Manfrotto 700rc2/128rc Heads

[William John Harvey]

Hello from Germany !

I would like to introduce myself to this forum and ask a simple question.
I am an English man living and working in Germany and have recently bought a TRV 60 my first cam ! and have been looking
for a reasonable Tripod and Head, I have done some research
and thanks to your Great Forum I have settled on the Idea of a
Manfrotto setup BUT I cannot find any of these Heads in the
shops here and would have to order them by mail, so i would
be Very happy if anyone could tell what these two Heads are
Made of, Are they Plastic or Metal ?, and is it possible to adjust
the amount of drag on these Heads ?

Thanks William

[Paul Tauger]

I can't speak to the 128rc head, but I have a 700rc2. It's a solid metal head. Drag is adjustable on both pan and tilt, but only tilt is fluid. It works quite smoothly and is the ideal travel head for my VX2000 (I use it with the Bogen/Manfrotto 3444d carbon leg tripod).

[Federico Dib]

I have the 700Rc2 also.

I think it´s a great head, it´s very tough metal and small enough to be portable.
The only BUT I have it is that it´s release plate and the small lever to tighten it are a bit "primitive".. and sometimes I spend too much time to lock my XM2 on there. But I think that with your smaller Sony It will not be a problem.

[William John Harvey]

Thank you Paul and Federico for your prompt reply's and usefull
information that will help me make my decision on which to get

I like the idea of the 700rc2 as it is small, light and portable.

BUT I am surprised at what you said Paul that the 700rc2 head has
"fluid action in tilt only" as Manfrontto say in their adv.quote-
"Smooth and constant movements on both axis are assured by a fixed system of fluid cartridges"
is this some kind of adv. hype or what ?

I hope to pair one of these heads with the Manfrontto 755b legs
that have the 50mm level ball in the center stem which seams
like a usefull advantage to me.

Thanks again William

[William John Harvey]

Would anyone like to tell me what the 128rc is made of and what the fluid action is like ?


Thanks !

William

[Frank Granovski]

I had a Manfrotto 055pro set of legs with the Manfrotto 128RC head for about 2 weeks until it got "lifted" from my car. I have purchased another 128RC head but not the legs yet.

The 128 RC is metal, with a nice fluid action. It pans and tilts just fine, very smooth, but a little looser or "easier" than my old 136 head. The 128RC also tilts higher and lower than the 136 head. Personally, I think the 128RC is a very good head for small cams such as the TRV60.

Congrats on your cam purchase! And as the season of spirit is rapidly approaching, I'd like to wish you, "Frohliche Weihnachten!" :-)

[William John Harvey]

Thanks for your advise Frank, I am sorry to hear you got your first 128rc "lifted", you cann't leave anything unattended in your car here in Germany either, Hope you have betterluck with this new one .. I can go ahead and order my manfrotto kit now a 128rc with 755b legs and bag for 239 Euro + Post .

I wish you good shooting a Happy Thanks giving and a Merry Christmas yourself Frank

Thanks All
William

[Kris Verstappen]

That's a good price you got for that setup. Do you mind telling me where you found this?

Oh, and of course: do you already have it and are you happy with it?

[Paul Tauger]

BUT I am surprised at what you said Paul that the 700rc2 head has
"fluid action in tilt only" as Manfrontto say in their adv.quote-
"Smooth and constant movements on both axis are assured by a fixed system of fluid cartridges"
is this some kind of adv. hype or what ?

I amend what I wrote -- the head, indeed, is fluid in both axes.

[William John Harvey]

Hello Kris ...

I recivied it a few days ago and so far I am very pleased with it,
the 128rc Head is smooth in both pan and tilt,and the legs are very stable, the whole thing is very well build and the quality very good, I like the Ball head very much and the fact that so far in normal use I only have to extend the first leg extention and the center collum to use, of course it's not as light as the carbon legs but not so heavy either. all in all I'm happy so far. But the test of time will tell !

Here's where I bought it from http://www.lagu.de/shop/index.html?cat=WG398&art=480646
The service is very good and fast delivery too.and it seems they will deliver international also.

I hope this has helped you Kris

William

[William John Harvey]

Hi Paul

Thanks for the amendment.

William.

[Kris Verstappen]

Thanks William!

I didn't know that store, and they seem to have good prices overall. I usualy order my equipment from computeruniverse.net. Their service is excellent, but their prices are mostly a bit higher.

[Prech Marton]

Hi
I have the 128RC head, but now i search a lighter one for traveling with my Sony TD10.
Maybe 700RC2 is my solution? It's 0,5kg lighter, but don't know if the pan and tilt
is EXACTLY SO SMOOTH as with the 128RC?

Can somebody confirm this? Thanks.

[Prech Marton]

Anybody?
700RC2 is so smooth in both axis like the 128RC?
Or should i buy a 701HDV instead?

thx

[Trevor Dennis]

Prech, I've had a 700rc2 for severeal years, but it only gets occassional use on a slider nowadays. I used to use it with a little Sony HC1, and found it worked surprisingly well with a light camera.