Benro Geared Head

C

cuillinade

Messages
512
Name
Adrian
Edit My Images
No
Benro Banish Bank Holiday Blues.

After a rather dismal Bank Holiday Week End on Skye, a pleasant surprise this morning as a parcel arrived from Benro UK.

As promised at the end of last week, one of the new geared heads was being sent out for some tough testing in the Cuillin. The GD3WH or Gear Drive 3 Way Head was impressively packed and any courier would have had to work hard to damage it.

First impressions; a top quality product, superbly engineered with absolutely no flex or play. Love the very positive controls and the release mechanisms on the gears so you can speedily move to roughly the right angle. Most importantly, it stays firmly as it is, none of the slight post tightening droop you can get with some ball heads.

Compared to the diminutive B1 Ballhead that I've been using since December, it does seem bulky and a tad heavy but suspect the benefits will make these more than worthwhile.

Photos taken from The Boat House jetty in Sconser so we've got a great testing ground without leaving home.

Anyone out there using a geared head or thinking about it then I'd love to know your thought and experiences. Until Benro introduced this, Manfrotto were the only makers of economically viable geared heads so it'd be great to know how people found them in use. If anyone's got any questions or tests they want done then please ask._DSC6628.jpg_DSC6637.jpg_DSC6640.jpg_DSC6643.jpg_DSC6650.jpg
 
Just about to pull the trigger on one myself.

I spoke to a Benro Rep a few years ago at the Carmarthen camera show and he told me this was in the pipeline but couldn't give me any dates. Glad to see it's finally here.
 
Wasn't aware of this product, from a quick glance it's 50% lighter than the Manfrotto 410 and you get the benefit of an Arca clamp but it's actually very slightly more expensive.

Does it do anything else better than the Manfrotto?
 
simonbarker said:
Wasn't aware of this product, from a quick glance it's 50% lighter than the Manfrotto 410 and you get the benefit of an Arca clamp but it's actually very slightly more expensive.

Does it do anything else better than the Manfrotto?
Click to expand...

Nope. Just lighter and has the arca mount.
It was the QR plate that put me off the Manfrotto as it would have cost another £90 to convert it.
 
The biggest pro for me is the arca compatibility since I have a L bracket permanently fixed to my camera. It's a bit of a personal pet hate, companies that produce oddball fittings that tie you into their system often at great expense. I know I'm miles out in the backwoods living on Skye but if anyone's passing they are welcome to drop in and take a look or compare it to Manfrotto ones if they have them.
 
Definitely not plastic and as Elliot says, it's magnesium alloy.
  • Magnesium Alloy construction:
    Overall weight of just 870g with 6kg weight capacity
 
ecoleman said:
Nope. Just lighter and has the arca mount.
It was the QR plate that put me off the Manfrotto as it would have cost another £90 to convert it.
Click to expand...

I just mounted an Arca clamp on the 410 PL QR plate of my Manfrotto 410, cost a tenner and is very rigid. However with this head on the market there is no need. Looks like a nice piece of kit!
 
I'm amazed Manfrotto persists with it's own generic plate design. SO many people comment on wanting to use Arca type designs which are pretty much universal. John, it certainly looks and feels like a quality product and on the brief trial yesterday all seems good with no obvious design faults.
 
simonbarker said:
50% lighter than the Manfrotto 410
Click to expand...

After starting to get fitter and going up more hills to get (hopefully) better opportunities anything that has the word "lighter" gets my vote

Just bought the BENRO Carbon Fibre TSL08C tripod weighing in at just 1kg so this would be a nice addition I think as I really do like the geared head style and came close to getting a 410 but the weight put me off
 
Plus I do like the colour :)
 
simonbarker said:
Wasn't aware of this product, from a quick glance it's 50% lighter than the Manfrotto 410 and you get the benefit of an Arca clamp but it's actually very slightly more expensive.

Does it do anything else better than the Manfrotto?
Click to expand...

That's the question: how it compares to the Manfrotto 410. The very handy weight saving is clear, but what's it like to work with? Be very interested to hear of any side by side views :)
 
cuillinade said:
I'm amazed Manfrotto persists with it's own generic plate design. SO many people comment on wanting to use Arca type designs which are pretty much universal. John, it certainly looks and feels like a quality product and on the brief trial yesterday all seems good with no obvious design faults.
Click to expand...

