Review - Benro S8 video fluid head

[@plunder1956]

Sometimes the bowel adapter for the head itself, has 3 grub screws from below to prevent the 3/8 screw unscrewing. Most Manfrotto heads are locked on that way. Easy to miss, but very useful.

[@davidfrisken1617]

plunder1956 - Your "bowel adapter" would be an aftermarket third party product I presume, and probably best not spoken about in public. Sorry, it made me laugh when I read it. I lost both of my parents to bowel cancer which is now in my head, and considering the "1956" it is understandably in the back of your mind as well. Cheers.

[@3rdeyemedia854]

I just purchased this unit from Amazon and absolutely love it. However, the Benro 75HB does lock to the head. if you look at the Half Ball Adapter there are three set screws which when enabled prevent the head from turning and coming off the adapter. If you look closely at your video ( at 6:00 - 6:08) those scratches that are on the bottom of your head are from these three screws. They are protruding only slightly causing you to still be able to force the head off but enough to still scratch up the bottom of your head. If you tighten the head and then tighten the three set screws it will no longer be able to come off the Half Ball. I purchased the Manfrotto 502 and hated it. It could not handle the weight of my rig and I hated the lock being on the wrong side. It made me forget to lock off before removing hand from handle. ALL the adjustments of the Benro can be done with the left hand so I never have to remove my right hand from the handle. Also the 502 does not have adjustable counter balance so this is more comparable to the 504 which to me is not worth the extra money. For $450 with sticks I couldn't ask for more.

[@Pharesm]

What table tripod is that you're using? Looks really solid!

[@alpinewonders]

Very informative thanks, and well put over. Mine arrived today. I`ve no experience with fluid heads so have learnt quite a bit today. I`m putting only 2.5kg on it to start but the load is still snapping back up at counterbalance 1 (pan and drag 0 of course). I`m wondering have you found the 2.5kg figure for position 1 to be under-estimated?

[@croppedgear]

Hi there, I'm afraid the only place I can find the 2.5kg mark is on one of the Ebay offerings. I don;t think those are the official numbers, mate. I do think that 2.5kg is too light for an 8kg head. From my experience counterbalance steps start at around half the maximum load, in this case around 4kg. At counterbalance 1 you will however be able to simply lock the head in place at the right angle. It's not perfect, but it's something :)

[@alpinewonders]

Cropped Gear I`ve got it balanced with 3.2kg at step 1 but had to lift the camera quite a height above the head to put pressure on the springs. This perhaps ties in with your 4kg which presumably is without raising the camera.Thanks anyway.

[@xWood4000]

I think one important difference is that the sachtler head actually has fluid cartridges while this is a friction fluid head. That's why the drag isn't very good

[@aleterro]

the review is nice but the point is: how smooth is it when it comes to pan and tilt?? you should provide some test actual footage ... :)

[@freeridediablo2]

normally there are screws on the bottom of the bowl adapter that you can screw in to secure the head really tight! :)

[@croppedgear]

I think what you mean is the screws that sometimes enable you to screw in the halfball to the head, but the trouble with the low profile locking mechanism isnt there. It's with securing the halfball to the bowl of the tripod.

[@e11world]

Great review. I'm actually considering the s7 video head and wanted some feedback. No reviews online for it. Thinking of getting it to use with the Sirui P204S monopod. I was also wondering if the giottos mh621 plate would fit this or the s7 base plate? Final thing I wanted to know is the name of the tripod you're using. Looks awesome.

[@davidfrisken1617]

The video shows the counter balance not working. Other reviewers also seem to have issues with the counter balance. Were you able to get it functioning, or did it have issues at the extremes?

[@byzantiomaulana9616]

What tripod did you use with the benro s8 in this video?

[@marcioslsouza]

Great review! What's the tripod model you used along with the head on this video?

[@CharlesTLam]

I own one and it's the best, actually I have about 10 kg on it and works like a dream

[@croppedgear]

10 KG - damn, and I thought I was crazy loading that much gear on such a cheap head :P But yea, it works well. The release button is just a bit sticky here. Do you have that issue as well?

[@CharlesTLam]

Actually no..wonder if you havr a bad unit..mine works great, don' t know if you can pick up this pic on FB..but it's my get up with 2 night vision cameras, camcorder and accessories, looks messy but works great.. facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=797837650267799&set=pb.100001247143180.-2207520000.1416411345.&type=3&theater

[@croppedgear]

Charles Lamoureux I'm affraid that link leads to hidden content which either doesnt exist anymore, or I am not allowed to view. Oh well, the sticky release button is just a minor annoyance, nothing major luckilly :) Other than that, its a great head.

