I've not owned a scope up until now despite years of bird watching as I live far from the sea, am not a fan of lugging around lots of gear and have been able to make do with bins/600mm lens combo for spotting and identifying distant birds. However I've struggled a bit recently with picking out rare individuals in large wader flocks, spotting stationary distant birds in terrible light conditions and other more optically challenging situations so I will be buying a scope in the next few months.
I own Benro Rhino 34C Carbon Fibre Tripod Legs which weigh about 1.6kg with the supplied ballhead removed.
I'm probably going to buy a Vortex Razor HD 27-60x85 or similar fairly large scope, 1.85kg.
But I need a video head, and I'm struggling with the amount of choice. I had just about talked myself into getting a benro s6pro with all it's features, 6 step counterbalance etc, when I saw that in the same price range there are also heads that weigh 600g instead of a whopping 1.6kg, heads like the leofoto bv-5. I can't see myself ever choosing to take a scope on a long walk but probably will end up lugging it a couple of km every now and again. Is it better going for an option that is probably a bit overengineered and solid or something that will significantly save on weight? what other Video heads should I be considering?
I own Benro Rhino 34C Carbon Fibre Tripod Legs which weigh about 1.6kg with the supplied ballhead removed.
I'm probably going to buy a Vortex Razor HD 27-60x85 or similar fairly large scope, 1.85kg.
But I need a video head, and I'm struggling with the amount of choice. I had just about talked myself into getting a benro s6pro with all it's features, 6 step counterbalance etc, when I saw that in the same price range there are also heads that weigh 600g instead of a whopping 1.6kg, heads like the leofoto bv-5. I can't see myself ever choosing to take a scope on a long walk but probably will end up lugging it a couple of km every now and again. Is it better going for an option that is probably a bit overengineered and solid or something that will significantly save on weight? what other Video heads should I be considering?
