Oh my God; Soucy's woman is a smacka!

Don't you know that's now against the law in New Zealand old chap? She might get arrested and then where would you be? (Don't answer that)

No no, the smack landed on him. She knows the score.

I know, but he's just a kid, at heart, and according to my bush lawyer friend a smack is a smack no matter who's on the receiving end. And it's no good pretending she was only joking and that really it was just a friendly pat (right on the nose). No, no; she's in trouble...

Chris and Chris, this might delay the results a few weeks, do you think?

She might get arrested and then where would you be?

Geez, John, you've been "off air" for so long I kinda thought, given your advanced state of decrepitude, you'd either done the decent thing and shuffled off this mortal coil (and me having only got half way through the Eulogy too, you inconsiderate sod. I've even got a bit in about the largest, privately owned OB van in the South Island, aka "the Bus") or had checked into an exclusive Mexican Old Folks Home staffed with nothing but nubile PYT's to keep your Zimmer frame skills up to snuff.

What do you do?

Fetch up in some far flung corner of NZ, alive and, presumably, kicking.

So far and so flung indeed, I still have absolutely no idea where it is!

I taught the missus (steady!) a long time ago not to take any cr*p from anyone.

She thought about that lesson for quite some time, then, with a particularly feminine piece of twisted logic, decided she'd start by not taking any from me.

"Be carefull what you wish for" pretty well sums it up.

Good to hear you're still extant.

I can return that Eulogy to the back burner, along with myriad reviews, mountains of stats and the occasional sandwich.

Oh, and those damn kids.


CS

Under my name on the left of the page you are reading you will note I’m in Duvauchelle, Banks Peninsula. ‘Google Earth’ it; I’m living in an extinct (I hope) volcano, and loving it. The landscapes are as varied as they are beautiful, the wildlife plentiful and willing subjects, the people are a bit nutty (and that’s a good thing), the Pacific Ocean as wild and wonderful as always. I’m parked 50 m from high tide, broadband wireless Internet connectivity, with a battery of cameras, both still and video at the ready. Thanks to my EX1 and Alistair Chapman's guidance I have shot some fine time lapse footage, the cloud flows around here are amazing, and of course my keyboard takes a hammering most every day and night. Currently I’m creating a mythology about how wool is produced out here (hobbits and vestal virgins wouldn't you know) and a short film titled ‘Akaroa’ which I should have up at my web site in a couple of weeks.

Other than that...the Mexican nubiles will have to wait as will Saint Pete at the gate.

No, I’m not a frequent contributor at DVINFO but I do visit from time to time. And you just know I’m following your antics with bated breath, and whispring humblenesse as I hone my skepticism.

I do hope Obstreperous is paying you handsomely for your efforts because you know you now have a huge following; there are thousands upon thousands of young aggressive shooters waiting to see if you speak positively about their chosen stiks, and if you don’t, old chap, they will come after you with a vengeance - you will need to chose your words carefully, methinks. Be careful.

Great work, kindest to you and the missus, and if you happen to be in the neighborhood swing by and we’ll tell more lies over a Speights or two.

And sound incredibly content, more power to your elbow, my friend.

Yes, it would be a trifle inconvenient if that volcano suddenly decided to re - do what it, er, they, er, do,er, have done, but I think you're probably pretty safe.

I'm not entirely cool about the following of thousands, not even sure of hundreds, there may be a few as listen to what little I can contribute here, but whatever, I keep plugging away.

I must admit that this thread having screamed past the 10,000 hit mark was a bit of a pleasant suprise, I must be doing something right.

On that subject, a note to a number of previous posters here, discussing weight limits for rigs and camera's.

You guys have wakened a sleeping dragon, much to my relief, and it's getting attention in certain important quarters.

Specifically, the ability or rather, the inability, to counterbalance the new ultra light HD camera's on available support systems.

Now, I'm not going into this here as it''s not germain to this threads purpose, so I have started a new thread next door - ish which will explain everything you want to know about the new and existing light cameras, the existing heads and how they will have to co - exist for the forseeable future.

