00:00I'm here in New Zealand we're currentlyĀ
in Arrowtown and I thought today wouldĀ Ā
00:04be the perfect opportunity to showcaseĀ
the two tripods I brought on this trip
00:45all right so we're here in Arrowtown weĀ
got here at first light this morning andĀ Ā
00:49basically had the whole area to ourselves anyĀ
composition that we jumped up we could go andĀ Ā
00:55photograph without having issues of peopleĀ
or cars or anything in our way so it madeĀ Ā
00:59for a really beautiful morning the sun's justĀ
about to Peak over the mountains but we've gotĀ Ā
01:06this first light and as you can see everythingĀ
is looking very Lush vibrant full of array ofĀ Ā
01:12colors almost like a skittles packet it's justĀ
been sprayed all over the Mountainside hereĀ Ā
01:16so Greg and I are just going to head downĀ
this path we're going to look for someĀ Ā
01:20other compositions I was here back in 2017Ā
in July and this whole area was covered inĀ Ā
01:26snow so it was really difficult for us toĀ
walk around and take photos and there's aĀ Ā
01:32few compositions that I actually want to toĀ
capture this time down near the water thereĀ Ā
01:37down near the river so we're going to jump overĀ
to that spot now and capture some more photos
02:02now we've got the benro Rhino tripod overĀ
here and the benro Tortoise tripod on my leftĀ Ā
02:10these two tripods are both from benro and theyĀ
fit my kit perfectly with two very differentĀ Ā
02:16styles of shooting now the Rhino tripod over hereĀ
has a center column natively it is a little bitĀ Ā
02:24shorter than the tortoise but when I use thatĀ
Center column and raise it up it enables me toĀ Ā
02:30get to a much higher level this tripod is reallyĀ
great for travel photography when I need to getĀ Ā
02:36to that higher level to shoot over people or justĀ
to get over the railings that they might have atĀ Ā
02:42tourist hot spots with the tortoise tripod thisĀ
one doesn't have a center column it does haveĀ Ā
02:50a hook very similar to the Rhino tripod so I canĀ
weigh down any any tripods if I've got heavy windĀ Ā
02:57but where this tripod comes in handy is anyĀ
seascapes or nature scenes where I want to getĀ Ā
03:03really low to the ground where I want to includeĀ
the foreground perfect for a spot like this whereĀ Ā
03:08we've got the native foliage and the yellow andĀ
orange leaves falling on the ground I'm able toĀ Ā
03:13get my tripod right down to the ground really lowĀ
to give me that unique perspective to be able toĀ Ā
03:19create unique shots the tortoise tripod this oneĀ
here is the 35c it is a five section carbon fiberĀ Ā
03:27tripod which has four locking Knuckles now it doesĀ
take that little bit longer to unlock all the allĀ Ā
03:34of the knuckles but it gives me the height andĀ
gives me a much shorter tripod when it's packedĀ Ā
03:40down when I'm traveling so this is the one I optĀ
to when I need to pack super light and travel awayĀ Ā
03:45the Rhino tripod doesn't come in that much heavierĀ
but it does give me the flexibility to get higherĀ Ā
03:51above a lot of the tourists I can also clamp theĀ
legs down close together extend the center allĀ Ā
03:57and use it as a makeshift drone when drones aren'tĀ
available so I can get a really high perspectiveĀ Ā
04:03with my 45 megapixel R5 camera to give me the bestĀ
resolution possible for that unique perspective soĀ Ā
04:11I'm going to show you the difference between theĀ
tortoise tripod and the Rhino tripod and show youĀ Ā
04:15what key features they have and why I use themĀ
in certain circumstances right here I've got theĀ Ā
04:21benro Rhino tripod and the camera that I'm filmingĀ
on at the moment is with the benro tortoise tripodĀ Ā
04:27now they're very different in their own wayĀ
they're both carbon fiber tripods now one ofĀ Ā
04:33the other things that is great about this tripodĀ
is that one of the legs removes and I can use itĀ Ā
04:39as a single monopod attachment to my camera asĀ
well so that just gives me extra stability ifĀ Ā
04:44I'm doing any sports Wildlife photography whereĀ
I'm kind of positioned in the one spot for a longĀ Ā
04:49period of time now one of the best things that IĀ
would recommend that is a third-party accessoryĀ Ā
04:56the quick release plates are amazing but I wouldĀ
always recommend putting these straight onto aĀ Ā
05:02telephoto lens mount so 70-200 or 100-400 MountĀ
that will allow you to attach that to the tripodĀ Ā
05:10collar and use that for that particular lens andĀ
I have all these attached to my longer lenses forĀ Ā
05:17my actual camera though I highly recommend anĀ
L bracket now normally when you attach a cameraĀ Ā
05:25you only have this functionality in thisĀ
operation when you want to go into portraitĀ Ā
05:31orientation the only option you have is to findĀ
the little Notch within the ball head and drop theĀ Ā
05:40camera down now that's great in theory for theĀ
most part it works really well and you'll findĀ Ā
05:46this on every ball head on every tripod but whatĀ
happens if you're at a really precarious angleĀ Ā
05:51with your tripod and you've splayed your legsĀ
right out and you've gotten down nice and lowĀ Ā
05:58you can't get that Horizon perfectly straightĀ
every time now sometimes it works perfectly fineĀ Ā
06:03but you'll find that there's situations where youĀ
just are pushing the limits you're a little bitĀ Ā
06:10locked up there and you can't put the camera anyĀ
further so one thing I find is that being able toĀ Ā
06:16mount it differently allows me to not have thoseĀ
issues the other problem is instead of having allĀ Ā
