Benro Bat Zero Series 5-Section Aluminum Travel Tripod/Monopod with VX20 Ball Head

2025-12-06T14:15:04

For about 15 years, I've been using a Benro A1690T travel tripod, which overall has worked quite well and is still going strong. It's under 4 pounds, sets up quickly and packs relatively small. I decided to upgrade with this Bat series tripod, and it's just so much nicer all around and weighs less than half a pound more than my old Benro. It's rock solid and beefy, without being overly heavy and bulky, and I like that you can easily invert the legs to get the camera directly over a subject for macro work without having to remove the center column (like on my old Benro) and invert it. Not a huge deal, just a time saver. The adjustability of the legs on the Bat series is quite good. I also like that they lock into place. With my old tripod, they folded up easily if I was moving from one spot to another, but sometimes one leg would be a bit cockeyed and once I almost knocked over my camera as a result. Not an issue with this tripod. The only thing I don't like is the bubble level is difficult to read (especially indoors) with older eyes - my old Benro is much better in this regard. While I have a pretty robust Manfrotto monopod, I also like that you can turn this into a monopod as well, which saves weight/space. It's not as robust as my Manfrotto, but it'll easily get the job done with my heaviest lens/camera combo of 9 pounds on it.

Dana R.