Amateur Photographer verdict
The Benro GD36PT does a great job of combining the speed and portability of a ball head with the precision of a geared head. It’s a great choice for landscape photographers – but it’s expensive.- Precise geared pitch and tilt adjustments
- Good load capacity
- Smaller than conventional tilt heads
- Bubble level gets hidden beneath camera
- Tilt control clashes with spacer plate in portrait format
The Benro GD36PT Geared Drive Three-Way Head is an unusual tripod head that places a 2-axis geared mechanism on top of a ball-and-socket joint. Clearly, the aim is to provide the precise compositional adjustment that’s only possible with geared heads, but in a less bulky package compared to conventional designs. That could be useful both for landscape photographers who need their horizons to be level, and for those shooting architecture who require their verticals to be perfectly aligned.
Benro GD36PT at a glance:
- $400 / £330
- Hybrid geared/ball head
- +/- 8° pitch, +/-15° tilt
- Weight 660g (740g with spacer)
- Height 9.5cm (10.5cm with spacer)
- Rated load 6kg
- benroeu.com
Design-wise, the GD36PT fits a lot into an impressively compact package. It has an inverted ball head at its base, with a large locking lever placed off to one side, and a single notch that allows the camera to be rotated through 90° for vertical shooting. The tilting mechanism sits out the front, offering +/-15° of adjustment via knobs on either side. Above this, the pitch control offers +/-8° of movement via a single large knob. On top, the Arca-Swiss camera clamp pans smoothly through 360°.
Out of the box, I found the pitch control to be too tight for my tastes. But with a quick browse of the manual and a twist of a hex key, I was able to loosen it to how I wanted. The tilt movement can be adjusted in a similar way.
Benro GD36PT key features:
- Bubble level: A small circular level assists with getting horizons straight, but it gets hidden beneath the camera
- Panning camera clamp: The Arca-Swiss type camera clamp pans smoothly through 360°, with marks at 5° intervals
- Safety interlock: You have to pull the clamp knob outwards to undo it fully, so your camera shouldn’t fall off accidentally
- Kit contents: The head comes with a camera plate, four hex keys for making adjustments, and a 1/4in adapter for the 3/8in tripod socket
The head comes fitted with a removable tripod spacer plate that’s 6cm in diameter and 1cm deep, which Benro says is designed to “eliminate any interference with the operation of the head when used on tripods with larger head mounting platforms”. That’s all well and good, but the problem is that this spacer itself interferes with the movements when the camera is rotated 90° for portrait shooting.
That’s about the only minor fault with the design, though, and I’d get around it by using an L-bracket on the camera.
I’ve established that the best approach for using this head is to adjust the ball first to get the camera close to how you want it, while ensuring the pitch and tilt axes are lined up correctly. Then you can easily fine-tune your composition with the geared controls.
Used like this, the GD36PT comes very close to combining the speed and convenience of a ball head with the accuracy of a geared one. Load capacity is impressive too; I had no problem adjusting a full-frame camera with a long telephoto lens with absolute precision.
Benro GD36PT compared to alternative options
Below you can see how the Benro GD36PT compares in size to a couple of alternative options that I also like a lot. Firstly, if you’d prefer a more conventional geared head, the Benro GD3WH comes highly recommended. It costs $220 / £220 and provides precise geared control in three directions. Its main drawback in comparison to the GD36PT is significantly greater bulk, although it’s surprisingly lightweight thanks to its Mg-alloy construction, at 740g.
If you already have a ball head and would like to add geared pitch and tilt controls on top, then the Leofoto G2 is well worth considering. It’ll clip on via its Arca Swiss base, and provide +/-10° geared adjustment in each direction. It also has a rotating panning camera clamp. But it’s larger than the GD36PT’s geared section.
Benro GD36PT Geared Drive Three-Way Head: Our Verdict
I use, I’ve found that the Benro GD36PT works very well. It’s nicely made, and the metallic blue finish looks smart. It’s easier to carry around than conventional geared head designs, too, thanks to its relatively compact size. The geared movements provide precise compositional adjustment, with only a few, pretty minor drawbacks to be found.
What’s most likely to give pause for thought, though, is the price. It’s considerably more expensive than either the firm’s stalwart GD3WH geared head, or any of its ball heads. But for serious landscape photographers in particular, it could still be worth the money.
Benro GD36PT product image gallery
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