106 http://www.digitalcameraworld.com
SUPERTEST
CONSTRUCTION MATERIAL Aluminium
ALTERNATIVE MATERIAL Carbon,
1.93kg, £210/$270
WEIGHT 2.16kg
FOLDED HEIGHT 48cm
MAX, MIN OPERATING HEIGHT 190cm,
20.5cm (LAA)
MAX MONOPOD HEIGHT 177cm
HEAD ADJUSTMENTS Lock, pan
BALL HEAD Kenro BB2
QUICK-RELEASE PLATE Arca-Swiss type
LOAD RATING 8kgSPECIFICATIONS
KENRO ULTIMATE
TRAVEL £139/$180
Unique in this Super Test, the Kenro is a veritable
leaning tower of a tripodpivoting centre column is
usually off-limits for
travel tripods. Their
lightweight build makes
them more prone to toppling
over when using the centre
column as a horizontal boom.
That makes the Kenro unique in
present company, but it’s also
about a third heavier than most
competing tripods on test, and
twice as heavy as three of them.
The Kenro has chunky
four-section legs and a
two-section extending centre
column design. In this case the
combo does more than enabling
a tall max operating height of
190cm. At the centre column’s
max extension, you can pivot it
through 90 degrees and feed
it back through the retaining
bracket to enable the horizontal
boom feature. A secondary
panning lock screw is also
ÀWWHGWRWKHFODPS7KHEDOO
head is chunky and features
an independent panning lock
and two spirit levels, but no
adjustable friction damper.
Another unique aspect of the
Kenro in this group is that it
comes with foot pads that haveretractable metal spikes. It’s a
bit quicker than unscrewing
pads or spikes and rummaging
around for alternative footwear.Performance
The controls operate with
smooth precision – from the
twist clamps on the leg sections,
through the spring-loaded leg
angle locks, to the main clamp
and pan-release on the ball
head. It’s a solid tripod that
delivers good rigidity and
performance, but is a
heavyweight and has the
biggest folded size in the group.FEATURES
VERDICT
01
The ball head has
an independent
panning lock
and Arca-Swiss
quick-release plate.02
Not just telescopic,
the centre column
converts to a
horizontal boom.03
The horizontal boom
mode is good for
low-level shooting.04
The four-section
legs have a wider
diameter than in
competing tripods.05
The foot pads have a
screw-action to show
the metal spikes.FEATURESBUILD & HANDLINGPERFORMANCEVALUEOVERALL030402A
UP, UP AND AWAY
Most current travel tripods owe something to Leonardo da Vinci
decade ago, the Giotto’s
company launched a series of
Vitruvian tripods, named after
Leonardo da Vinci’s drawing, The
Vitruvian Man. As in the drawing, the
legs swing upwards but, in the case of
the Giotto’s tripods they swung up,
adopting a vertically upright orientation.
The trick was, by fully extending the
centre column before swinging the legsup, the tripod head no longer extended
beyond the length of the legs, making
the carrying size smaller.
Another trick of Vitruvian tripods
was that you could unscrew one of the
tripod legs, detach the centre column,
and join the two to use as a monopod,
complete with ball head. Both facets of
the design have been adopted in the
majority of current travel tripods.A
All of the tripods on test have swing-up legs and only
the Sirui and Vanguard lack a monopod configuration0105