Benro launches Cyanbird travel tripod

Camera accessory maker Benro has released the Cyanbird, a travel-friendly tripod that combines carbon fibre and aluminium, and looks to be a more affordable alternative to Peak Design's Travel Tripod.

The Cyanbird reduces to just 6cm wide when folded, and uses carbon fibre for the top tubes and aluminium for the lower leg sections.

At 1.05 kg, it's more than 500g lighter than the Travel Tripod, although it's only capable of supporting up to 4kg (compared to a hefty 9.1kg on the Peak Design model).

The Cyanbird is 46cm in length when folded and extends to 155cm at full-extension. The centre column can also be split to reduce the minimum height of the tripod to just 17cm.

The legs feature anodised castings with aluminium lever locks. Meanwhile, the centre column has a hook at the bottom to take a weight, such as a camera bag, and there are three ¼-inch accessory mounts at the top of the centre column.

Benro’s Cyanbird kit includes the company's Arca-compatible N00P ball head with a single-action lock knob.

According to Benro, this enables speedy operations, while the quick-release platform can be panned independently of the main ball lock.

The Cyanbird starts at $599 with the N00P ballhead, $100 less than the Peak Design Travel Tripod Aluminium. It's available now from local distributor Maxxum.