Like most people looking for an affordable video tripod to get going with, all roads seem to end with the Sachtler Ace M. But the tripod that everyone should really be getting is the Gitzo GT2531LVL.

I'm surprised no one is talking about this tripod, so I wrote a kind of long blog post about it. Your Tripod Search Ends Here | Alaska Video Shooter (http://alaskavideoshooter.com/your-tripod-search-ends-here/)

The part where you call the Sachtler Ace garbage because it's the wrong tool for the job you want to do, is where you lose all your credibility.
...especially when you mention the Amazon tripod in the same paragraph.

In your article you say: "Worst of all, its load capacity is only 8.8 pounds – in the real world it can handle more, but essentially it’s not built to even hold a DSLR rig on top of a slider."

You don't need to buy that tripod to find that out about the load capacity, the payload is in the specs, if you want a heaver payload you buy another model. And I have been using a slider with dslr on it with no issues, but it's a cheap and very light slider and I shoot with m4/3 camera's, you otoh are probably using a expensive much heavier slider combined with a much heavier camera, so the issue is not the tripod but it's because your slider is garbage considering it works fine on mine

You probably will find that last statement ridiculous but actually you are saying the same thing about the tripod, just because it's not suited for your use doesn't mean it's "garbage". If the payload says max 4kg and you put 5kg+ on it and it doesn't work, it would be a bit silly to say the tripod is no good, no?

Also your statement that a Miller tripod is only for interviews and occasional static shots? Have you ever used a Miller tripod? I did and I could do a fluid pan with a heavy shouldercamera fully zoomed in, try to do that with the Gitzo, I know the Gitzo is not made for that purpose but does that matter when comparing tripods? :)

Nice review, but you seem to miss all the kinds of testing people normally do on a tripod. How much do the legs flex when you engage the locks? How much wind up is there, how easy are the tube locks, how strong are they. You seem fixated with what it looks like and how cool it is? I don't care about being cool - I care about strong stable legs vs flimsy wobbly ones. I also find it difficult to take seriously a review that likes Manfrotto budget heads. It's not like this is a cheap bit of kit. I'd not take a risk on it based on your quite nice to read but very subjective review. What is it you like? It's lightweight and cool? Personally, I'd rather have a heavier and more regis set of legs. I've got some tubular legs somewhere - quite solid but rotational forces mean it moves left and right quite a bit when the locked head is turned.

It's too expensive to be a rival to proper legs and heads. Ok for stills -perhaps even good, but for video rotational rigidity is very important, and these stills origin products are not for me. They're perfect for DSLRs taking stills, but if you want smooth pans and tilts at long focal lengths, then a video pedigree set of legs and a head is a must.

Not to dogpile you Slavik, but I think Noa and Paul did a good job of answering your question as to why no one is talking about that tripod. :)

I too find that the manufacturers are behind the users when it comes to lightweight legs and heads, suitable for the kind of slim run and gun enabled by dSLRs and other small cams.

I'd like to add to my selection of heavyweights from Gitzo & Manfrotto; those pods/heads will support my dSLR, but at a significant weight & bulk. The return springs aren't right either.

On the stills side we see much more maturity in lightweight products. They typically don't have leveling heads, but there are alternatives as Slavik points out. In addition to the Manfrotto and Acratech levelers, and the Gitzo wobbly column, there's also the leveling columns Manfrotto sells that somewhat video-ize their 055 and 190 series legs, and they have a heavier CF tripod (755) with an integrated leveler. I may eventually buy the column for my 190 legs.

IMO we still haven't seen the killer lightweight video head. Sachtler tried miniaturizing a conventional head, I'm thinking about something slimmer. Manfrotto has a longer history with mini video heads... see below.

The QR systems both on Sachtler and the the OP's Manfrotto MVH500 haven't been downsized enough. I'd like to see something based on Arca-Swiss compatibility. Acratech showed such a head at shows this year, it will release at $500 sometime. I'd like to see the downsized MVH500/Arca-Swiss QR version, with a smaller top plate... under $200.

I can see the points others have made in this thread, but I have to agree that current products on offer don't meet my vision of what a professional video travel tripod/head for dSLR can be.

I too find that the manufacturers are behind the users when it comes to lightweight legs and heads, suitable for the kind of slim run and gun enabled by dSLRs and other small cams.

=====

I can see the points others have made in this thread, but I have to agree that current products on offer don't meet my vision of what a professional video travel tripod/head for dSLR can be.

Part of the problem is that a dSLR with a 50mm kit kens has a very low overall mass with it being fairly centred, front to back.

Add a 70-200, 100-400 or 500mm lens and all of a sudden your "lightweight dSLR" is terribly front-heavy and nearly unbalanceable even on mid-weight video tripods.

Not a simple One-Size-Fits-All-Cheaply problem to solve.

Add a 70-200, 100-400 or 500mm lens and all of a sudden your "lightweight dSLR" is terribly front-heavy and nearly unbalanceable even on mid-weight video tripods.