[@CharlesTLam]

Cropped Gear too bad, don't know how else to add the photo..anyways its just under 10 kg of cameras on the head, yes I agree it's great..thanks

[@Spencer635]

Cropped Gear I don't have problems with the release myself but sometimes the plate gets jammed going in, and in part jams the button. It's like most things in these mid level price range, they're great value but they're not 100% perfect.

[@JosephLeNoach]

great review - can you tell me the "short" tripod you're using w/the Benro?

[@croppedgear]

Thanks! It's the Induro LFB75s. One of my other reviews is about that little tripod. Check it out for more info, if you want :) Review - Induro LFB75S Hi-hat/Baby tripod

[@Spencer635]

They're called hi hat tripods. This guy's got a great review on the induro.

[@supaman979]

hi. great review. could you please tell me what tripod legs those are. they look awesome. thank you

[@croppedgear]

+MrSupa Man It's the Induro LFB75s. One of my other reviews is about that little tripod. Check it out for more info, if you want :) kzbin.info/www/bejne/aXq4l4N8gbqYi8k

[@TheLaura1655]

can you helpme.! Ive just taken out that s8 and need to put it on the tripod but problem is i cant see how to remove the existing head s4. do you need a tool to remove the head. I dont have instructions and in the middle of nowhere now..thnks!

[@TimetoShinePhotographybyMike]

Can Benro S8 fluid Head be attached somehow to Bogen tripod Model # 3246 ? Please Help me out there I need an definite answer before I buy it

[@n0g4rdd3r9]

4:24 I guess with 10 inch arms it would be a bit of a challenge to move

[@RobV523]

does this work with the kessler kwik release plate?

[@RizHail]

hi great review. can you do review of new Benro S7 & Benro BV4 ??

[@croppedgear]

RizHail Hey man, good to hear you like the review. I would love to do reviews on more of these heads and other pieces of gear, but at the moment I can only afford to do reviews on gear I actually have and/or need. At the moment I am not looking for new heads, so I probably will not review any more heads soon. If I can get my hands on one for free, then sure thing! :)

[@jaymovez]

This head is almost as good as the 502HD but not quite in terms of tilt smoothness. I got this because I hated the placement of the 502 pan lock, and originally I loved this head but I had to send it back for replacement 4 times already. It's a good head, but it DOES NOT LAST! After a few months or I had all sorts of issues. Firstly the fluid leaked out from the head, and it lost all of it's restraints. After that replacement, I had another issue after some use where the bubble level was always off by a huge degree. This issue repeated 3 times. The 2nd time, I had 3 bubbles in bubble level LOL. 3rd time I had no more fluid, it leaked out and I only had a gigantic bubble that did not move. Just stick with manfrotto or other higher brands, the head will not last. On the other hand, their tripod legs are nice and light, and so are their monopods, but in terms of professional tripod heads, this is not one of them.

[@croppedgear]

+Jason Han I know this is an old post, but I've been working with 502HD a lot lately, and I must say I REALLY like the benro a lot over the 502HD. The buttons are positioned weird on the 502, the head feels finicky and lightweight and the max weight it can cary is not only less, but it also doesnt have proper counterbalance etc. For me the 502HD is a DSLR only head, where this can actually be used with a wide range of other cameras and setups.

[@michelrivest8386]

@Cropped Gear: If those issues that Jason Han mentioned are happening too frequently with the Benro S8 head, what's the use ? If reliability & durability aren't there at least, it's not worth the money and the few "goodies" that Benro ofers (BTW, while using a Benro tripod with the S8 head recently, I noticed the issues with the bubble level & some difficulties some of the counter ballance controls). Can you do a comparizon video of the Benro S8 vs. The Manfrotto 502HD ? It'll be interesting to see. Thanks to answer.

[@michelrivest8386]

@Jason Han: Aside of the bubble level, did you had any other issues with this Benro head ? Thanks to let us know.

[@croppedgear]

Im affraid i dont have time for a proper side by side review any time soon, but I can say this: The Benro wins on all points. Seriously. I really do not like the 502. Its flimsy, cant handle a lot of weight, has the knobs on weird places and lacks proper counter balance. The Benro on the other hand has green checks on all of those points and pans/tilts smooth. As mentioned before, the one downside to the benro that I have encountered is a sticky quickrelease button, but thats a minor issue. I've been using the head for two years now and that is still the only issue. I guess one thing in favor of the 502 is the weight as it is much lighter. Its also cheaper. TLDR: I would pick the benro over the 502 any day.

[@johnkaufi]

Great video, thank you!

[@bikechain1]

'm buying one this is great