Anyone interested, mosey on over to:

http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/tripod-sticks-heads/490807-perfect-counterbalance-any-camera-any-head.html

Ask questions, make your case and generally give me hell, all grist to the mill.

This is NOT a drill BTW, it's for real. You want to see it happen, hit that thread hard and keep on hitting it.

It's the only way certain people are going to be convinced there is a problem, and there is a doable, sellable answer.

Now, sidetrack over, keep in touch John. Good to hear you've opted for neither the Pearly Gates or the nubile PYT's (look, I would have taken that option if it had been offered!) and don't be a stranger here.

Gentlemen, and of course Ladies, I will go back to my red hot keyboard and totally rooted mouse (new one tomorroww) and keep on with the reviews/ data collection and intravenus Gin drip.

And, before it's asked, no, we ain't there yet, okay?


CS

Just wanted to post a quick follow up to my earlier posts regarding the FSB-8. I just finished a weekend shoot with it and all I can say is that it is absolutely phenomenal. The shoot was a lot of quick setups in a lot of different locations (reality TV style) and the FSB-8 performed flawlessly. My bare kit of 5DmkII and 24-105 balances perfectly with the CB set to 1 (even using a shorter 501PL plate in place of the Sachtler plate). With a Zoom H4N and Small HD monitor and a couple of arms and clamps to hold them the FSB-8 balances very well on CB 2. I've got the head on a set of Gitzo 3541XLS CF legs and it's great combo- weighs 9.8lbs together and gives you height from a couple of inches off the ground to over 8 feet. I have to switch out the paddle tie down for the lower profile 100mm bowl tie down though so I can get the tripod down to it's level.

Overall I couldn't be happier with it and I think it's probably one of the best investments I've made in equipment. I just wish it hadn't taken me so long to realize how sweet life is with a quality head :)

Scott,

Do you mount the Small HD and Zoom to the moving portion of the head or the base of the head?

Right now the SmallHD and Zoom dangle precariously off of a hot shoe extension bar (I only mount the Zoom if absolutely necessary). I'm in the process of thinking up a solid but simple mounting solution that doesn't involve a full rig or a ton of extra cr@p to carry around. I'm thinking a baseplate and short rods with two articulating arms for the HD and Zoom. With a quick release plate on that type of rig I could pop my camera on for tripod mounted stuff with monitor and sound and then pop the camera off for handheld photo or video without monitor and sound etc.

I have the DP1x, and only felt comfortable mounting it to the base of the pod. There are pro's and cons to it being stationary.

Sure did get quiet in here. What's the latest?

You know that part of a flight where they've dropped the flaps, eased it down to about 50 feet then pulled the throttles right back at the end of the runway, and there's that eerie silence whilst you wait for the wheels to hit?

I pulled the throttles back last weekend and I'm just waiting for that "thump, rumble, rumble" which says land, not crash!


CS

Thanks for the update Chris, eagerly awaiting touchdown here.

By the way, if you pulled back power at 50ft a week ago you've got one hell of a good glider there. Must be a gigantic updraft of hot air from various legal departments keeping it aloft.

Hey dad, the wings on fire...made ya look!
Kid in the back seat.

Tho' it is one heck of a glider..............it was never going to be quite as easy as just hoiking it up on DVinfo "as is" as it isn't just a simple review or even a series of, tho' it is that, as a starter.

There's tables of data never before published and not that easy to transfer from where they started to where they need to go, plus an entire database of same that is a seperate entity in it's own right, which is one heck of a mother of a thing to try to get flying in any language, and believe me, even I quailed when I saw the entire thing compiled!

Throw in that Chris Hurd is doing this personally and he's been "out of town" for almost the entirety of the gap, and you have one heck of a glider.

Can't see as any lawyers are going to be getting too hot under the collar, tho' there could be a few red faces at some support manufacturers when they're all posted.

The "shootout" should be a scream, guess I'd better extract my digit and actually write the thing, thinking about it.

It's coming guys, just hang in there, I ain't been sitting back scratching my ring all this time, I can assure you.

Chris will, no doubt, announce the launch, any day now, er, I think.

Oh, don't get too excited, it's coming in stages, when 1 is up and running, 2 will follow close on, 3, 4, 5 and possibly 6, one after the other.

