Benro TWD28CLBWH4 Wild Tripod #2 Carbon Fiber TWD28AL + BWH4 Head 4 Sections

Superb well made tripod. I use it for nature photography, wild birds mainly. Looking forward to using it at bird reserves when they reopen after lockdown.

I bought this after a lot of pondering for use with a spotting scope and my DSLR with telephoto lenses. I was looking for reasonable weight with plenty of height, good stability and a smooth operating head. I wanted the Arca style plate as they are easy to find, including longer ones to help manage the balance of a scope and camera for digiscoping. It had all those things and looks pretty smart in green. It is quite expensive to have in carbon fibre and I was undecided for a while about getting the aluminum one which costs half as much but weighs an extra half pound or so. A couple of things would have been nice to have; the facility to change the alignment at the head to level it without adjusting the legs (like this one does Benro HFTA28CS4H) and also to tilt the camera base to portrait orientation. Still it has the things I actually need and does all of them well. The fluid tension (if it is called that) can be altered by tightening or loosing the various knobs - this would be vital for video but it’s a nice to have for birding, eg panning across a bank. It comes in a nice bag, includes spikes if you want those and can take either a 1/4” or 3/8” threaded head if you wanted to change it. As I say, the Aluminium one is much better value as it has the same spec but I was looking to keep the weight down. Having returned a previous tripod that didn’t go high enough and was too wobbly, I think this is a possible sweet spot for birders. A bit expensive in the carbon fibre form but when you think what your scope probably cost, I’m hoping it’s money well spent. Oh yes, you’ll probably want the 2 version which is slightly higher than the 1 and gives you a better chance of using it without having to extend the centre column, helping with stability.Post script after using it a few months. You probably only need the model 1 unless you’re very tall, especially with an angled scope. It’s worth adding the LBA2 levelling base - I would say don’t bother with the cheap copies in Amazon, I tried one and sent it back. I have downgraded the rating to 4 as there are significant irritations with the head. On the right there are three controls - one for rotation, one for vertical tilt and one to secure the QR plate. These are lined up together so the tilt knob is hard to access without catching your fingers on one or other of the other two. Secondly. The mount for the handle on the left stands proud of the base so when you put an SLR on there, the side of it catches on the handle, at least with the generic QR Arca plate I have on my camera. Finally, it can be hard to secure the head so it doesn’t come loose when rotating, ie as opposed to its own panorama action. I think I’m going to end up getting a better head that has either some counterbalance and/or variable damping do that my camera and long lens doesn’t tip backwards. It’s only a micro four thirds camera and lens so it’s by no means excessively heavy. Overall, it’s a well made kit and it all feels nicely made but I have found some frustrations. Long and short is I may end up upgrading part or all of it.

What a great design and product....used it twice now.Very smooth panning.Holds position while tighteningLocks.... For me,compact in bag.Tools and shoulder strap too...Good for 2 to 4 inch f7 refractor telescope...Cant wait to get the Canon 6D on it.... For video or still shots.