Thanks! We thought the music sounded better than people flushing the toilet. We didn't want people thinking this product was "crap" before we got to know it :)
It doesn't look that small and I don't really like twist locks. My current carbon fibre tripod has sand in on of the twist locks and it's a hell to clean. Other than that it looks pretty good.
Twist locks can be problematic if not taken care of. These seem well sealed but also seem easy to remove and clean when needed. The tripod folded is 18.8" which is shorter than a single Manfrotto video monopod and head and about an inch taller than their BeFree system with fluid head. Unlike the BeFree, it is much more heavy duty and can hold 15.4lbs. A small slider, additional fluid head, a monitor, along with a mirror-less body, could all fit. Depends on what you are looking for. Did we mention this also turns into a monopod?
If weight is not a concern then aluminum all the way. Also, we did run into a long term issue with the carbon fibre legs sticking. Basically, the legs would have a hard time retracting so we would have to completely unscrew the lock to get the leg out. Benro USA's warranty team gave us the third degree and treated us like we didn't know what we were doing when the concern was raised. Reluctantly, after weeks of us having to prove to them that it was an issue, they sent a replacement leg and it was aluminum and not carbon. For science, we replaced the one leg completely with the aluminum one and it doesn't stick like the carbon ones. There's definitely some sort of flaw they are not owning up to with the carbon leg version. Maybe they fixed it. Who knows. Would love to hear from anyone regarding their service experience.
@@megatechnews Hmmm it sounds to like they're not very customer service oriented. Pretty calculative. Thanks I'll go with the 4. Although still hoping to find a compact tripod that allows me to set the support column horizontally so I can get some overhead shots.
It's definitely a bit on/off in nature. Not really great in terms of fine tuning. But compared to other similar sized heads like the Manfrotto 500, we feel it's still a step above because you can adjust it somewhat. And it helps keep the package small for travel. So expectations should be tempered.
Hi, Two quick ones: 1. How strong and durable do you think is the lock of the leveling ball? Do you think it will hold ~6kg without slowly slipping aside? 2. When you max out the center column, how sturdy and not shaky is the tripod system? Thanks, Edo
+enagid I guess it depends should follow every answer. But we have used this setup with a Vanguard cross bar and two fluid heads, holding two cameras (A7SII and A6300 with 24-70 and 16-35 full frame lenses) with an Atomos Ninja Flame, v-mount batteries and mics. We had the A6300 and Atomos in cages. It was setup for a good 8 hrs and we were constantly moving around the fluid heads and cameras. It was still level at the end of the day. This was setup to capture interviews. The center column was extended to almost Max a few times because some guests were tall. Someone did trip over a mic cable but it didn't take it down. It did scare us with a big wobble. I'd say we were a good 20lbs in gear (over 7kg). This was probably the worst load we would ever put on it. Does this experience help?
Hi, I finally got the budget to buy the tripod... Thanks for you reply from few months back. It's around half a year after you started using this tripod, so, are you still happy with it as you were at the beginning? Still sturdy enough? Nothing broke until now? Thanks :)
Sorry for the late reply! We still have the tripod. It's still working well for our intended purposes. The only thing that we've been disappointed with is with are the leg locks. One of the legs started to fall out, leaving the shims inside the upper tube for some reason. Then all of the legs started to do this in the largest top section. We showed that it only takes a 180 degree turn to unlock in the video, and they should be smooth. So we definitely know how to use them. Eventually, we reached out to Benro USA. After some "interrogation" (it felt like it!) they are now sending out some new parts to see if this remedies the problem. We should be receiving them in the next couple weeks.
3 out of 5. Benro customer service is condescending and tries to make issues your fault. The bushings were sticking and it took too many emails to get them to send new ones. This might be an issue specific to the carbon version as what we found was that a fine black dust from the carbon legs was causing sticking. Wiping with a clean micro fibre cloth and a spritz of silicone spray has alleviated the issue. It's also impossible to get a smooth pan tilt because over time a weird dead spot has developed in the head. One of the caps that covers the damping has fallen off. Not enough glue was used. Might be time for a follow up video!