By using a tripod mount ring rather than camera-based mount, the balance isn't terrible. Mounting from the camera with a large lens would be the wrong way to go...

Shaun, weren't you JUST telling me about how impressed you were at NAB with all the lightweight video tripods coming in from China?

By using a tripod mount ring rather than camera-based mount, the balance isn't terrible. Mounting from the camera with a large lens would be the wrong way to go...

Which of course slows down the whole changing lens thing in the field... one of the main reasons I don't personally work with dSLRs. And by that I mean changing from a long zoom to a short prime and back.

Shaun, weren't you JUST telling me about how impressed you were at NAB with all the lightweight video tripods coming in from China?

Right...

I think I pointed out the ridiculously heavy Seceed copy of a Sachtler Video25 wasn't nearly as bad as I expected...

Part of the problem is that a dSLR with a 50mm kit kens has a very low overall mass with it being fairly centred, front to back.

Add a 70-200, 100-400 or 500mm lens and all of a sudden your "lightweight dSLR" is terribly front-heavy and nearly unbalanceable even on mid-weight video tripods.

Not a simple One-Size-Fits-All-Cheaply problem to solve.
Well, you raise a good point, but that's a little longer than I'd go, to be sure. I think of either of those last two as sports/wildlife lenses, and I don't do much of either.

However, back in Arca-Swiss land, I do have an inexpensive nodal pano clamping rail that would balance the 70-200 or even the 100-400, I'd think. Then just slide the rail in the head's QR to find balance. That is, if I had access to an affordable A-S based fluid head that was worth a darn.

Acratech has finally put up a page for their new fluid / ball hybrid head. I do love their stuff, and extremely well-engineered, but the rumored $500 is pretty spendy for a lightweight. Looks like the same balance challenge, with no spring, but with a sliding nodal rail for balance perhaps it would work great.
Acratech Video Ballhead (http://acratech.net/video-ballhead/)

But for your long focal lengths, what are you going to do? Even if you put them on larger video camcorder things are going to get real front-heavy. On some of the bigger heads you can quickly dial in the counterbalance, but that's really another ballgame of size & weight
Which of course slows down the whole changing lens thing in the field... one of the main reasons I don't personally work with dSLRs. And by that I mean changing from a long zoom to a short prime and back.
Oh, you gotta be talking about a conventional 10:1 or better zoom, yes? Well, you're right, you can't touch a broadcast lens' range with a dSLR without a lot of lens changing. But that's apples and oranges, isn't it?

Well, you raise a good point, but that's a little longer than I'd go, to be sure. I think of either of those last two as sports/wildlife lenses, and I don't do much of either.

Around Vancouver, dSLRs are used for EVERYTHING (right tool or not...) including conference coverage and the 100 - 400 is often requested for the back-of-room podium coverage camera.

You are right of course - horses for courses - but a significant number of people I run into on a daily basis think that a $500 tripod is going to work for all occasions and don't take weight positional loading into account.

Around Vancouver, dSLRs are used for EVERYTHING (right tool or not...) including conference coverage and the 100 - 400 is often requested for the back-of-room podium coverage camera.

You are right of course - horses for courses - but a significant number of people I run into on a daily basis think that a $500 tripod is going to work for all occasions and don't take weight positional loading into account.

Seriously? A DSLR for seminar coverage? Wow, I'm sorry but I'm shaking my head in wonderment on this.
I've covered hundreds if not more of seminars and conferences and I just can't imagine NOT using a proper video camera for shooting one, regardless of whether I'm actually recording it, going to iMag, recording the footage in video world or any combination.
Maybe I'm too old school and the world has passed me by. :-(

For company meetings, we shoot with a standard camcorder for the master shot and a 5D2 with 70-200/2.8 IS (virtually always at 200mm) for the podium. Works great - but only because of the camcorder support. The DSLR advantage is that even with the background not so far behind the speaker, we can still blur the background a bit.

It works because:
1) I'm not changing lenses,
2) I'm not messing with focus,
3) I'm not live zooming,
4) The master cam covers the start/stop of the 12 minute limit,
5) The master cam handles the continuous audio,
6) I use a large CF card,
7) I have an AC adapter,
8) We edit in post. (DSLRs don't have genlock or HD-SDI.)

I just worry about framing. And I slide the framing over to make room for a Power Point insert, similar to the technique they use on The Daily Show and Colbert Report.

Back on the tripod topic, I use a Vinten 3AS, which isn't bad but isn't perfect either. IS helps, as does a weight hanging from the center of the tripod from a rope. Make sure to use spikes on carpet. Initially, I only had a floor spreader and that is a carpet fail.

I'd never thought about using a dSLR for meetings coverage either. So often the call is for a single camera, and that's got to be with a broadcast zoom with servo!

But Jon's 2-cam method seems very sound. Is the master-shot camcorder locked off and unmanned? (unwomanned?)