This whole thing is such a departure from previous that it needs to be sortd bit by bit.

I, and others, have been very busy boys and girls indeed.


CS

Chris, will your shootout be released before April? Just wondering because NAB is right around the corner. By the time you finally release your report, the information within may be "old news" already, with new products on the horizon.

Just heard from Chris this morning, he's been out of town almost non stop since the first tranche went up last weekend, he's promised to get it posted sometime this coming weekend.

The rest won't be too far behind.

Yes, having NAB looming in the rear view mirror is a bit of a spur, tho' major ground breaking support releases tend to be pretty few and far between, increments and tarting tending to be the norm.

Just to prove me wrong, someone will have totally re - invented the wheel and come out with a remote control support with double 360 degree servo pan/ tilt, gyros, capable of levitation and independent flight whilst running for over 12 hours on a pair of AA batteries, the entire thing weighing less than 3 pounds..

Or something.

I shall be peeved indeed that they didn't let me review it first!


CS

Apologies for the delay -- I just had a spate of travel; to San Francisco,
then Las Vegas, then Orlando, pretty much all back-to-back. Have now
returned to the home office and Chris Soucy's Libec review is being
processed at this moment. I'll post the link here plus we'll have a new
thread going just for feedback on his article.

I didn't intend to be out for so long, but I had a rare opportunity in
Florida. Photos attached here to show you just what I mean. Back
to work now though.

Chris Soucy's Libec RS-250M review is up:

Part One: Review: Libec RS 250M Video Support System at DVInfo.net (1 of 2) (http://www.dvinfo.net/article/production/camsupport/review-libec-rs-250m-video-support-system.html)

Part Two: Review: Libec RS 250M Video Support System at DVInfo.net (2 of 2) (http://www.dvinfo.net/article/production/camsupport/review-libec-rs-250m-video-support-system.html/2)

I've started a separate discussion topic for it. Please post any feedback about the Libec review to this thread:

http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/tripod-sticks-heads/492584-libec-rs-250m-review-feedback.html



See you there,

Chris,

I didn't realize you were a Shuttle buff. My son and I got a very "behind the scenes" tour of the space shuttle training facility in Houston Texus several years ago, which I documented. No great videography here, it was shot with a Canon S3 (point and shoot), but you may enjoy what goes into such a program. My son was very fortunate to get a tour and be able to fly the simulator and see a lot of things most don't get to see first hand.

20080625 Jim visits NASA @ Houston TX on Vimeo

By the way, when will this thread continue with other tripod reviews?

Late to the party and wondering if I missed dinner ;) Did you post the shoot out results Chris, looks like the whole world wants to know the best dslr tripod - me included.

When I first moved over to video from photography I was taken aback by the cost of heads and sticks to support them but after owning a Manfrotto and 38 I now see why all the sage wisdom says " buy nice or buy twice" especially when it comes to video tripods / heads.

So now, money I don't have but will spend anyway is burning a whole in my pocket - just tell this lemming which to buy and off I will go ;)

Cheers,

Hi, Greg................

If you check out the very first thread on the index page (DVinfo.net Announcements) you'll see that Chris Hurd has taken the latest installment hostage along wiith the database that goes with all of them.

Not quite sure what ransom I'm going to have to pay to spring 'em but negotiations are continuing.

Once that's all settled I'll fire up the last of the reviews (Sachtler) and then the "shootout" with my take on the winners and also rans, though if you don't more or less pick 'em from the reviews I must be doing sommat wrong.

To date the VB is ahead by a couple of lengths, but horses for courses.


CS

Manfotto Review Update

The Mummy's Curse seem to have touched this review - maybe Manfrotto called in the Mafia!

Still held hostage by Chris and no sign that negotiations over a ransom have gone anywhere.

No idea what is going on but keeping my fingers crossed, still have "Proof of Life" as it's sitting on my hard drive(s), not that it's doing anyone much good there.

More as and when.


