Oben AC-1300 3-Section Aluminum Tripod w/ BA-00 Ball Head – Hands on Review

I was looking at tripods a few weeks ago and noticed the Oben A-1300 3-Section Aluminum Tripod with BA-00 Ball Head was only $90.00 US!! Shocked by the feature set, low price, and ball head included, I had BHPhotoVideo.com send me one to check out.

I received the Oben 1300 about 3 weeks ago and have used it non stop since I got it!! I used the Sony Nex-5n on it with a variety of lenses as well as my Canon 5D mark II with the EF 24-105 f/4 L Lens when I recorded the autofocus testing video for the Fujifilm X-Pro 1 Review the other day.

The Oben 1300 is rated for 6lbs and the tripod itself weighs less than 3lbs! That is incredible light and it’s still rigid enough to hold even an SLR quite solid. Put a Sony Nex camera on their and you have a feather weight tripod set-up great for travel, hiking, or anything really.

Product Shots:

Check out the Oben Tripod and the Nex-C3 with 16mm pancake lens mounted. Notice the hook on the bottom of the center column for easily hanging a weight to help anchor the tripod.

Oben AC-1300 3-Section Aluminum Tripod w/ BA-00 Ball Head

Here’s a close-up of the Aluminum Leg and Logo which has a really nice slightly textured black finish.

Oben AC-1300 3-Section Aluminum Tripod w/ BA-00 Ball Head

Here’s another angle with the provided quick re-lease plate next to the Ball Head. The Ball Head quick re-lease lever is also in the open position.

Oben AC-1300 Tripod w/Ball Head and Quick Release Plate

 Here’s a few close-ups of the Ball Head with and without the RP-10 quick re-lease plate locked in. Check out all those bubble levels!!

BA-00 Ball Head – Close-up with quick re-lease plate locked in

BA-00 Ball Head – Close-up with quick re-lease plate Out

BA-00 Ball Head – Close-up with quick re-lease plate Out

I like the fact that the RP-10 quick re-lease plate has the D-Clip on it for tightening!! Some plates only have the slot and you need a coin or something to crank it down.

Oben Quick Re-lease Plate

Here’s a few close-ups with the Sony Nex-C3 mounted. Note how the relatively small quick re-lease plate interferes slightly with the rear screen opening. It can be flipped up for low to the ground shooting which is perfect, but aiming downward isn’t quite as easy. Although, why would you need to aim it down if it was on a tripod? That screen angle feature is usually used for over the head type shots anyway, so it’s not that big a deal, but worth noting as all quick re-lease plates will interfere somewhat with the rear screen articulation.

Oben BA-00 Ball Head w/ Nex-C3 Mounted

Oben BA-00 Ball Head w/ Nex-C3 Mounted

Check out the pinch style quick re-lease levers.

Oben BA-00 Ball Head w/ Nex-C3 Mounted

Note the Center column in this shot below. The column slides up and down and just like the legs has a groove in it to both add strength and lower weight. the groove also prevents unwanted spinning. The Collar Clamp for the column is a turn style that basically tightens down on the column from all sides when tight and vs verse when loose allow it to slide up and down easily.  Also note the bubble level so you can get just the legs level easily. One other note is the little hook mentioned in the beginning on the very bottom of the center column. It’s spring loaded so it actually pulls out about 1/2 inch or so when under tension.

Oben AC-1300 3-Section Aluminum Tripod w/ BA-00 Ball Head

Check out Oben’s Leg angle limiter locking solution. It’s very basic and works by simple pulling up on the Oben tab which then allows the leg to angle out further. You can then lower it to specific preset angles for quick adjustments.

Oben AC-1300 Tripod w/ BA-00 Ball Head – Leg Angle Limiter Locks

Oben AC-1300 Tripod w/ BA-00 Ball Head – Leg Angle Limiter Locks

Oben AC-1300 Tripod w/ BA-00 Ball Head – Leg Angle Limiter Locks

Here’s a few shots of the legs themselves and notice the quick re-lease leg locks. They work great and you can open and close the tripod in no time with this style lock. My favorite kind for sure.

Oben AC-1300 3-Section Aluminum Tripod – Leg Locks

Oben AC-1300 3-Section Aluminum Tripod – Leg Locks

Check out the Oben AC-1300 Tripod w/ BA-00 Ball Head and Nex-5n w/ LA-EA1 and Sony A-Mount 70-400mm f/4-5.6 G SSM Lens!! The Oben AC-1300 easily holds this monster set-up with confidence.

Oben AC-1300 Tripod w/ BA-00 Ball Head and Nex-5n w/ LA-EA1 and Sony A-Mount 70-400mm f/4-5.6 G SSM Lens

Conclusion:

The Oben AC-1300 Tripod w/ BA-00 Ball Head is a great value for the dollar is the bottom line in my opinion. It’s extremely light weight, rigid, and has all the features of much more expensive tripods at a very reasonable price point. Certainly worth considering if your in the market for a inexpensive quality tripod.

Be sure to check out the New Accessories Guides I’ve been working on behind the scenes. I have a dedicated section for Support Accessories which is where all the tripods I recommend are located including the Oben AC-1300 and several more.

I hope you all got something out of this review and please feel free to fire away if you have any questions as I own this tripod so I can reference it at any time!

Oben AC-1300 Tripod w/ BA-00 Ball Head

Price: $89.95 @ BHPhoto (Click Here)

Here’s two more Oben models that both offer a higher load capacity and one is a 4-section style so you can see how the prices change.

Oben AC-1310 3-Section Aluminum Tripod with BA-0 Ball Head – 11lb Load Capacity – Price: $99.95 @ BHPhoto (Click Here)

Oben AC-1420 4-Section Aluminum Tripod with BA-1 Ball Head – 17.6 Load Capacity – Price: $179.95 @ BHPhoto (Click Here)