Cartoni Master tripod head at DVinfo.net

Steve Phillipps · December 24th, 2008, 07:47 AM

Seems very few people have much experience with Cartoni heads, so I thought I'd post my experience with the Master head.
It's big, about 9kg (but looks heavier!). I loaded it up with a Sony 700 and an HJ40. Controls all work OK, pretty nicely made.
Operation-wise a quick summary would be nice smooth pan and tilt, but the counterbalance wasn't too impressive, it had a fair bit of bounce at the end of tilts and it was impossible to get the camera to feel perfectly balanced and weightless.
Well, a brief summary, but hope it's of use to someone.
Steve

Chris Soucy · December 24th, 2008, 01:33 PM

Nice camera.

You must have more money than God!

US$30K for the bare camera!

Can't even begin to imagine what the Cartoni and support came to, tho' a pretty impressive sum, no doubt.

As for it's (the Cartoni's) operation with the 700, can't say I'm too suprised by the "fair bit of bounce at the end of tilts" comment.

The Cartoni Master is designed for film camera's primarilly, which, due to their film reels and associated drive mechanisms, tend to have quite a high COG.

Added to that, the counterbalance system is rated at 10 kilo's minimum to 30 kilo's maximum.

Given that the 700 naked is only 9 lbs 4 oz, even pimped to the nines it would be struggling to get to 22 pounds, and then with a COG much lower than any film camera (pure speculation on my part but seems a reasonable assumption).

Thus the counterbalance system wouldn't really be at all challenged, and would be trying to push the camera back to the horizontal at every turn, no matter how low it was set.

Nice setup, but probably a bit much head for the desired application.

Yet another rig to drool over at Christmas.

Sigh.

CS

Steve Phillipps · December 24th, 2008, 01:42 PM

It was certainly above the minimum counterbalance setting, the HJ40 is 5.5kg on it's own don't forget! My imression is that it'd be nice for a heavy film setup (as you say) on moderate lenses as the movement is really nice, where it fails is tiny critical movements with ultra telephotos (1000mm+ with the HJ40).
Steve

Chris Soucy · December 24th, 2008, 01:54 PM

It's 5.45/ 12.02 actually, but let's not quibble.

I reckon a decent monitor mounted up there somewhere would bring it back under better control, tho' you do have a very valid point, @1120 mm you have one heck of a Howitzer to keep aimed where you want it.

Hmm, Vinten, perhaps?

CS

PS: Merry Christmas (well, it is here at any rate).

December 24th, 2008, 07:47 AM	#1
Steve Phillipps Inner Circle Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Wales Posts: 2,130	Cartoni Master tripod head Seems very few people have much experience with Cartoni heads, so I thought I'd post my experience with the Master head. It's big, about 9kg (but looks heavier!). I loaded it up with a Sony 700 and an HJ40. Controls all work OK, pretty nicely made. Operation-wise a quick summary would be nice smooth pan and tilt, but the counterbalance wasn't too impressive, it had a fair bit of bounce at the end of tilts and it was impossible to get the camera to feel perfectly balanced and weightless. Well, a brief summary, but hope it's of use to someone. Steve Attached Thumbnails

December 24th, 2008, 01:33 PM	#2
Chris Soucy Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Fairfield, Dunedin, New Zealand Posts: 3,689 Images: 18	Hi Steve............ Nice camera. You must have more money than God! US$30K for the bare camera! Can't even begin to imagine what the Cartoni and support came to, tho' a pretty impressive sum, no doubt. As for it's (the Cartoni's) operation with the 700, can't say I'm too suprised by the "fair bit of bounce at the end of tilts" comment. The Cartoni Master is designed for film camera's primarilly, which, due to their film reels and associated drive mechanisms, tend to have quite a high COG. Added to that, the counterbalance system is rated at 10 kilo's minimum to 30 kilo's maximum. Given that the 700 naked is only 9 lbs 4 oz, even pimped to the nines it would be struggling to get to 22 pounds, and then with a COG much lower than any film camera (pure speculation on my part but seems a reasonable assumption). Thus the counterbalance system wouldn't really be at all challenged, and would be trying to push the camera back to the horizontal at every turn, no matter how low it was set. Nice setup, but probably a bit much head for the desired application. Yet another rig to drool over at Christmas. Sigh. CS

December 24th, 2008, 01:54 PM	#4
Chris Soucy Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Fairfield, Dunedin, New Zealand Posts: 3,689 Images: 18	Ah............ It's 5.45/ 12.02 actually, but let's not quibble. I reckon a decent monitor mounted up there somewhere would bring it back under better control, tho' you do have a very valid point, @1120 mm you have one heck of a Howitzer to keep aimed where you want it. Hmm, Vinten, perhaps? CS PS: Merry Christmas (well, it is here at any rate).

December 24th, 2008, 01:42 PM	#3
Steve Phillipps Inner Circle Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Wales Posts: 2,130	It was certainly above the minimum counterbalance setting, the HJ40 is 5.5kg on it's own don't forget! My imression is that it'd be nice for a heavy film setup (as you say) on moderate lenses as the movement is really nice, where it fails is tiny critical movements with ultra telephotos (1000mm+ with the HJ40). Steve