Is there anyone out there who has had a good experience with a Manfrotto 519 fluid head?

I have had mine for about a year now and can honestly say I have had very little, if any joy with it.

after a month of use, it would not drag (horizontally) at all unless I set it to level 7, all other levels were as if I had it set to 0

it had always been fairly jerky on the horizontal pan too and

I sent it in, hoping to get a new one, only to wait 2 days shy of 4 months for the same head to be returned to me. It had been completely serviced and although was not working perfectly, it was a great improvement.

while all this waiting was being done, I got a loaner 519, which showed the same symptoms from the start and deteriorated progressively until only level 6 and 7 would drag.

3 months down the line, the problem has reared its ugly head once again.

anybody out there had similar experiences?

Wow, sure looks cold there via the web cam!

I don't think you'll get too much feedback on a 519.

Most folks thinking of lashing out that sort of money would get their heads straight and buy either a Vinten or Sachtler.

Manfrotto is definately at the bottom of the camera support food chain and your experience with the 519 only confirms my long held suspicion that they couldn't make a decent head to save their lives.

You'll find a zillion threads here pointing the way to a decent camera support system, stop agonising over that Manfrotto and jump ship now.


CS

Mine works great. All the settings work as they should. I use it with the smaller cameras. I also have a 510 which can handle bigger,heavier cameras . I have several Sachtler heads as well which are better but not that much better. Well the Sachtler legs are much better than the bogen.manfrotto ones.

chris