Photographers always seem to be in search of the perfect bit of kit, the Holy Grail, that piece of gear that will help their photography. Besides the obvious camera and lenses, photographers will fixate on camera packs, clothing and more. Tripods will figure large At least for those that use them).
I rarely leave home without my camera gear and tripod. A bonus of living on Skye, this means there can be photo opportunities on the way to the shops, mundane chores can be enlivened by photo stops. My favoured tripod of late has been the Benro Tortoise 34CLV and it has accompanied me on a variety of adventures ranging from sea level to mountain top. I’ve only had the tripod for a couple of months but it’s been used pretty much on a daily basis and some of those days have been pretty big.
Zero Dark Thirty starts to be on mountain tops for sunrise. Multi day winter trips involving nights out up high. Snow and hail, ice and frost, it’s been a tough few months. Lower down the tripod was used on beaches, salt water and wind driven sea spray making for a testing environment.
Tripods may, by definition, have three legs but those legs face a near impossible clash of attributes. The ideal tripod would weigh virtually nothing, be superbly strong and stable and cost very little. Tripod manufacturers have to try and balance the laws of physics with economics and, so the saying goes, you can only ever have two of the three; so, take your pick from, stability, price and weight.
Now enter the Tortoise….check out its specs then check the price. Maybe check the price again. According to Benro, the Tortoise is “a compact, lightweight travel tripod, that punches above its weight when it comes to weight capacity and stability.” And with an RRP of £270 it looks to be a bargain if it lives up to the web hype. In fact, check around and you may even find it for sub £240.
Way back in 2018 I needed to replace my battered and busted Gitzo Mountaineer and word of mouth and the internet suggested Benro was worth a look see. 2018 saw me replace the Gitzo with a Benro TMA28C. For quite a few years, it fitted my requirements perfectly but as I grew as a landscape photographer, I began to refine what I was looking for in a tripod.
Firstly, I was really keen to maximize stability, to reduce vibration and camera shake so sought tripods without a centre column. Not just more stable and sturdy but less weight to carry and less bulk; all attributes that struck a chord with my mountain going photography.
The Tortoise looked to fulfil my criteria perfectly. Lightweight at only 1.67kg. Nicely compact, it folds down to 56.5cm yet has a maximum height of 153.5cm and can handle a maximum load capacity of 20kg so far in excess of what I’m ever likely to need.
So, all good in theory but how does the Tortoise handle the real world environment of mountain photography? I like how Benro on its website bills the Tortoise as being “at home in any environment.” Whilst this might sound like some slick advertising slogan, the reality is that it actually does translate into reality.
What do I like about the Tortoise?
1. It’s compact size, especially the short packed length, means it fits easily on the side of my packs of choice (Shimoda Action X50 or X70HD).
2. Lightweight yet very stable. Even in adverse conditions of mega high winds, sleet and snow, the tripod did an awesome job holding my camera steady.
3. Gimmick free and designed straight to the point. It does what’s asked of it rather than having all the unnecessary bells and whistles which potentially add weight, bulk and cost. Does anyone ever use removable tripod legs that double as monopods? Why do people want centre columns which so obviously raise the centre of gravity and reduce the stability of the attached camera? All I want is a straightforward tripod that does its job and that’s exactly what the Tortoise does.
4. The design means it’s really swift to deploy, the twist locks on the legs being super smooth and easy to tighten/loosen. I like the leg lock which automatically lock as the legs open.
5. How low can you go? Well, the Tortoise lives up to its name and can get down as low as 23.5cm so your range of compositions is huge.
6. The twist locking mechanisms are simple and easy to disassemble and clean. After use on the beach where salt water and sand is a constant nightmare then I’ll take the lower leg sections off, disassemble things and rinse in fresh water. The white, inner shims are one piece unlike on some tripods and are super easy to put back into place (something that has often exasperated me on other tripods as I’ve desperately tried to put them back together). Being such a doddle to take apart and put back together means I don’t shirk on cleaning them and it encourages good habits which should prolong the life of the tripod.