CS

We curoius videographers just want to stay informed, that's what this forum is about isn't it?...release the hounds man!

p.s Will Miller enters the fray?

with as long as it's been I'm guessing the delay is either legal or political

I have asked, gently, twice now, in the past month to have the Manfrotto 504 review published. If for some reason, people don't like the review Chris S has written, they have the right to submit a rebuttal to the forum.

If there is/are actual/perceived problems with the device reviewed, the forum serves the manufacturer to improve the product or dispel the perception. The review forum seems like a much better source of feedback for a manufacturer than having critical posts about a products shortcomings seeded randomly throughout the comments.

Probably more likely that the guv'nor (CH) is just really busy and hasn't had the time to polish off the review yet!

Probably more likely that the guv'nor (CH) is just really busy and hasn't had the time to polish off the review yet!

A fly in the wall informed that Chris Soucy has submitted a handwritten manuscript and Chris Hurd is searching for someone to decipher it. :D Any volunteers to help Chris?

I feel the answer to this hold up is a little simpler than many would think.

Those in touch with the Forums will have noticed a decided lack of CH input over the last couple of months, which implies issues elsewhere requiring his attention.

What they have been / are is irrevelant, if he's not available, he's not.

A sudden flurry of CH input (to the Forums) in the last couple of days has given me hope that we shall see the light at the end of this tunnel very shortly.

Keep your fingers crossed guys.


CS

PS: There's nothing in the review that strays from observable/ demonstrable/ measurable fact, thus rendering the conspiracy theory redundant BTW. If it's in there, it's true. Pretty, maybe not, true, definately.

Chris,

Any chance you could add the Velbon CX480 to your reviews, please?

given me hope that we shall see the light at the end of this tunnel very shortly.Indeed -- stand by,

Okay, here's your light at the end of the tunnel. I've been next-weeking you guys
for awhile now, and hopefully this will be the last time I have to do that. All that's
left to do on this thing is to integrate Chris's photos into their proper places in the
article. Thought I'd have that done today, but I'm heading out in a few hours to the
InfoComm trade show in Orlando. I'm there for one full day, then I'll be back, and
then the wife is whisking me off to the in-law's for Father's Day this weekend.
Getting this piece published is Job One once I'm back in the office on Monday.
Thanks a ton for your patience!

Chris S, excellent write up on the Manfrotto 504HD/546.
Having these reviews provides an excellent comparison for anyone contemplating the future purchase of a counter-balanced tripod and head system.
The different features of each offering coupled with your critiques and comments also provide an excellent education for those new to videography.
Looking forward to the future Sachtler and Miller reviews.

Well, I'll be...............

Finally.

Thanks, Chris H. Scrubbed up pretty good after all that.

Now it's Sachtler's turn...............

Thanks for the comments Ed, always appreciated.


CS

Can't begin to express my sincere regret over the lengthy delay, but at least it's up now... will try not to let that happen again! Thanks tons for your patience,

SO,where can I find the review(s) ?

Top of every page:

Home News Articles Forum Videos

Click on "Articles" and you're there.


CS

YES!
Mahalo Chris for all your work.
Z

Thank you, Wayne................

Glad you like.

Message to MILLER, BTW, not too late if you want to be in this.

What have you got to lose?

Lot of water under the bridge since this started, what's it to be be?

If you think I'll trash you, look at the reviews. You only get trashed if there's something to trash.

Nothing to trash? Get it here and go for it.

I'm an "Equal Opportunuty Support Trasher", so you'll get a fair shake, no problem.

I'm also an Aussie battler myself (and then some), put your money where your mouth is with your supports, and stick something appropriate in this shootout.

Come on, I can't be THAT scary, surely? Can I?

Come on Miller, get with it.


CS

Excellent work Chris (and Big Chris as well), as usual. It doesn't look like I'll be sending my VB back to Mr Harman for a refund just yet.

Now when are you going to review the Velbon DV7000 Pro tripod!?

Well, Mike............

They want to send me one, it's "game on", talk to whomever you need to, I can't review sommat I ain't got, and Velbon, like Miller (and quite a few of the lesser known suppliers), seem to be pretty bloody wary of letting their gear near me (well, I don't/ won't get paid, so I can't be, well, you know, makes me pretty dangerous).

They loan me the gear, it's a goer. They don't, it ain't.