06:23the weight vertically over the tripod itself whenĀ
we start to put our cameras and lenses down likeĀ Ā
06:30this we cause our our tripod to be unstable we putĀ
all the weight of the camera on an angle so if weĀ Ā
06:38don't have a leg tightened properly or we're on aĀ
very tight angle it's very easy to lose the cameraĀ Ā
06:47so that's another reason why an L bracket is aĀ
highly recommended accessory that I always haveĀ Ā
06:54in my camera bag now I always have mine mountedĀ
to my camera unless I'm shooting video or unless IĀ Ā
07:00need to do something else where I need that mountĀ
off but for the most part it's always attached theĀ Ā
07:05quick easy part of being able to attach itĀ
vertically like that all the weight is overĀ Ā
07:10the center column over the main structure of theĀ
tripod itself and allows me to readjust recomposeĀ Ā
07:17any position I want and quickly and easily switchĀ
straight back to landscape mode what I might doĀ Ā
07:25is switch tripods and we'll talk a little bitĀ
about the tortoise tripod now so here we haveĀ Ā
07:30the tortoise tripod now the one I have is theĀ
tortoise 35c so it's carbon fiber again same asĀ Ā
07:38the Rhino tripod but as you can see it is a littleĀ
bit taller so this is a five section carbon fiberĀ Ā
07:45tripod it has four Knuckles rather than three soĀ
there are a few extra twists to do when settingĀ Ā
07:53it up completely but for me the extra height isĀ
really necessary especially when I'm trying toĀ Ā
07:59get those frames where I'm slightly higher at aĀ
different perspective or trying to get shoot overĀ Ā
08:04particular railings or sections when I'm travelingĀ
so quick trick to pack down your tripod unlockĀ Ā
08:10all of the legs and all of the leg locks first andĀ
then use gravity just to slide it all the way downĀ Ā
08:20that way you can tip it up
08:27and lock them all together
08:31and you're good to go I've got my ball headĀ
on Top This is the gx30 that comes with thisĀ Ā
08:38main kit but then the leveling base I haveĀ
as attached as well now the leveling baseĀ Ā
08:44is really handy because if I'm not completelyĀ
leveling instead of having to readjust my legsĀ Ā
08:50what I can do is use the spirit levelĀ
on the top and just adjust the base
08:58and now I'm completely level without having toĀ
touch the legs now if I'm going to shoot panoramasĀ Ā
09:04and I've got my camera set up in verticalĀ
mode now that I know my legs are nice andĀ Ā
09:09level I can then use my spirit levels on my ballĀ
head I've actually got them on my L bracket here
09:19and now that I've got that nice and squared offĀ
I know that the Panorama I shoot is going to beĀ Ā
09:24perfect and seamless I'm not going to haveĀ
when I'm compiling the images together I'mĀ Ā
09:28not going to have white spaces top and bottom IĀ
know that I've got a perfectly straight HorizonĀ Ā
09:33no matter where I spin even if I were to do aĀ
360. a lot of the time when you have a tripodĀ Ā
09:40that doesn't have a living base or you don'tĀ
get the the added accessory you find that ifĀ Ā
09:45your legs aren't level your panoramas start toĀ
stoop down or lift up as you pan left and rightĀ Ā
09:52so having a leveling base is really goingĀ
to help you it also helps you when you'reĀ Ā
09:56maneuvering and adjusting into a really obscureĀ
angle where you've got your legs splayed outĀ Ā
10:02and you can readjust to give you aĀ
little bit more of an upright position
10:11to get your frame make sureĀ
you're all nice and level
10:16so that's an attachment that I reallyĀ
enjoy on this particular tripod I useĀ Ā
10:21it here to give me that extra height becauseĀ
I don't have a center column that's an extraĀ Ā
10:25couple of inches on top of the the height of theĀ
tripod that just gets me that little bit taller
10:38some other great features the feet can be removedĀ
and you can add spikes so if we were shooting inĀ Ā
10:45sand or in in soft dirt or if we're shooting inĀ
the snow having spikes to dig into the ground toĀ Ā
10:52make sure the tripod doesn't slip and moveĀ
is really really important for most of theĀ Ā
10:57time I'm always using the rubber feet but theyĀ
do spin off so make sure that if you have theĀ Ā
11:03tripod and you're using quite frequently justĀ
to make sure that they're they're nipped upĀ Ā
11:07nice and tight so you don't unscrew them andĀ
lose them in the field somewhere so there's aĀ Ā
11:11whole bunch of different reasons on why I useĀ
both they both have their own characteristicsĀ Ā
11:16that I really enjoy and it's something that IĀ
feel I needed both different tripods one to beĀ Ā
11:22able to do these Vlogs in these videos for youĀ
guys but two to be able to have that varietyĀ Ā
11:27when I'm out shooting that's a little breakdownĀ
of these two tripods very versatile the levelingĀ Ā
11:34base is a must for most of your tripods justĀ
to give you that extra ability just to balanceĀ Ā
11:40it out for me the most important thing is anĀ
L bracket I'll put all of the links down inĀ Ā
11:47the comments below so don't forget to check outĀ
the benro tripods and I also have a code throughĀ Ā
11:53Maxxum who distribute Benro tripods if you wantĀ
to use that code it's pc10 to get 10 off so guysĀ Ā
12:00that's it from me in terms of the tripods I'mĀ
going to get back to shooting but if you haveĀ Ā
12:04any questions drop them in the comments below orĀ
if you have any other ideas I'm really Keen toĀ Ā
12:09see what you guys think and find out what youĀ
guys want to learn next thanks very much bye
