If you watch football with me and look at all the shooters on the sidelines, chances are high you have seen many Benro Hi Hats (my record was 21 in one game!). Or perhaps you have seen them on wildlife documentaries BTS scenes or in BTS footage for wildlife documentaries? Either way, Hi Hats can be hard to come by due to high demand – and perhaps that explains why so few of us know of them yet: They only reach 11′ in height! Finding one took six months as they are so in high demand – what purpose does this tripod serve and why did I want one?
NFL sports rely on Hi Hat / BV8 video heads for shooting amazing ground view film, thanks to its stable platform that delivers smooth panning for big rigs! Not intended for macro or static plane photography – rather for action shoots using big glass lenses! Hi Hat is my go-to tripod when photographing waterfowl at water level. Both stills and videos were unsteady until I mounted my rig onto it – everything now appears sharp! Another use for Hi Hat is ground-to-air aviation videography; although not necessary for everyone who works closely to the ground with large lenses. Don’t take my word for it though: check it out now if that sounds interesting! Hi Hat is truly incredible.