CS

I take it you haven't seen the Velbon DV7000 then, Chris! <grin>

http://www.velbon.co.uk/products/video/dv-7000.html

Would love to get your take on the geared column and 4-position handle, auto-lock system and cork-topped camera plate.

Another Vinten Vision Blue review...

Vinten Vision Blue Tripod, (http://www.governmentvideo.com/article/108530)

Chris,
When are the other reviews appearing here?

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

Well, the last of the four is coming soon, working on it now.

Miller, alas, has slipped through the net, didn't want to know, for whatever reason, and, yes, I spoke to them direct and got an emphatic "NO".

Going to be interesting this last one, as it's a bit of a hybrid unit I would never have put together, but worthwhile reviewing the components, nevertheless.

Barring hiccups at Chris's end (Chris H, I hasten to add), a few weeks should see it done.


CS

Hi Chris your extensis and very informative tripod reviews is the reason why I am a very happy owner of a brand new Vision Blue Tripod. I thought Its greatest advantages would be to help me use the entire zoomrange of my camcorder, but I find the way I can focus with my camcorder on the tripod even more usefull when filming. So Chris thanks a lot for taking the time to review the tripods. You have saved me from making a costly mistake.

Best regards from Denmark

Hi Chris, it's been awhile, did I miss the Sachtler review?
Aloha,
Wayne

Nah, still in the works, I'm just slack I guess (tho' there have been one or two other things requiring prompt attention, holding things up).

Hopefully not too much longer.


CS

Almost embarrassed to resurrect this thread once more, but there is an important update which has been long overdue.

About the time the last of the reviews rolled off the production line here, I sent Chris Hurd a file of all the collated data on all 4 systems tested, with pretty graphs and all sorts of interesting stuff.

For reasons still not clear, it never got published in the Articles section, so I finally decided to cut out the middle man and get them in PDF format (instead of Excel) to put up here on the Forum.

I just got them this afternoon. So, here they are.

Now, for the eagle eyed, you'll notice that there is data and graphs for a Sachtler rig, which is strangely missing the relevant review.

The true story of why that is so I shall relate, and I can assure you all, it gave me no end of heartache at the time, and still rankles, if I'm honest.

Sachtler quite happily submitted the system in question for the shootout, but it was made clear that the system concerned was an ex demo/ trade show unit, which was fine until......

It was immediately obvious that, on its journey between the factory and myself, the head had taken some serious punishment, as evidenced by the dings and scratches on it.

During the review process, it was instantly apparent that the head was not behaving as I expected, and a few of its foibles, when checked with Barbara at Sachtler, could be put down to nothing less that abuse/ damage.

When it came time to write up the head review, I got a bad feeling about what I was writing, and took the precaution of highlighting, in red, every single item that needed to be qualified with the statement "possibly as a result of abuse/ damage", only for the head section to be instantly just under 50% red.

That left a serious cloud over the sticks, for, whilst not showing any evidence of the rough handling that the head did, they had come combined with the head as an assembled unit, the sticks were not factory fresh in their wrapping, so may well have suffered the same abuse/ damage as the head.

That left me with a major conundrum. I had sunk many hours into the testing and writing, yet could not, hand on heart, swear that this system was what a owner would get fresh out of the factory, so, instead of a review, it read more like a Coroners report.

Ultimately, I had to make the decision that, in all fairness to Sachtler and the readers here on DVinfo, I would have to spike the entire piece. I can assure you all, it was not taken lightly.

However, the data in the PDF's had already been compiled, and I could not warrant the time to excise the Sachtler component, so take it with a pinch of salt. I still can't vouch for the sticks performance, what I measured is what I measured, take it or leave it.

If anyone can figure out a better place to put this info, pipe up or just do it.

As for the accuracy of the compiled data, I'm certain there be gremlins in there, if you spot one (or more) file an entry here and I'll get it fixed ASAP.

So, without further ado, the goodies...........


CS

Many thanks, Chris -- these PDF documents are much appreciated. I might yet be able to get this data properly formatted for display on the web site, but for now, having them here in PDF format certainly fills the bill easily. Thanks again,