I have a sachtler 6 head and miller solo legs, but it can be incredibly hard to get the thing level. It moves smoothly sometimes but is often sticky. so when i'm trying get the leveling bubble in the centre it kind of jerks off-centre when i move it.

Previous to the miller legs i had sachtler legs and the same thing happened, so i guess its not the bowl. i've tried greasing the bowl/head but that doesnt help. my current and best solution is to gaffer tape the bowel. it needs a jerk free when first using it but after that its not too bad. but really, its a ridiculous situation when i can level a 100 quid tripod in seconds but it can take a minute or more to level something this expensive.

Any help or thoughts would be appreciated.

Neil

Make sure your pan/tilt locks are tight...put one hand on the camera's top handle, the other hand on the the leveling adjustment and use BOTH hands to make your adjustments. It helps if you roughly balance your camera first, so that its not fighting you as you make adjustments. Works for me and adjusts in 10 seconds or less.

Thats how i tend to balance it. Ive also tried kinda lifting the camera at the same time. The big movements are fine, getting it roughly centred isnt a problem. but its that last little movement when it gets stuck and shoots off. It sounds really petty but its incredibly frustrating when i should be thinking of setting up the shot etc. im seriously thinking of selling the head cause it shouldnt be causing me this much grief.

is it just as difficult if you align the head before attaching the camera?

Sounds like you have an incompatability between the tightening handle and the underside of the head. While the bowl may be the same the design (75mm) - the underside of the bowl may be different because of geometry or the washer design. I had to saw 3/8 inch off the post on the bottom of one of my satchler heads to make it work with a set of miller sticks.

In addition, the levels on my tripod and fluid head disagree. Why can't the manufacteurs put a level in the viewfinder?!

JoJo

In addition, the levels on my tripod and fluid head disagree. Why can't the manufacteurs put a level in the viewfinder?!

JoJo

is it just as difficult if you align the head before attaching the camera?

i don't have my tripod at present to double check, but from memory its much worse without the camera