7. The CLV bit, the built in levelling base. It’s wonderful not to have to shoggle individual legs u a bit, down a bit, ad nauseum, to achieve a dead level tripod. Having a level tripod is a prerequisite for panoramas taken stitching multiples shots together and this helps hugely. The tripod legs provide a firm base, the levelling base provides the horizontal upon which a head can be set to take the panoramas.
8. Height. 153.5 cm (not including the head) is plenty, you might say. I’m only short and on level ground, the Tortoise is perhaps overkill. However, once I’m up a mountain, high on a rocky ridge then the extra height comes into play. One or two legs may be some height distance down the hill side, another leg on the top of the ridge to achieve a levelish tripod.
9. The Tortoise comes well specced with a great case and an assortment of allen keys and both rubber and spike feet.
10. It’s hard to define but some bits of kit just feel right, feel like well designed tools and fit for purpose. It’s an unquantifiable feel good factor that makes me want to get out and put the tripod to good use.
The not so good: as you can see, I’m really scratching around for negatives.
1. It would be really useful if there was a leveling bubble in the leveling base rather than having to rely on one in whichever head you choose. With a ballhead, for example, the ball needs to be absolutely vertical and centred for the built in bubble to work. It would only be a simple addition but a bubble directly on or attached to the base would make things a lot easier.
2. Knowing that the tripod would be used in harsh weather and conditions, I do everything to try and protect things, In the mountains, I’ll generally use the spiked feet which are provided (along with rubber counterparts). I noticed that the feet provided lack rubber washers so I scrounged some from another tripod. These simple rubber washers fit tight around the screw threads on the feet and help prevent the ingress of water.
3. I absolutely love the leveling base but the knob/lever to control it is a tad small and situated between two legs. It’s workable but verges on the awkward especially in severe conditions when wearing gloves.
NB I note that the Benro Mammoth range have a built in levelling base which is controlled by a twist lock below and I think this may well be something worth checking out since it looks to be more glove friendly.
For most people, most of the time, this control won’t be a problem but the location of the control didn’t feel that intuitive to use but will probably change as my muscle memory learns its position.
I tried the Tortoise with three different heads;
a). The brand new GD36PT which was an eye opener and a lesson in just how good geared heads can be. This has been my preferred option. See separate review.
b). Benro Novoflex NBBH 3 Series Ball Head. This has been used the least but seems to be a beautifully designed and built ball head with a reasonable weight.
c). Benro TH62 Tilt Head. This was a completely leftfield choice and only came as a suggestion by Danny Dullforce. Has been used a fair bit and expect a review in the future. But, to sum up, it’s very light weight at 0.37kg so under half the weight of the geared head. It’s very compact and super sturdy and can handle an astonishing 14kg of camera and lens.
When combined with the Tortoise and its levelling base it offers perhaps the perfect landscape head. The levelling base can be used not just for the obvious levelling but can be panned. Then the TH62 takes care of any tilting required.
This combination weighs in at a smidgen over 2kg (2.04kg) and pretty much ticks all the boxes for me. Maybe in the future, the TH62 and a Mammoth tripod might offer even better performance but at a slight cost in weight.
Conclusion
The fact that I’ve used the Tortoise pretty much every day for two months should tell you all you need to know. When going in the mountains, I realise that often I will see unique moments and wouldn’t risk not capturing them by taking anything but the best gear. Potentially any moment up high could yield a unique combination of light and vista and I like to stack the odds in my favour by taking the best kit available.
With plenty of tripods to choose from, I could easily have just tested the Tortoise for a few days, a low level foray here, a mountain trip there but it was that good that I used it constantly.
Whilst the jury is inevitably out on its long term durability, all I can say is that my oldest Benro tripod dates from 2018 and is still going strong. Benro obviously believe in their products since they come with a three year warranty, extendable to 5 years if you register on line.
The Tortoise range ticks all the right boxes and especially the two versions available with levelling bases. Right weight, right bulk, right stability and all at an extremely competitive price point. All in all, the Tortoise is the right stuff and Benro designers should be congratulated on defying the laws of physics and economics to produce it.
https://uk.benroeu.com/benro-tortoise-34clv-levelling-tripod/
