Benro Rhino Carbon Fiber Series Two tripod review

A sturdy tripod is essential for shooting various subjects, and particularly crucial when using one of the best astrophotography cameras. Benro is known for high-quality tripods that last for years and provide a stable base for your camera, no matter where you are.

The Benro Rhino is one of the company's more travel-friendly tripods, thanks to its lightweight carbon fiber construction and reverse folding design. The central column adds height and versatility, also making it useful for holding the best binoculars for stargazing. Not only that, the built-in monopod conversion adds even more functionality.

We put the Benro Rhino to the test to see how it holds up and whether it's worth the big price tag. We used the VX25 head alongside the Rhino Carbon Fiber Two Series model.

Benro Rhino tripod review

Design

• Lightweight, carbon fiber design
• Central column provides versatility
• Good for travel in theory, but not the most compact tripod

The Rhino Carbon Fiber Two Series tripod has been designed with versatility in mind, providing a lightweight and well-constructed carbon fiber design without compromising on stability and strength. With four leg sections and an adjustable central column, it can reach a maximum height of 66.33 inches (168.5 centimeters), making it one of the tallest "travel" tripods on the market, and folds down to 25.19 inches (64 cm) when closed, thanks to its reverse folding design.

With interchangeable feet, you can use the soft rubber feet as standard on hard surfaces, for better grip and vibration absorption, or change them out for metal spiky feet for better stability on soft terrain like grass. It has a maximum payload capacity of 39.68 pounds (18 kg), making it suitable for all types of photography setups and heavy astronomy binoculars.

Set-up and ease of use

• Could be smoother when packing down
• Benro tripod heads offer increased safety compared to other makes
• Legs can be splayed up to almost 90 degrees

Generally, the set-up process is quick and easy, although the legs are a little stiff when moving them to and from the reverse folding position, and the button to unlock them so they can go all the way up makes things fiddly — having to hold the button down while lifting the leg up seems counterintuitive. The extension of the legs, however, is very smooth and the legs lock in place with just half a twist of the twist locks.

The great thing about Benro tripods, and particularly the heads, is the increased safety they provide. The heads are sold separately, which does mean increased cost, but the advantage of this is that you can customize your tripod setup to your liking. There are two safety features on the head: One on the dial to loosen or tighten the mounting plate in place, and two prongs on the underside of the mounting plate to prevent the camera from sliding off and falling to the ground. We used the VX25 head with the Rhino, which we thought was nicely slimline and very ergonomic.

Performance

• Solid and sturdy, but it's not immune to wind
• Monopod conversion adds even more versatility
• Leg twist locks can be rough on the hands in the cold

Although we wouldn’t call it our favorite of all the Benro tripods we’ve used, it is the one we’ve used the most and tend to grab on a spontaneous stargazing trip due to its size and versatility. It gives really solid performance for photography and also during long nights of stargazing, although we found the rubber twist locks a little rough on our hands in the cold. While it's solid and sturdy overall, we noticed when using big astronomy binoculars that the slightest bit of wind would cause them to wobble when the tripod was at full height with the central column extended.

The monopod conversion is a nice touch as well: we rarely find ourselves using it in this configuration, but sports photographers will love it.

We think the Carbon Fiber Two Series is marketed as a travel tripod due to its versatility rather than its size. It can carry heavy camera setups, and if you’re using it with a pair of the best binoculars for stargazing, the central column can be adjusted to different heights. The monopod feature is also great for travel as it means you don’t have to take a separate tripod and monopod, but as the circumference of the tripod when folded isn’t the most compact (due to the central column), it’s bulkier then many other tripods and we’ve found it quite fiddly to put it into some of our camera bags.

It does come with its own bag, but if you’re going on a hike with your camera, you won’t want to take a separate tripod bag. When we’ve wanted to take a tripod in our Peak Design Outdoor Backpack, we’ve opted for the Benro Tortoise instead.

Verdict

While we would recommend the Benro Rhino as an all-in-one solution for any type of photography, we appreciate that it's a little pricey for some users, particularly beginners or anyone who just wants a smartphone tripod for casual content creation.

We loved using the Rhino for astrophotography, and although we quickly got frustrated with the monopod when we used it to photograph wildlife (specifically, birds), we found the monopod conversion incredibly useful for sports. It's also great to use with the best stargazing binoculars, as the extendable central column makes it easy to adjust if you're sharing the binos between people or if you want to switch the height from viewing an object on the horizon to something higher in the sky.

If the Benro Rhino isn't for you

How we tested the Benro Rhino

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To test the Benro Rhino, we used it with a variety of photography and stargazing equipment in real-world scenarios, including cameras with telephoto lenses, heavy stargazing binoculars and a smart telescope.

We assessed its sturdiness when the tripod was fully extended to see how well it bore the weight of different equipment, noting any dipping in the center and how much visible pressure the legs were under.

We transported the tripod in both the included carry bag and attached to a dedicated camera bag to discern its portability and convenience when traveling or hiking to a remote shooting spot, noting how easy the tripod was to set up and take down while out in the field at all times of the day, including in the dark.