LOL

You're right Jeff! Here in Florida I've left a few pounds of flesh on a tripod here and there. I've often wondered why they don't make more camera equipment white, to reflect the heat. The only thing I can come with is they use black to reduce light reflection.

I do a lot of outdoor, wildlife work and thats why I sold my Sachtler and bought the Vinten, they are light grey. I miss my Sachtler, for the money, they are the best in my book.

Jeff

I forgot to mention, with the advent of burnt hands, I have resorted to carrying a white towel in my tripod case (it's wrapped in it actually). When in the sun and not shooting, I drape the towel over the camera and tripod to keep the sun and heat away from both. My hands sure do appreciate it.

Good tip about the black. Ours was grey. Perhaps you're right. . .when I was doing those pans, I tried to apply a consistent amount or pressure to the pan arm, letting the fluid drag be my resistance. When I looked at it on a TV, the pan would be smooth, then speed up for like half a second, then back to smooth, etc. It was very consistent, though. . .every so many seconds my speed would change like clockwork. Maybe it was my weight shifting? Any tips for wider than 90 degree pans? I did a 180 and it sucked.

You're right, anything beyond 90 degrees is very difficult, at least it is for me if I'm glued to the view finder tripping over the tripod legs. When time permits, I usually rehearse pans and tilts and adjust my stance accordingly--still nothing is guaranteed.

I guess if one had a monitor and watched it while panning, it wouldn't be such an issue. Like my barber says, "Cutting hair would be a breeze if ears were removable." ;o)

Yeah, I have a camera mountable monitor, but it goes with the camera! In other words, when it gets beyond a certain point, I can't look into it, either.

But at least I know it's not just me. Does anyone know a place in Houston that stocks a lot of tripods that I could try? I won't buy from them, because of my overwhelming love for Chris Hurd (I'll buy from ZGC), so I need a place that won't harass me too much. I know of Industrial Audio & Video, and Visual Interactive Dynamics. I'd rather not rent a tripod either. I'd just like to try some out with my camera in a showroom or something.

Josh,

The only place that I know of is the Camer supply place on Richmond. There is also the Camera Co-Op on Shepard and Richmond. Your best bet is to go to ZGC or "gasp" --- don't read this Chris --- B&H. Those are about the only places that I would go.

Ah! I just thought of another Houston place that will have tripods. Try TexCam of Houston (http://www.texcam.com/). They should be able to meet your needs.

My 2-cents. Vintens, Sachtlers and O'Connors are excellent tripods/heads. But they've really earned their reputations enduring more abuse, and supporting much heavier loads, than most amatuer and semi-pro videographers would ever subject their gear to.

I spent several months searching for a good tripod for field use (I have a separate rig for indoor/studio work) and empathize with anyone else on such a mission. Ultimately I selected a Miller DS-10 system with a mid-level spreader (ground spreaders are an unnecessary pain). In brief, the DS-10 offered the best combination of weight, head quality, and general design for my XL1s. (It was actually designed specifically with the XL1 in mind, according to Miller.) It even comes with a nicely designed carrying case and features a shoulder strap on both the case and the tripod. So, for you XL1/1s shooters I heartily recommend looking at the DS-10. Miller has even recently lowered its price...of course AFTER I bought mine.

Thanks for the advice fellers. And this DS10 . . .what's its current price?

O'Connors are the best!

Josh: The DS-10 will currently run about US$1,100, down from US$1,600.

Frank: No contest that O'Connors certainly have a stellar reputation for both performance and service. But spending US$3,200-US$10,000 for systems designed to support 18-65lbs would be absurd overkill for the class of cameras that most of us work with. The right tool for the right job.

That DV-4 Sachtler is listed at $850 or so in my B&H catalogue, and there's a miller listed at a similar price. . .which means I can probably get a better price from ZGC.

Ken,

Yeah I know---costly! But sometimes you can find great deals on e-bay. Anyways, that's why I suggest Manfrottos and Millers---and to buy them in Canada. Cheap!

Canada eh? Perhaps that's something to think aboot.

For some reason the Manfrottos (Bogens) are cheaper here. And The Australian made Millers are even cheaper, like about 40%, when compared with what they go for in the USA. Just check my site for connections:

www.dvfreak.com

(I hope I'm not out of line here, Chris.)