To be fair, though it's taken them a while both Manfrotto and sister company Gitzo now offer an Arca-Swiss type quick release as an option on many of their heads.
 
Last edited:
ecoleman said:
This chap uses the larger Manfrotto 405 and he's seems impressed with the Benro.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kt1vdONu1Tg
Click to expand...

Not exactly an unbiased view, since he's just been given a whole pile of Benro kit "on long term test" to promote on his workshops... but I'm pretty sure he's right. TBH it shouldn't be hard to improve on the venerable but heavy and frankly agricultural Manfrotto 410 that is only popular because it's been the only affordable geared head on the market for donkeys years.

But, couldn't he just have put a camera on it, switched to live-view and let us see how the adjustments work on-screen? That's the only thing we can't assess from Benro's marketing material.
 
Can't you blag a review sample from Benro, Richard? :D
 
HoppyUK said:
Not exactly an unbiased view, since he's just been given a whole pile of Benro kit "on long term test" to promote on his workshops... but I'm pretty sure he's right. TBH it shouldn't be hard to improve on the venerable but heavy and frankly agricultural Manfrotto 410 that is only popular because it's been the only affordable geared head on the market for donkeys years.

But, couldn't he just have put a camera on it, switched to live-view and let us see how the adjustments work on-screen? That's the only thing we can't assess from Benro's marketing material.
Click to expand...

I'm no videographer but I'll see what I can do when mine arrives in a few days.

I switched from a Manfrotto 055XProB to a Benro Carbon Fibre Tripod a couple of years ago now and I've been extremely happy with that. They do seem to make good quality kit.

I had a problem with one of the twist locks on one of the legs. It stripped and kept coming off. Benro were great and sent me an entire new leg section to fix it.
 
Last edited:
Nod said:
Can't you blag a review sample from Benro, Richard? :D
Click to expand...

Probably ;) But I'm 'between studios' ATM so a proper review would be difficult, pending a house move that seems to be taking forever. And I'd like to line it up beside the Manfrottos 410 and 405, plus Arca-Swiss D4, to make a decent magazine review so a bit more involved.

Having said that, I'd be amazed if it doesn't beat the M'frotto 410 fairly easily.
 
ecoleman said:
I'm no videographer but I'll see what I can do when mine arrives in a few days.

I switched from a Manfrotto 055XProB to a Benro Carbon Fibre Tripod a couple of years ago now and I've been extremely happy with that. They do seem to make good quality kit.

I had a problem with one of the twist locks on one of the legs. It stripped and kept coming off. Benro were great and sent me an entire new leg section to fix it.
Click to expand...

Cheers Elliott (y) Smooth, easy and accurate precision is what I'd like confirmed, and how 'solid' is it when tilted over? Both the Manfrottos rely on inherent resistance and friction within the screw drive mechanism to hold position. It works well enough but there's no solid lock as such and it's always niggled me.
 
Last edited:
Initial use suggests it is very smooth and accurate and easy to adjust. It all feels really solid and well made. I'm mainly only using it with small mirrorless cameras but be interesting to see some feedback from anyone using geared heads and larger systems.
 
cuillinade said:
Initial use suggests it is very smooth and accurate and easy to adjust. It all feels really solid and well made. I'm mainly only using it with small mirrorless cameras but be interesting to see some feedback from anyone using geared heads and larger systems.
Click to expand...

ditto.

Received mine this morning and it really is a solid bit of kit. The only problem is that my levelling base gets in the way of the knobs so I've had to order a 30mm spacer from Speed Graphic.

The movement is very smooth no movement once your position is set. I'll try and get some video over the weekend with a few different sized lenses.
 
Last edited:
ecoleman said:
ditto.

Received mine this morning and it really is a solid bit of kit. The only problem is that my levelling base gets in the way of the knobs so I've had to order a 30mm spacer from Speed Graphic.

The movement is very smooth no movement once your position is set. I'll try and get some video over the weekend with a few different sized lenses.
Click to expand...

Have used it over the last week and it's certainly a solid bit of kit and once the position is set then it stays set with no movement what so ever.. Will be interesting to see your video with a range of lenses etc.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top