Chris Soucy
July 9th, 2007, 07:37 PM
OK, that's the basic question, but first a bit of background............
I've currently got a set of Manfrotto 520's from waaay back, ok for SD 4:3 but occasionally showed a bit of "wind up" and "backlash" and yeah, weren't the most latterly rigid I could imagine but they did the job.
I then upped my game to HDV. Oh boy, the 520's went from "average" to "oh bloody hell" overnight. Very shortly after, I invested in a set of Manfrotto 528XB's, primarilly to support my massive jib and gizmos (the 520's immediately being deduced as useless for the job).
The 528's were a revelation - built like a brick outhouse and capable of doing double duty as truck axel stands when not on a shoot. With my new Vinten V3 on top they were almost scarilly stable - no backlash, no wobble, nothing.
They also, at 7.4 kilos (16.28 lbs) were complete gut busters for "run and gun" shooting, and their lowest height setting was damn near level with my sternum!
A new set of sticks had to be found! So, I started my hunt for a set of light (under 4 kilo [8.8 lbs]), versatile (very low, very high), AND VERY STABLE sticks.
Now, here's where I veer off on a sort of personal mission (for want of a better word) about what I consider the minimalist information to be found on camera support manufacturers web sites. This is a general type peeve as I find them all, without exception, badly designed, lacking in any detailed info on their products - and, in one specific area, an insult to our collective intelligence!
Just to put this in context, once you've got past the "form" and "fit" stages of any product, you come, naturally, to the "function" section - how well does it actually do what it's supposed to do?
With a tripod this comes down to rigidity - rotational, lateral and every which way but loose. So, where the bl**dy he** is this data?
Manfrotto/ Bogen?
Cartoni?
Miller?
Vinten?
Whoa, whoa - there is one, mind you, ONLY one place I can find a chink in this armour of ignorance:-
http://www.vinten.com/uploads/documents/CamSuppUK.pdf
Try the bottom of page 7.
OK, so this is, as far as I am aware, the ONLY time one of the manufacturers has broken ranks and actually published hard data that should be available for every tripod ever made.
I refer, of course, to probably the most important piece of information you can have about any tripod with regard to "function".
Now, I know, and you know that this stuff gets measured - you can't design anything to perform a specific function without measureing how well it does it. You can't improve it till you know what you have to improve on. You can't keep ahead of the opposition (if you have any) without measureing their products as well - as that little snippet above shows only too well.
So, my first BIG Q before going into the details of the two 'pods mentioned at the beginning - why, oh why, oh why aren't the manufacturers publishing all this info?
Considering that in the absence of this info you are, to all intents and purposes, flying blind when considering a tripod system, the answer from the manufacturers as to why they are keeping this info secret really should be a hoot, and probably even more of an insult to our collective intelligences than the thundering silence that presently prevails.
I do hope I've given some of you pause for thought - I'll be interested to see what feedback I get.
Now, as to the two tripods mentiond (Vinten & Miller) does anybody have any info on relative lateral and rotational rigidity that is specific to either?
I can't very well go on the Vinten snippet above as it kindly fails to inform just what "competitors" it was comparing against.
Now you see the problem!
CS
I've currently got a set of Manfrotto 520's from waaay back, ok for SD 4:3 but occasionally showed a bit of "wind up" and "backlash" and yeah, weren't the most latterly rigid I could imagine but they did the job.
I then upped my game to HDV. Oh boy, the 520's went from "average" to "oh bloody hell" overnight. Very shortly after, I invested in a set of Manfrotto 528XB's, primarilly to support my massive jib and gizmos (the 520's immediately being deduced as useless for the job).
The 528's were a revelation - built like a brick outhouse and capable of doing double duty as truck axel stands when not on a shoot. With my new Vinten V3 on top they were almost scarilly stable - no backlash, no wobble, nothing.
They also, at 7.4 kilos (16.28 lbs) were complete gut busters for "run and gun" shooting, and their lowest height setting was damn near level with my sternum!
A new set of sticks had to be found! So, I started my hunt for a set of light (under 4 kilo [8.8 lbs]), versatile (very low, very high), AND VERY STABLE sticks.
Now, here's where I veer off on a sort of personal mission (for want of a better word) about what I consider the minimalist information to be found on camera support manufacturers web sites. This is a general type peeve as I find them all, without exception, badly designed, lacking in any detailed info on their products - and, in one specific area, an insult to our collective intelligence!
Just to put this in context, once you've got past the "form" and "fit" stages of any product, you come, naturally, to the "function" section - how well does it actually do what it's supposed to do?
With a tripod this comes down to rigidity - rotational, lateral and every which way but loose. So, where the bl**dy he** is this data?
Manfrotto/ Bogen?
Cartoni?
Miller?
Vinten?
Whoa, whoa - there is one, mind you, ONLY one place I can find a chink in this armour of ignorance:-
http://www.vinten.com/uploads/documents/CamSuppUK.pdf
Try the bottom of page 7.
OK, so this is, as far as I am aware, the ONLY time one of the manufacturers has broken ranks and actually published hard data that should be available for every tripod ever made.
I refer, of course, to probably the most important piece of information you can have about any tripod with regard to "function".
Now, I know, and you know that this stuff gets measured - you can't design anything to perform a specific function without measureing how well it does it. You can't improve it till you know what you have to improve on. You can't keep ahead of the opposition (if you have any) without measureing their products as well - as that little snippet above shows only too well.
So, my first BIG Q before going into the details of the two 'pods mentioned at the beginning - why, oh why, oh why aren't the manufacturers publishing all this info?
Considering that in the absence of this info you are, to all intents and purposes, flying blind when considering a tripod system, the answer from the manufacturers as to why they are keeping this info secret really should be a hoot, and probably even more of an insult to our collective intelligences than the thundering silence that presently prevails.
I do hope I've given some of you pause for thought - I'll be interested to see what feedback I get.
Now, as to the two tripods mentiond (Vinten & Miller) does anybody have any info on relative lateral and rotational rigidity that is specific to either?
I can't very well go on the Vinten snippet above as it kindly fails to inform just what "competitors" it was comparing against.
Now you see the problem!
CS