edwardmuzika's Full Review: Benbo Trekker Kit Tripod
I had to buy a new tripod. I am a nature photographer and need a tripod with strength, flexibility and light enough to carry into the field. I wanted the much better Gitzo 1340 tripod, but with the same money I could buy a good old Bogen tripod and a "baby" Benbo, known as the Trekker, which was considered specially useful for macro work.
When it arrived, I was disappointed by its light and apparently flimsy construction. That "apparent" became a reality as it could only bear the weight of a very light camera and medium lens without beginning to slowly sink out of position due to the weight of the camera and the inability of the central locking bolt to hold the configuration.
As an added confirmation of its poor construction, pieces of the tripod kept falling off during routine use: foot pads, a friction busing that held the lower leg onto the upper, and an unknown piece that fell out of the locking bolt assembly when it was opened too far. Putting it into the car trunk and taking it out were unnerving, because I could not predict whether it would come out in one or several pieces.
Now, I only use it as a bi-pod, using two of its legs locked tightly in an upright configuration that it appears able to hold due to lessened stresses at that angle, although, without the third leg, it is useless as a functional tripod, which is purpose I bought it for.
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