Anyone own this tripod? I am thinking about buying one this weekend.

I use it in a heavy configuration, b&w veiwfinder, Matte Box /Rods , Large Lenses.

I need a nice tripod that can take the weight , nice and fluid pans and tilts. I won't be using this tripod for quick on the run setups, but light and portable is always nice.

Any suggestions?

Hi,

It's not one of the favorites here, but not because they aren't good tripods. Rather, they have few dealers. Even in some larger metropolitan areas you won't find a Cartoni dealer. Search didn't turn up much http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2351&highlight=Cartoni The favorites here are Sachtler, Miller and vinten on the high end. Bogen is the middle ground and Libec is the intro favorite.

I think Ken Tanaka posted recently that Miller dropped prices recently and has a model starting around $850. That would be a steal. My personal favorites are Sachtlers and Vintens. I've owned both and neither has let me down. Perfect pans and tilts every time. They don't get any better in my opinion.

Jeff

I live in New York and i am near B&H photo (which contrary to popular belief, doesn't carry everything).

Of course I'm checking out physical product, but there is still lots of room for recommendation.

Cartoni makes a nice product. I'm not familiar with that particular model but they make impressive heads for the high end market. I am an O'Connor user and would give them a slight nod over Sachtler and Vinten as Jeff recommended, but any of the four will deliver solid results. The bottom line is which you feel the most comfortable with on an ergonomic level, and how much you have to spend (my recommendation here in the past has been to get the best head you can possibly afford, because it will likely serve you for years to come, supporting generations of cameras).

Jeep,
I own a Miller DS-10 and like it very much. However, if I routinely mounted the load that you listed I would have leaned more toward the Sachtler or Vinten rigs. (O'Connor would be excellent but, oh-my-gosh, you'd have to bill-out some hefty fees to pay for that rig!) Sachtler and Vinten are, in my opinion, better able to handle the eccentric centers of gravity produced by such FrankenCam rigs.

I'm using the Action Pro model with an XL1. It does a decent job, though I wonder if you might not be pushing the weight limit of that head with your matte box, etc.

The sticks are extremely lightweight and easy to set up. The head is quite fluid and easy to level.

The Action Pro isn't nearly as nice as my high end Cartoni, but it cost about a quarter as much as that heavy duty model.

Overall, I'd say the Action Pro is a very nice system for the money.

Mike Avery

Well now it looks like I am going to spring for $1300 for a tripod,

after checking the store, I fell in love with the 510 Manfrotto head which is about 850$ and i like the 540ART sticks which runs about $400!

That's a big difference in price. :(

I own the Cartoni ActionPro which I find very nice. Here in London they are quite easy to find, though I bought mine from a dealer where I used to work :-)

I looked at the Manfrotto range, Miller, Sachtler, Libec and for the price found the Cartoni the best of the bunch.

I really like how it's quick and easy to set up, no rotating locking nuts, just a strong clip type thingy.

I have used the bigger Cartoni heads for Betacams , and used a Cartoni dutch head for a shoot once...the quality is outstanding, but they are hard to find and very expensive. Worth looking at.....Vintens are my over all Fave, but all the products mentioned are fine.

I had an ActionPro for a while, which I bought because as an AC I was familiar with Cartoni as being right up there with Sachtler, OConnor, etc...

But the ActionPro sadly was not up to their standards.

I recently got a Bogen 510 head, which despite my general disdain for Bogen, performs as well as most heads twice its price.