Photo Plus - USA (2019-07)

112 http://www.digitalcameraworld.com

SUPERTEST

COMPARISON TABLE

FEATURES

BUILD & HANDLING

PERFORMANCE

VALUE

OVERALL

THE WINNER IS... BENRO IFOTO 19AIB0

The Benro goes to show that compromise can be a great thing

airly small and light, but with a notable

load rating, excellent rigidity and superb

versatility, Benro’s new iFoto is a perfect

compromise between compactness and

usefulness. It’s a great performer and

undercuts most competitors for price.

The Manfrotto Element Traveller Big is

another solid performer and similarly

inexpensive, although it doesn’t fold down as

small. Manfrotto’s Befree 2N1 is poorer value at

twice the price in the UK. The Kenro is an

attractive proposition, if you want a pivoting

centre column, but is larger and more weighty.

The Novo has a similar size but is lighter, thanks

to its carbon fibre rather than aluminium, and

it’s top value for a sturdy carbon tripod.

For a really down-sized travel tripod, the

Vanguard takes top honours for performance

and handling. Like the larger Novo, it’s also great

value for a carbon fibre kit.

F

NAME BENRO IFOTO

19AIB0

BENRO SLIM

TRAVEL FSL09CN00

KENRO ULTIMATE

TRAVEL

MANFROTTO ELEMENT

TRAVELLER BIG

MANFROTTO

BEFREE 2N1

NOVO EXPLORA T5 SIRUI T-005 VANGUARD VEO 2

GO 235CB

http://www.benroeu.com http://www.benroeu.com http://www.kenro.co.uk http://www.manfrotto.co.uk http://www.manfrotto.co.uk http://www.novo-photo.com http://www.sirui.com http://www.vanguardworld.co.uk

Product

reference code FIF19AIB0 FSL09CN00 KENTR401 MKELEB5BK-BH MKBFRTA4B-BHM NV-EXT5KT T-005/B-00 VEO2GO235CB

Construction material Aluminium Carbon fibre Aluminium Aluminium Aluminium Carbon fibre Aluminium Carbon fibre

Folded height 35cm 32cm 48cm 42cm 41cm 47cm 32cm 33cm

Max, min

operating height 148cm, 35cm 130cm, 31cm 190cm, 20.5cm (LAA) 165cm, 41cm 150cm, 40cm 161cm, 24.5cm (LAA)

141cm, 8cm (w/o

column) 143cm, 21cm (LAA)

Max monopod height 152cm 133cm 177cm 171cm 156cm 167cm N/A N/A

Weight 1.64kg 1.07kg 2.16kg 1.62kg 1.6kg 1.43kg 1.1kg 1.06kg

Load rating 8kg 4kg 8kg 8kg 8kg 10kg 5kg 4kg

Sections per leg/

centre column 5/2 sections 5/2 sections 4/2 sections 5/1 sections 4/1 sections 4/1 sections 5/2 sections 5/2 sections

Leg section diameters 25, 22, 18, 15, 12mm 22, 18, 15, 12, 9mm 28, 25, 22, 19mm 25, 22, 19, 16, 13mm 23, 19, 16, 12mm 25, 21, 18, 14mm 22, 19, 16, 13, 10mm 23, 20, 17, 14, 11mm

Locking leg angles 3 angles 2 angles 3 angles 3 angles 3 angles 3 angles 3 angles 3 angles

Leg extension locks Twist Twist Twist Twist Twist Twist Twist Twist

Pivoting centre

column No (invert only) No (invert only)

0/90 degrees (LAA,

invert) No (invert only) No (invert only) No (LAA, invert) No (removeable) No (LAA, invert)

Levels (legs, head) 0, 1 bubble 0, 1 bubble 0, 2 spirit 0, 2 bubble None 0, 1 bubble 0, 1 bubble 0, 1 bubble

Feet Pads + spikes Pads Pads (retractable spikes) Pads + spikes Pads Pads + spikes Pads Pads + spikes

Case/bag included Padded soft case Unpadded bag Padded soft case Padded bag Padded soft case Padded soft case Unpadded bag Padded bag

Target price £99/$119 £125/$149 £139/$180 £100/$149 £199/$195 £219/$219 £110/$145 £179/$220