Back on video heads for dSLRs, yesterday I came across Really Right Stuff's (RRS) new video head. RRS is a well known premium tripod and head manufacturer for stills gear, if you're not familiar with them. IMO their gear outclasses Gitzo in several different areas, though their range of legs and heads is narrower. I'm not alone in that opinion...

Oh, my, the price! $1700 US! For a little yet pretty beefy US-manufactured head:
Fluid Head (http://www.reallyrightstuff.com/FH-350-Fluid-Video-Head.html)
And yes, not only Arca-Swiss, but using a pano/nodal slide to balance the rig, just like I do for thousands less! Except mine is on a stills ball head, not something to do moves with.

Maybe the upcoming Acratech is really a bargain at $500... but doggone it the $150-200 range of heads ought to have something for the discriminating dSLR videographer/cinematographer/photographer with Arca-Swiss systems, but without a lot of dough.

...Who loads a tripod onto a vehicle with a camera mounted to it?? Take it off before something snags and drops the payload??

Funny, I was thinking of this very topic of lighter weight DSLR tripods last night, as I wanted to wander near my house with my 5D. Getting tired of carrying a heavier Manfrotto video set of sticks with me for quick field work on a 5D. Has anyone tried using a 5D or similar with this Oben head that B&H carries on a set of lighter weight sticks?

Oben PD-117 3-Way Pan/Tilt Head PD-117 B&H Photo Video

Ultimately, here in the Pacific NW where I live, I contend with a lot of wind. The Manfrotto Carbon Fibre are much more steady in a 30 kt breeze than anything else I've tried.

Right...

I think I pointed out the ridiculously heavy Seceed copy of a Sachtler Video25 wasn't nearly as bad as I expected...

I meant more the lightweight DSLR heads that were both a) overpriced for knockoffs and b) mostly terrible. :)

I meant more the lightweight DSLR heads that were both a) overpriced for knockoffs and b) mostly terrible. :)

The word "mostly" is pretty much extraneous in that statement...

:P

But Jon's 2-cam method seems very sound. Is the master-shot camcorder locked off and unmanned? (unwomanned?)

Yes, Seth. No human touches the master cam. :) It's a wide shot that includes the podium and the projection screen, plus some safety area. With the DSLR, the shot is medium-tight and I either track the subject or move him/her over to a "rule of 5ths" to make room for the Power Point overlay. The third option is the full frame Power Point slide.

I show the Power Point full screen when there are many details. I mainly show the DSLR shot - especially if there is an emotional connection to the speaker. When another speaker walks to the podium, I go wide. I also go wide when the speaker references the audience. Both cams are Canons and they match reasonably well as long as I match the color balance.

BTW, we use a cheap tripod under the camcorder. It's locked down and indoors, so it doesn't much matter what holds it up. :)

I use a three camera method, a 5d with a 17-40 on a jib, and most depth of field the light can muster, an Xa10 with wide angle adapter on a tripod mounted slider with fluid head, either wide or medium wide from a different angle, and then I am mobile with a 70d 24-105 for close ups and creative angles.
The XA10 has saved my bacon many times, and I find I can get a pretty good match with the DSLRs with some tasteful vignette, edge blur and diffusion etc.
Often when wide, I find the XA10 more pleasing than the 5d, as minute details in trees, grass and the like make the image fall apart on the 5d.

Hey all -

Just got back from a couple weeks traveling and shooting, and missed the responses. I'm glad to see some discussion about tripods for DSLR run and gun shooting - so, thanks for your contributions.

I think for someone just getting into tripod shopping, the discussion can go from Amazon cheapies to high end Miller tripods very quickly, which is why it's so overwhelming to find something in the mid-range. Recommendations from professionals like you guys are what helps everybody starting out.

Cheers!
Slavik

I consider my tripod to be one of the most important pieces of gear I own. While I would love to have a shorter leg model, it seems that the $700 to $1000 is the entry price for a product worth investing in for video work, and likely it's worth spending a lot more. My last tripod (a still camera model) lasted twenty years. The main weight I add these days is the slider. Quality means it's going to be heavy.

I finally got my MeFoto Globetrotter tripod.
This is one great tripod. I tried it with an Aviator jib, an Edelkrone Sliderplus 2, with a Velbon FHD-71QN head on a Acratech levelling base, and with the included ball head as well.
Very, very solid, though a bit of winding with the Velbon head, which is a little stiff for DSLRs.
This thing folds up super small (16"), holds 26 pounds, converts to a monopod that is TALL, the centre column inverts for ground shots, and it gets low to the ground for solid slider shots.
I am very impressed with this tripod!
Anyone using the Aviator jib, by the way, I found filling a floppy bag with sand or rocks an inefficient counter weight, and carrying barbell weights around seemed silly. So I cut the head of a 3 1/2" bolt (3/8-16) locked on a 1 1/2" long nut in the centre so I could screw one end into the jib arm and then screw on my tripod head on the other end to use as a counter weight. With my Libec half bowl head, I can just screw it on directly.
It works really well, you have the tripod head arm as a handle and you can also adjust its angle to fine tune counterweight, and since you already carry the weight of the head, why not use it?