Not that we're aware of. It's sold as a system. As long as the 502A is not the bowl version it will work. It's just a standard tripod screw up top. Just take into consideration the additional weight.
Also, please note the issue explained in a comment below to @Miguel Magana regarding the carbon legs sticking. Aluminum might be a better long term solution if weight is not an absolute factor.
Hey Steve, I just picked up the carbon fiber s8 video pro today for traveling in South East Asia, ITS HEAVY and not compact. Probably going to return it after seeing this video. How's the smoothness of the pan and tilt? Thanks
Oh yeah! The S8 is pretty gnarly to carry around unless you need that capacity. The pan tilt isn't smooth initially. I had to "work it in". There was a weird dead spot between level 1 and level 2, but it seemed to have evened out. It's not perfect but it's workable. Best to try it out for yourself though :)
Thanks for the reply, I just ended exchanging the S8 Video Pro for the Aero S7 Carbon Fiber tripod and LOVE IT! So glad I watched your video and that finally helped me decide to make the switch. Just as good if not better for my needs minus the weight. Looking to more great videos!
Does the counter balance on the S7 head work as expected, with a load of 4-5 kg? I mean, the specs claim that it does, but is it really able to, in practice? I intend to mount the Sigma 150-600 S lens with GH5 on the S7, over a monopod. Also, do you think the S7 will last 3-5 years?
The 4 - 5 kg might depend on the weight distribution. It's like being able to play on a see saw if the heavier person shimmies down so you have more leverage. With a lens that long, it may, or may not be 100% reliable. The longest lens we've put on is the SONY FE 70-200 F4 and it holds it no problem. But it's not as heavy or as long as the Sigma so it's a bit of an apple to pear comparison. As for long term reliability, it's hard to say until we get there. But we did already have a small issue with one of the shims getting perpetually stuck about a month ago. The only remedy, when it wouldn't retract, was to remove the leg lock and reset the shims. Now, keep in mind, we only use this tripod indoors so it wasn't an issue with sand or the elements. And our smaller 3LT Corey, which gets dirty on occasion, and uses a similar twist lock, and it has never locked up like this. We did contact Benro and they responded. And while Benro did eventually replace the shim, we felt the experience to get the part was hugely negative. Mainly because we had to keep answering a series of questions that made it seem like it was our fault, and insinuated we didn't know what we were doing. This was from the US distributor (MAC Group). At the end of the interaction, it sounded like they felt they were doing us a favour sending us the shim. And not trying to keep a customer happy. This might only be an issue with this particular distributor though and not Benro as a whole. Thanks for asking your questions. Sorry if they weren't as definitive as you may have liked them to be.
Thanks for the detailed response :) I ordered one and I found that you were right! The counter balance on the S7, even at position 3 and the tilt drag set all the way up, could not hold up the Sigma lens (extended or otherwise) with a Canon 7D attached. But it did work with a 2kg load of Canon 300 f4 + 2x + 7D, with the counter balance set to position 2. So I think the S7 can balance weights upto 2.5 kg.
Music that loud all the way through the video becomes irritating noise! So, easy to have prevented if you had just listened to your video once it was on RUclips. Good information spoiled by annoying sound track
There were a lot of people using the bathroom. The swooshing of water and flushing of the toilet, was more annoying. Everyone was like "what's that noise? can't you drown it out with music?" 😂
![Felix "Unfair" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Oswujxm2Ag0/mqdefault.jpg)
The Benro Aero 7 comes in carbon fiber, is super light, and it might be one of the best travel video tripods yet!
Great video! Much more helpful than the one page of micro-directions it came with attempting to explain all the features.
I don't mind the music at all man lol Keep doing your thing brother! Great review
Thanks! We thought the music sounded better than people flushing the toilet. We didn't want people thinking this product was "crap" before we got to know it :)
MEGATechNews.com lol Yea I hear ya. I just ordered this tripod the other day. Definitely excited to put it to work!!!
Good video man! Very thorough and to the point
It doesn't look that small and I don't really like twist locks. My current carbon fibre tripod has sand in on of the twist locks and it's a hell to clean. Other than that it looks pretty good.
