One thing that all photographers love to talk about is gear. Although, the gear used can be a very personal thing. May be brand specific, may be based off a recommendation from a trusted source. For me, any new piece of gear has to serve a purpose and fill a need. Such was the case with the Benro WH15 Wildlife Long Lens Head.

I shoot mainly stills but recently, I have been venturing into more video. Enter the problem that I was having. I did not have a true video head. Trying to do video with a ball-head or even with a gimbal was just not producing the video that I wanted. The Benro WH15 Wildlife Head was the answer. The head is a bit pricey, and there are others that I checked into, but this head always rose to the top. The head is for those who regularly shoot with long telephoto or zoom lenses, like sports and wildlife photographers. It has a load capacity of 33.1 pounds, an irrelevant number for me, making it well suited for even full frame DSLRs with long prime telephoto lenses. 

The head features friction control for both pan and tilt functions along with eight selectable settings to counterbalance the tilt. These selectable settings allow the head to remain in position without having to lock it. This feature in theory is good because I can simply flip a lock lever for pan and for tilt, pick up the whole tripod rig, move to the next spot, unlock the levers and I am back in action with all the previous settings already in place. Full disclosure, I found the the tilt-lock lever, even with the friction drag dial set at 8, its highest setting, did not fully lock down the tilt with the lens on the head. With the lens off the head, it worked fine holding tight. I have no worries staying in one place and shooting on this head, but I am a bit leary about picking it up and putting over my shoulder and just carrying it with long lens on.

Update (11/26/2024): I reached out to my vendor about the tilt-lock issue and a new head was promptly ordered direct from the factory to replace the one I was having issues with, along with assurances from the VP of US operations that it was thouroughly tested and in perfect working order. The customer service from the executive I was put in touch with via email was very helpful in addressing this issue. My particular model was directly from China, not the US based headquarters in New York and was replaced at not cost to me for any returns or shipping. The new head seems to be working as advertised, locks very tightly, and I have no worries about carrying the long lens on the head and tripod now.

Another feature that I find helpful is the extendable pan handle. This handle can be placed for left handed or right handed preference which speaks to how well thought out this head is. The handle does telescope making it easier to obtain fluid panning when following subjects. It is weighs less than my gimbal head, and I found it acts just like a gimbal allowing me free motion like a gimbal. All that and is fits in the photo bags better for travel.

The WH 15 Benro Wildlife Head comes with the Arca Swiss plate for easy on/off of the camera with lens if need be. You could use any swiss plate, but the one the comes with the head helps balance equipment on the head, has a classic locking-knob design, and features an index scale for precise, repeatable results. It also has safety screw cutouts to prevent a loosened plate from accidentally releasing too soon.

Built to last, this will most likely be my forever setup on the tripod. So, the problem this solved for me was allowing me to have one head for video and stills. This means a lighter load having to take less gear into the field when I travel and have to do field work wherever I am. I am looking forward to using this new addition to my and thus far I have been very happy with the purchase.