Mr. Mike—December 8, 2012
I have to say I really like this tripod. I purchased this to replace my Manfrotto 055XPROB I purchased about almost 2 years ago. The Manfrotto is a pretty good tripod, max height without the center column raised placed my Canon 60D's viewfinder at 64 inches, which is pretty much at my eye level, probably around an inch or two below my eye level, and I am six foot tall. And it seemed pretty solid, but when I needed a little more height, and raised the center column I had to pretty much use the ten second delay and hope that the vibration settled by the eighth second of the delay timer or there was definitely going to be blur in my photo. And the vibration really, really reared its ugly head when I was shooting video, for my son's High School band performance during halftime shows. So it was then I had realized that it is time to go tripod shopping. I looked around and my criteria was a tripod that would place my Canon 60Ds viewfinder at around 66 plus inches. The Induro AT-413 allows my 60D's viewfinder to sit at around 75 inches. Just to be clear the camera sits at 75 inches without the center column raised, just to compare the Manfrotto sits at 64 inches column not raised and at 78 inches with the center column fully raised, but my camera will be subject to a whole lot of movement. And just in case you were wondering the AT-413 places my cameras viewfinder at around 80 inches, with the center column fully raised. Another criteria was a tripod that would be able to carry a pretty good load. Again just to compare to my Manfrotto its load rating was around 15.5 lbs., so I wanted a tripod that would have a load rating of at least double that of the Manfrotto. So that would be a tripod that would easily handle at least 30 lbs. Guess what the Induro AT-413 handles 44lbs, that is almost triple the rating of the Manfrotto. So during my tripod research I saw a Gitzo video of a guy of I have to say probably weighed well under 200 lbs. grab the neck of a fully raised rather small Gitzo and raised his whole weight and the tripod managed it with no problems, so it got me thinking. So I put pretty much my whole weight on just one leg of my Manfrotto and the legs started to collapse, oh by the way I weigh well above 250lbs, so I said I have to tighten the legs on my Manfrotto, but after tightening the legs, it still collapsed under my weight, but it is only rated at 15.5lbs. so a long way to get to this part, I said what can my new Induro do, I grabbed the neck of my fully raised tripods neck and slowly started to raise my legs, and guess what, It held me up, no leg collapsing or anything, with my legs off the ground the tripod held up. Overall I love this tripod, great height, and terrific on the load rating. But like every positive thing that happens a negative or two shows up. Number one, folded height of the Manfrotto is about 25.5 inches and the Induro measures at around thirty; by the way those measurements are without the ballhead. Number two, the weight of the Manfrotto is around 5.25lbs and the Induro weighs in at a little over 7lbs. But Induro throws in a decent tripod bag, and by the way it seems pretty easy to carry and with the ballhead mounted it still fits in its bag. Other than the few negatives for me all the positives won me over, and with a price of around $217, I said what the hell do I have to lose, and I can tell you I am pretty impressed with Induro, and will soon probably purchase an Induro ballhead soon. Read more
KO from LA—February 27, 2010
I wanted a tripod that would be strong and handle anything I would eventually do. I was looking at the Manfrotto 055PROB as my choice until I read a review somewhere to look at Vanguard and Induro as they seemed pretty good also and the price was better. I wanted a tripod for life and one that would be strong enough to meet my needs. This is not my first tripod but things have changed since I looked at tripods many years ago. My other tripods are anciently old aluminum ones with pan tilt heads that are the screw in type. One was from my Dad and one I got from a relative and one is my $20 special. They are probably strong enough except the $20 one (which I bought for my digital camcorder which died soon after I bought the $20 one). My Dad's used to hold a Nikon F (with various lenses both fixed and zoom)and a Rolleiflex 2.8E which is no lightweight either so that one might be ok. The other one from the relative looked like my Dad's and it held a Besseler SLR with a zoom lens of some type and I actually used that one in a pinch and it was fine. However, since