Twist locks can be problematic if not taken care of. These seem well sealed but also seem easy to remove and clean when needed. The tripod folded is 18.8" which is shorter than a single Manfrotto video monopod and head and about an inch taller than their BeFree system with fluid head. Unlike the BeFree, it is much more heavy duty and can hold 15.4lbs. A small slider, additional fluid head, a monitor, along with a mirror-less body, could all fit. Depends on what you are looking for. Did we mention this also turns into a monopod?
@@megatechnews Agreed. "Travel" apparently means "Yeah, you can check it in a bag" No way this will pass as carry-on. Am I wrong?
Should I get the aluminum or the carbon fiber?
If weight is not a concern then aluminum all the way. Also, we did run into a long term issue with the carbon fibre legs sticking. Basically, the legs would have a hard time retracting so we would have to completely unscrew the lock to get the leg out. Benro USA's warranty team gave us the third degree and treated us like we didn't know what we were doing when the concern was raised. Reluctantly, after weeks of us having to prove to them that it was an issue, they sent a replacement leg and it was aluminum and not carbon. For science, we replaced the one leg completely with the aluminum one and it doesn't stick like the carbon ones. There's definitely some sort of flaw they are not owning up to with the carbon leg version. Maybe they fixed it. Who knows. Would love to hear from anyone regarding their service experience.
@@megatechnews Hmmm it sounds to like they're not very customer service oriented. Pretty calculative.
Thanks I'll go with the 4. Although still hoping to find a compact tripod that allows me to set the support column horizontally so I can get some overhead shots.
Sold!
Great intro, do you know which model of 3-leg base will be fit for one of this tripod leg?
Funny you ask that! Check out our other video here - ruclips.net/video/mlL8x86310I/видео.html
This looks great except for the resistance setting on the fluid head for drag. I'd expect that to be higher. How have you found it?
It's definitely a bit on/off in nature. Not really great in terms of fine tuning. But compared to other similar sized heads like the Manfrotto 500, we feel it's still a step above because you can adjust it somewhat. And it helps keep the package small for travel. So expectations should be tempered.
@@megatechnews can you use this with a 502 manfrotto head?
Is the head compatible with arca swiss mounts
+WayTooFast Not out of the box. You can adapt it with a QR plate. It is compatible with Manfrotto PL video plates though.
Hi,
Two quick ones:
1. How strong and durable do you think is the lock of the leveling ball? Do you think it will hold ~6kg without slowly slipping aside?
2. When you max out the center column, how sturdy and not shaky is the tripod system?
Thanks,
Edo
+enagid I guess it depends should follow every answer. But we have used this setup with a Vanguard cross bar and two fluid heads, holding two cameras (A7SII and A6300 with 24-70 and 16-35 full frame lenses) with an Atomos Ninja Flame, v-mount batteries and mics. We had the A6300 and Atomos in cages. It was setup for a good 8 hrs and we were constantly moving around the fluid heads and cameras. It was still level at the end of the day. This was setup to capture interviews. The center column was extended to almost Max a few times because some guests were tall. Someone did trip over a mic cable but it didn't take it down. It did scare us with a big wobble. I'd say we were a good 20lbs in gear (over 7kg). This was probably the worst load we would ever put on it. Does this experience help?
Hi, I finally got the budget to buy the tripod... Thanks for you reply from few months back. It's around half a year after you started using this tripod, so, are you still happy with it as you were at the beginning? Still sturdy enough? Nothing broke until now? Thanks :)
Sorry for the late reply! We still have the tripod. It's still working well for our intended purposes. The only thing that we've been disappointed with is with are the leg locks. One of the legs started to fall out, leaving the shims inside the upper tube for some reason. Then all of the legs started to do this in the largest top section. We showed that it only takes a 180 degree turn to unlock in the video, and they should be smooth. So we definitely know how to use them. Eventually, we reached out to Benro USA. After some "interrogation" (it felt like it!) they are now sending out some new parts to see if this remedies the problem. We should be receiving them in the next couple weeks.
Thank you for that wonderful review! could you find a solution for the legs? how does the head compare to the manfrotto 500?
