The Canon Magazine 109
TRAVEL TRIPODS
CONSTRUCTION MATERIAL Carbon fibre
ALTERNATIVE MATERIAL None
WEIGHT 1.43kg
FOLDED HEIGHT 47cm
MAX, MIN OPERATING HEIGHT 161cm,
24.5cm (L A A)
MAX MONOPOD HEIGHT 167cm
HEAD ADJUSTMENTS Lock, pan
BALL HEAD Novo CBH-34
QUICK-RELEASE PLATE Arca-Swiss type
LOAD RATING 10kgSPECIFICATIONS
NOVO
EXPLORA T5 £219/$219
S turdy yet lightweight, this is an exceptional carbon
fibre tripod for this price pointhis is the smallest, lightest
and most inexpensive of
Novo’s three Explora
T-ser ies t r ipod k its, t he
others being the T10 and T20.
Even so, its fairly large-
diameter, four-section legs and
robust ball head enable a max
load rating of 10kg, beating
every other tripod on test. Novo
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tripods, so there’s no
aluminium option, but the price
is competitive considering the
construction material and build
quality of all the components.
The design is conventional
by the latest standards, with a
single-section centre column,
three lockable leg angles and
twist-action clamps. As such,
the folded size isn’t that small
and it’s only a centimetre
shorter than the Kenro tripod
on test, at 47cm. The max
operating height is generous at
161cm and 167cm in monopod
form. A nice touch also featured
in the Kenro and Vanguard
tripods in the group is that the
Novo is supplied with a low
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the ball head instead of thecentre-column. This enables
ultra-low shooting heights, in
this case down to 24.5cm.Performance
Performance of the legs is nice
in all respects and the ball head
is a thing of beauty, complete
with two independent panning
locks and an adjustable friction
damper that’s built into the
main locking knob. However,
as with the Benro heads, the
bubble level is obscured by the
Arca-Swiss quick-release plate
when the camera is mounted
on the tripod.FEATURES
VERDICT
01
Panning locks are
fitted to the main
body of the ball head
and upper platform.02
The main locking
knob of the ball head
has a built-in friction
damping adjuster.03
The centre-column
has a spring-loaded
weight hook.04
A spring-loaded
catch at the top of
each leg enables the
selection of three
locking leg angles.05
The rubber foot pads
can be pulled off to
reveal metal spikes.FEATURESBUILD & HANDLINGPERFORMANCEVALUEOVERALL0203T
HEADS UP
When choosing a tripod, it’s not just about the legs
ll of the tripod kits on test come
with ball heads, so the quality of
the head is an important buying
consideration. Smaller, more lightweight
tripods tend to have a lower max load
rating. For example, it’s 4kg for the Benro
Slim Travel and Vanguard VEO 2 GO, and
5kg for the SIRUI T-005. All of these have
small ball heads but still perform well
with the payload they’re designed for.The Benro head lacks an independent
panning lock, which is featured in the
Sirui and Vanguard heads. The other kits
with 8-10kg load ratings have chunkier,
more heavy-duty heads. All feature
independent panning locks and, apart
from the heads supplied with the Kenro
Ultimate Travel and Manfrotto Element
Traveller Big kits, these larger ball heads
have adjustable friction dampers.A
The adjustable friction damper featured in most of
the larger ball heads is useful when using heavy
camera and lens combinations010405