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Hello all,

I think I'm going tripod mad... I've been putting off getting a tripod for a long time after reading Thom Hogan's advice but it is now long overdue and I want to do it right. After hours of research, I have pretty much narrowed down my choice to:

- Markins M10 ballhead
- Benro C-297 tripod

I considered the Benro ballheads but was a little put off by some reason doubts about their quality. Plus, the Markins looks great and I don't think I can go wrong with it. I also was considering Gitzo legs but I don't think they are worth the multiple times the Benro legs...

Anyway, to my question: Is the Benro C-297 still a current tripod? It seems to be the latest technology n6 like the others but for some reason it is not listed on the Benro site in the C-series section. Does anyone know what the story is? I'd also like a bit more information on how the centrepost works - I like the idea of the flexible angles but I can't quite see how it works from the pics on the Benro site.

Any help / photos of the C-297 / suggestions etc would be most appreciated!

Thanks,

Stephen PS: My current heaviest setup is the D200 + grip + 70-200VR + 1.7TC (+ SB-800 maybe)

Hybrid wrote:Is the Benro C-297 still a current tripod?

It was released in about September of last year, so yes.

but for some reason it is not listed on the Benro site in the C-series section. Does anyone know what the story is?

Which Benro site were you looking at? There are several, none of them accurate nor definitive.

I need to fire up the laptop and pull some data from there, which I believe has the correct references and information.

More to do ....

I'd also like a bit more information on how the centrepost works - I like the idea of the flexible angles but I can't quite see how it works from the pics on the Benro site.

We have quite a few people here who have this model, so I'm sure they will answer this for you.



Any help / photos of the C-297 / suggestions etc would be most appreciated!

Thanks,

Stephen PS: My current heaviest setup is the D200 + grip + 70-200VR + 1.7TC (+ SB-800 maybe)[/quote]

Thanks for the prompt reply Gary. I was looking at all the Benro sites I could find (benro.cn, benro.com.cn and photopal.co.uk). I really must be going crazy though because I looked again and found myself on the page I was looking for -- I hadn't realised the C-297 was called the "flexpod" so I was only looking for it on the C-series page. It seems a little odd that they don't list it there but now I know what's going on...

The photopal website has the best info and pictures that I've been able to find: http://photopal.co.uk/index.php?cPath=38

From those photos I can get a much better idea of how the centre post works but I'm still interested to hear any "real world" experiences people have had with using it and how stable it is...

Thanks!

Stephen

Oh and one more question, if I was to order it from the bargains section, do you know how long it would take to ship (ie. is it in stock currently)?

Thanks,

Stephen

I think that, even if Poon doesn't have it in stock, one week has been typical.

He has time between when he sees your order and when your payment turns up in his bank account to get stock delivered, so the system actually works pretty well in that regard.

Excellent, thanks Gary! I hope to be making a decision very soon.

It is current.

The C-297 can be seen at:
http://www.benro.cn/Product/1/pa5.html

The benro.cn site has current information. The C-297 is part of what they call their "THE VERSATILE HVC FLEXPOD", that's why it's not showing in their regular C models.

cheers,

André

Cheers André I just realised that this morning - all these different model numbers are enough to make your head spin!

There's an interesting article on tripod. You may find it useful:

http://www.prime-junta.net/pont/Pontifi ... tml?page=1

Thanks Joey - I think I recall reading that article some time ago but had forgotten about it. That site has a lot of interesting content...

I ended up ordering the Benro C-297 and it should be here any day now!