So it was new in 2017, how has it held up? Scale of 1-5, how strong is your recommendation?
3 out of 5. Benro customer service is condescending and tries to make issues your fault. The bushings were sticking and it took too many emails to get them to send new ones. This might be an issue specific to the carbon version as what we found was that a fine black dust from the carbon legs was causing sticking. Wiping with a clean micro fibre cloth and a spritz of silicone spray has alleviated the issue. It's also impossible to get a smooth pan tilt because over time a weird dead spot has developed in the head. One of the caps that covers the damping has fallen off. Not enough glue was used. Might be time for a follow up video!
Could you pair (purchase) this tripod separately from the head? And could you pair this tripod with the Manfrotto 502A head?
Not that we're aware of. It's sold as a system. As long as the 502A is not the bowl version it will work. It's just a standard tripod screw up top. Just take into consideration the additional weight.
Also, please note the issue explained in a comment below to @Miguel Magana regarding the carbon legs sticking. Aluminum might be a better long term solution if weight is not an absolute factor.
Hey Steve, I just picked up the carbon fiber s8 video pro today for traveling in South East Asia, ITS HEAVY and not compact. Probably going to return it after seeing this video. How's the smoothness of the pan and tilt? Thanks
Oh yeah! The S8 is pretty gnarly to carry around unless you need that capacity. The pan tilt isn't smooth initially. I had to "work it in". There was a weird dead spot between level 1 and level 2, but it seemed to have evened out. It's not perfect but it's workable. Best to try it out for yourself though :)
Thanks for the reply, I just ended exchanging the S8 Video Pro for the Aero S7 Carbon Fiber tripod and LOVE IT! So glad I watched your video and that finally helped me decide to make the switch. Just as good if not better for my needs minus the weight. Looking to more great videos!
+Duc Ta Awesome! And we'll do our best to come back with more.
Does the counter balance on the S7 head work as expected, with a load of 4-5 kg? I mean, the specs claim that it does, but is it really able to, in practice? I intend to mount the Sigma 150-600 S lens with GH5 on the S7, over a monopod. Also, do you think the S7 will last 3-5 years?
The 4 - 5 kg might depend on the weight distribution. It's like being able to play on a see saw if the heavier person shimmies down so you have more leverage. With a lens that long, it may, or may not be 100% reliable. The longest lens we've put on is the SONY FE 70-200 F4 and it holds it no problem. But it's not as heavy or as long as the Sigma so it's a bit of an apple to pear comparison.
As for long term reliability, it's hard to say until we get there. But we did already have a small issue with one of the shims getting perpetually stuck about a month ago. The only remedy, when it wouldn't retract, was to remove the leg lock and reset the shims. Now, keep in mind, we only use this tripod indoors so it wasn't an issue with sand or the elements. And our smaller 3LT Corey, which gets dirty on occasion, and uses a similar twist lock, and it has never locked up like this.
We did contact Benro and they responded. And while Benro did eventually replace the shim, we felt the experience to get the part was hugely negative. Mainly because we had to keep answering a series of questions that made it seem like it was our fault, and insinuated we didn't know what we were doing. This was from the US distributor (MAC Group). At the end of the interaction, it sounded like they felt they were doing us a favour sending us the shim. And not trying to keep a customer happy.
This might only be an issue with this particular distributor though and not Benro as a whole. Thanks for asking your questions. Sorry if they weren't as definitive as you may have liked them to be.
Thanks for the detailed response :) I ordered one and I found that you were right!
The counter balance on the S7, even at position 3 and the tilt drag set all the way up, could not hold up the Sigma lens (extended or otherwise) with a Canon 7D attached.
But it did work with a 2kg load of Canon 300 f4 + 2x + 7D, with the counter balance set to position 2. So I think the S7 can balance weights upto 2.5 kg.
Music that loud all the way through the video becomes irritating noise! So, easy to have prevented if you had just listened to your video once it was on RUclips.
Good information spoiled by annoying sound track
There were a lot of people using the bathroom. The swooshing of water and flushing of the toilet, was more annoying. Everyone was like "what's that noise? can't you drown it out with music?" 😂
And the trains.