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Old July 17th, 2009, 05:48 PM   #1
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Difference between flat and bogen

I'm sort of new to the more technical aspects of tripods and was wondering what the differences are between flat head and bogen head tripods. I may even be wrong in calling them "bogen head", I think bogen is the company name, right?

I know flat head is obviously flat, and bogen is a ball on top (rather than flat) right? If you could, could you supply two different pictures of the two different heads for me. I was recently looking at indisliders and the difference in heads determining whether or not you need an adapter is what brought me here asking. Thank you in advance :]
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Old July 17th, 2009, 08:32 PM   #2
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Hi Nicholas............

Here's a Manfrotto/ Bogen 516 head, half ball fitting and half bowl tripod:

Manfrotto by Bogen Imaging | 516 Pro Video Fluid Head Kit | B&H

OK: the head has a flat base and can be fitted to any flat topped tripod that has the appropriate 3/8 screw. Flat topped tripods are usually used for stills photography, not video.

Video tripods (usually) have a "half bowl" in the receiver (the bit the legs attach to) either 75, 100 or 150 mm across. The purpose of the "half bowl/ ball" is to allow the head to be rapidly levelled irespective of the level of the legs/ receiver. In order to use a head with a "half bowl" tripod, the head must have a "half ball" bottom.

The item you can see under the head is a Manfrotto "half ball" fitting, that screws into a flat based head turning into a "half ball" head.

Although I have used a Bogen/ Manfrotto unit to demonstrate, it is not a Bogen anything, it's either flat based or half ball based heads.

Do the trick?


CS
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Old July 17th, 2009, 09:53 PM   #3
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A ball head is VERY NICE for getting the camera level. You just loosen one large handle, level the camera, and tighten. Otherwise, you have to mess with the length of the three legs to level it.

In general, 75mm is adequate for small SD camcorders, 100mm is solid for most anything used on DV Info, and 150mm is for the big guns.
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Old July 18th, 2009, 12:35 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris Soucy View Post
Here's a Manfrotto/ Bogen 516 head, half ball fitting and half bowl tripod:

Manfrotto by Bogen Imaging | 516 Pro Video Fluid Head Kit | B&H

OK: the head has a flat base and can be fitted to any flat topped tripod that has the appropriate 3/8 screw. Flat topped tripods are usually used for stills photography, not video.

Video tripods (usually) have a "half bowl" in the receiver (the bit the legs attach to) either 75, 100 or 150 mm across. The purpose of the "half bowl/ ball" is to allow the head to be rapidly levelled irespective of the level of the legs/ receiver. In order to use a head with a "half bowl" tripod, the head must have a "half ball" bottom.

The item you can see under the head is a Manfrotto "half ball" fitting, that screws into a flat based head turning into a "half ball" head.

Although I have used a Bogen/ Manfrotto unit to demonstrate, it is not a Bogen anything, it's either flat based or half ball based heads.

Do the trick?


CS
Could you show me an example of a tripod that would be compatible with the indislider? and one that would NOT be compatible?
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Old July 18th, 2009, 01:50 PM   #5
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I recommend a tripod with a bowl. You would then use a half ball and mount your slider to that. Here's a 100mm example:

Manfrotto by Bogen Imaging | 500BALL 100mm Ball | 500BALL | B&H

This lets you level the slider quickly.

I recently got a 3193 (350MVB) tripod and it's quite solid. Things that contribute to stability are that it only has two sections and each section has two tubes, and that it has a 100mm bowl. The downsides are that it weighs a ton, and with only two sections, doesn't get all that low.

Manfrotto by Bogen Imaging | 350MVB Professional Tripod | 350MVB

More sections lets you get lower, but you lose a small amount of stability. Carbon fiber legs are lighter, but you lose money, and they often have only one tube per section.

You might consider a mid-level spreader with this tripod. It adds a small amount of stability, but the big advantage is that you can move the tripod quickly. You just lift the ring at the center of the tripod, and the legs fold right up. Without it, you have to fold up one leg at a time and click three latches, then reverse the process to set it back up.

For a slider, you might want a three section tripod, or a second short tripod or hi hat to get low.

Alan Gordon Enterprises | 1004-HIHAT-100 Hi-Hat | 1004-HIHAT-100
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Old July 18th, 2009, 02:45 PM   #6
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Think it's time.........

to do some work on my ignorance quotient.

What's a "indislider" when it's at home and what's it got to do with tripod heads?

Thanks.



CS
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Old July 18th, 2009, 03:05 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris Soucy View Post
What's a "indislider" when it's at home and what's it got to do with tripod heads?
The indislider can mount on top of a tripod, or a head, and you can mount a head on top of the indislider.

IndiSYSTEM - Studio 4 Productions - The indiSLIDERpro
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Old July 18th, 2009, 03:16 PM   #8
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Aha..............

Ignorance quotient updated.

Thanks, Jon.

Think your suggestion looks to be pretty well on the money.


CS
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