate has a pretty simple double-lock release
which is all controlled by one lever.
So you first loosen it and pull this lever all the way out
and that's the first release
and then you unscrew it to release the plate.
Any good travel tripod is going to be able to be used
without any specialized tools to put the plate
on and off of your camera.
This one has a little thumb screw
that opens up and then the screw itself
actually has a flat slot on it.
So you could use a screwdriver or a coin or a key.
Basically, you're never gonna be out of lock.
If you take this out with you hiking somewhere
or if you go on a trip,
if you leave your camera bag in the car,
you don't need any specialized tools in order to put this
on and off of your camera.
Few other nice features, this tripod does have a hook
at the bottom of the center column which is great
because when it's fully extended
especially if you're outdoor somewhere,
you can hang a weight or hang your camera bag,
hang something from it to give a little extra stability.
So it's not gonna tip over or blow over in the wind.
Normally, I just leave the tripod like this
when I'm traveling with it,
my camera bag and I just strap it
to the back of my camera bag and it works out great.
But if you wanna get a little more compact,
all you do is extend the center column,
pop open the legs
and then it kinda looks like this.
So it's a little wider here
but the whole thing is a bit shorter.
Many times, I put this in carry-on luggage on a plane
and it works great.
And even though it's not the smallest tripod in the world,
it is very light weight and when it is folded up,
it's relatively tiny.
It can be sort of tough to tell it on camera
so here's a comparison with the tripod and a soda can.
So you're probably familiar with the size of a soda can.
As you can see, when it's all collapsed,
it's really not that much different in diameter.
It's a little bit bigger but it can definitely fit
in camera bags, in pouches.
It's not a difficult tripod to travel with or to carry with.
Now, this Benro tripod also comes
with a couple of cool accessories.
When you get it, it comes in this really nice carrier bag
which is ultra-high quality and durable.
And unfortunately, I don't actually use this bag very much
because it is a little bit bulky
and usually, I'm not gonna carry my camera bag.
Whatever other stuff I carry and a separate tripod bag
but it comes with this sort of light weight sleeve
and I do use this a lot.
And so if you put it in the bag and zip it up,
this makes it really easy and safe to transport
with your other luggage.
Now, if you buy this tripod,
you also get a couple of other cool things in this bag.
You get a shoulder strap if you need to carry it,
you do get
a few tools and parts.
So there's a couple of Allen Keys in there
and then these spikes.
The spikes can actually be mounted
on the bottom of the legs.
You can replace these old rubber points
with the metal spikes.
And then really, the only issue
that I've had with this tripod,
other than the center column being difficult
to take out and put in is that every so often,
these little screws right here will start to come lose
and then the legs won't stay out,
they start to kind of become loose.
And that's what this all Allen Key if for.
So basically, every two or three months,
you just need to tighten up these screws
and then everything is good to go again.
Now, this is the travel tripod.
So it does need to have a few special features for travel.
One thing you get with the tripod is this
which is a little post right here.
One of the tripod's legs, the one that has this pad on it
has a little unlock icon and you can actually twist it
and then unscrew this entire leg
and then you put this piece on top of it.
And now, you've got a monopod instead of a tripod.
It's really cool to be able to travel
knowing that you've got a monopod with you at all times.
And there's one last thing that this tripod comes with
which is totally silly
and probably something you'll never use,
except I have used it once in a very specific scenario.
But it's something that makes me totally love this tripod
because it's so ridiculous.
It's probably the most ridiculous accessory
a piece of camera gear has ever come with.
When you open your tripod, you're gonna find this.
Which is a piece of wood, looks like a wooden door nob.
And what you'll find is, it fits directly on the leg
and now, instead of a monopod,
you have yourself a walking stick.
(giggles)
Which is so ridiculous and silly
and I kinda laughed at that and I thought I'd never use that
until last summer.
Heather and I were on our trip to Switzerland
and we were hiking through some hills
and I had my camera bag on and I was kinda losing stability
and I was like, oh my god, I need a walking stick.
And then I had a walking stick with me.
And it was really funny to be able to use that.
- [Woman] It was funny.
- See, she says it was funny.
(woman laughs)
- You're probably not gonna buy this tripod
because it has a walking stick feature
but the whole point of a travel tripod is,
it should make traveling with your camera gear
a little bit easier and a little bit more fun.
The other thing, again, that I wanna emphasize
with this tripod is that I've used this for over a year.
My bigger tripod is pretty much right now
and I mean, here filming 'cause it's big and it's heavy.
If I'm traveling anywhere,
I pretty much just always take this with me.
It's been in planes, trains, automobiles,
and on think a boat.
I never thought I would be this passionate
about making a tripod video.
But when you get something like this
and it makes your life so much easier,
I think that's totally worth it
and I think that is something to be excited about.
But more importantly, why I feel so strongly
about making this this video right now is,
I do not understand this world
where people are spending hundreds and hundreds if not $1000
on a little travel tripod like this.
There is absolutely no reason to do that.
This is a $200 travel tripod and personally,
I don't think, unless you have really specific needs,
that you should ever spend more than $200
on a travel tripod.
When you see a whole bunch of review videos
come out and they come out on the same day,
what that means is that that product is being given
to those reviewers ahead of time
and they've been told the date that they're allowed
to release their videos.
The most people are really genuine and really authentic
and they give a nice, honest review
but realistically, you play around
with a piece of gear for a couple of days
or a couple of weeks,
you're not gonna totally understand it.
It's not until you've really had something for a while
and used it in a whole variety of situations
that you can really solidly recommend it or not.
And I have used this tripod all over the world,
crazy amount of conditions.
And I strongly, strongly recommend this tripod.
And if you're curious about any of my other gear,
I did do a what's in my camera bag video
so if you wanna click on that and hop over,
you're gonna check out more of my camera gear.
(gentle music)