none of them had a name or model number except the $20 one and the boxes for all of them are long gone, I felt it was time to buy a tripod that would handle anything I would want to do and I had confidence in. After reviewing both Vanguard and Induro, I zeroed in on the Induro AT213 or AT313 since my budget does not allow for a carbon fiber tripod. I eliminated the AT313 as being overkill since it's load rating is 33lbs and was more than I cared to spend. I don't think I will ever get close to that load, at least I hope not. Before buying either, I went to a local camera store and saw their floor models and checked them out. If you buy a DVD or book, you can do that sight unseen, but for a tripod, find a good camera store that specializes in cameras and camera equipment and test it out. You might think that it is cheesy to test it at a store and then buy it online for cheaper. Well how much cheaper was it? Put it this way, the store prices were $225.00 - $250.00. As I state later, this is good bargain hunting. The AT213 is also about $40.00 cheaper online than the 055PROB. So was I was bargain hunting or just being cheap? I think both probably. Finding reviews for the 055PROB is easy. It is all over the Internet, but I have not found any on the AT213, so I am doing this for anyone who is thinking about this tripod and is wondering how good it is. Specifications between the 055PROB vs the AT213 is as follows: 055PROB AT213 Folded length 25.8" 25.6" Weight 5.2lbs. 4.4lbs. Maximum load 15.4lbs. 22.0lbs. Maximum height column extended 70.3" 65.8" Maximum height column down 55.9" 56.7" Number of legs 3 3 Pretty much a dead heat. Two things the 055PROB has over the AT213 is 1) a sideways column so that you can squat the tripod down low with the camera off to the side and 2) it squats lower than the Induro. Handy feature for shooting plants and flowers. The Induro does not have the sideways column, but I believe Induro just came out with a column that will do that. I will check it out one of these days. On the other hand, the Induro has a spring loaded hook on the bottom of the column to add weight and stability on windy days. My backpack hangs very nicely there as a plumb. Based on my countless hours of analysis, I ordered the AT213 and it arrived promptly. Upon opening it, I found the tripod and two bags. On holding the tripod, it did not feel like aluminum but then not like carbon either. It felt different but good. I know an aluminum feel since I own a Manfrotto 679B Monopod. Bag 1 was a nice carrying case and bag 2 contained the tools and spiked feet that come with it. No manual was found. However, on Induro's website, you can find the manual. It is only 2 pages which makes sense. It is a tripod after all. How much is there to it? The legs are tight and tad stiff, but that is good since you don't want one loose from the start. Everything else was smooth and worked as advertised. The twist lock legs are great and unloosen with just enough stiffness to know it is solid. The legs extend smoothly and easily. The center column extends smoothly. I imagine over time as it breaks in, it will loosen a bit but never to the point of sloppy. Extending the legs and setting my Nikon D60 on with a 18-55mm kit lens on it feels solid with very little play. Ball head is Vanguard SBH-100. Conclusion is build quality is excellent. I have used it 3 times already and it feels solid and good in that I never worry about the camera falling over. There is one more curious fact if you order this from Amazon, you will see 2 AT213 for the $143.00. One is a 6M (which is the straight aluminum tripod) and the 8M which is the alloy one. After looking at Induro's website for hours, I realized the Amazon 6M was a typo since 1) all the specifications were for the 8M model and 2) there is no 6M AT213, at least I didn't see one. In addition, the 8M listed on Amazon is heavier weight wise, so I am not sure what that is about. Induro's site list the weight of the 8M AT213 as 4.4lbs. My final conclusion after studying until my brain overloaded, I made the right choice. ***Update 2/27/10*** I made a comment that Benro is not sold in the US. I went to a Calumet Camera store in San Diego and guess what? I saw on the tripod rack a Benro tripod. So I guess they are sold here. I checked it out when I got home and sure enough, Benro's website indicate they do sell in the US. So as far as my comments go about Benro's warranty in the US, that comment is null and void. Please ignore it. I have also removed any comments on Benro from this review before my update. Read more
