Going nuts over tripods... at DVinfo.net

Chris Jothi · May 6th, 2005, 03:28 PM

Basically need a tripod for my Z1.

Have used following set ups:

Vinten Vision 250 head (who knows, maybe £8,000-£10,000)

Vinten Vision 3 head (£1000 UK)

Vinten Pro 5 / Manfrotto 501 with 525 legs (£350)

Obviously the 250 is the pinnacle of tripod heads, and quite frankly feels like sliding your camera with silky comfort and precision. This is what sports broadcasters use. So imagine having zoomed in at a footballer at 200mm and not noticing ANY judder providing slow, smooth starts and stops. Absolutely AMAZING. Not really much use with any cameras we use, and cost puts it out of our league, but it certainly is a bench mark from which I can measure all other tripods.

Vision 3 would be the head I would buy if I had £1000. Adjustable drag on pan/tilt with excellent counterbalance, you can do almost anything with this head and it more than supports the Z1. Also future proof, and for firther bigger camera upgrades (DSR570 etc).

Currently using the Vinten Pro 5 (Manfrotto 501) for a few days and am quite disappointed with how it performs. Obviously, for a tripod & head that cost £350 together, I cannot expect the world. I have been fortunate enough to use Vision heads, and took for granted the quality in handling they provide. Sure enough I did not factor in the cost of a 'good' tripod when buying the Z1 and now am scratching my head as to how I can make the most of the £350 I will spend on a tripod.

The Pro 5 of course does not contain counter balancing. This means pans and tilts are not assisted and so are not as effortless as one would hope. We all can pan smoothly, but gracious starts and stops are the difference between good and bad shots. The Pro 5 makes you put too much effort into these movements. The variable pan and tilt drags are okay, however are not as specific I hoped. They both seem to not do THAT much, so you can either have lots of resistance, a little, or none at all. The variable seems to not actually work!

The biggest test for me is trying to film a perfect circle. Constantly panning and tilting at slight variations the Pro 5 makes hard work when you go from up to down and vice versa. I figure counter balancing will solve this shortcoming.

Build quality is excellent, and the materials used are sturdy.

The legs are fine, come with spreader, not too fussed. Head and legs are somewhat heavy. Figured they would in fact be slightly lighter, and would prefer that to be the case with whatever I buy.

I would give it a 6 / 10. Sure, it's good value for money, but cannot even compare to the Vision series.

So what do you recommend? I hope to be securing some interesting work filming footballers (soccer, that is), and hope in free time to film concerts. This means lots of zoom, and so I reckon I am asking for something my budget cannot provide. Is the Manfrotto 503 (not 501, took me ages to figure this out) my answer? I am not near a dealership at the moment so want to do my research and figure out where to go in order to do some tests.

Any help is much appreciated.

Chris

May 6th, 2005, 03:28 PM	#1
Chris Jothi Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 74	Going nuts over tripods... Basically need a tripod for my Z1. Have used following set ups: Vinten Vision 250 head (who knows, maybe £8,000-£10,000) Vinten Vision 3 head (£1000 UK) Vinten Pro 5 / Manfrotto 501 with 525 legs (£350) Obviously the 250 is the pinnacle of tripod heads, and quite frankly feels like sliding your camera with silky comfort and precision. This is what sports broadcasters use. So imagine having zoomed in at a footballer at 200mm and not noticing ANY judder providing slow, smooth starts and stops. Absolutely AMAZING. Not really much use with any cameras we use, and cost puts it out of our league, but it certainly is a bench mark from which I can measure all other tripods. Vision 3 would be the head I would buy if I had £1000. Adjustable drag on pan/tilt with excellent counterbalance, you can do almost anything with this head and it more than supports the Z1. Also future proof, and for firther bigger camera upgrades (DSR570 etc). Currently using the Vinten Pro 5 (Manfrotto 501) for a few days and am quite disappointed with how it performs. Obviously, for a tripod & head that cost £350 together, I cannot expect the world. I have been fortunate enough to use Vision heads, and took for granted the quality in handling they provide. Sure enough I did not factor in the cost of a 'good' tripod when buying the Z1 and now am scratching my head as to how I can make the most of the £350 I will spend on a tripod. The Pro 5 of course does not contain counter balancing. This means pans and tilts are not assisted and so are not as effortless as one would hope. We all can pan smoothly, but gracious starts and stops are the difference between good and bad shots. The Pro 5 makes you put too much effort into these movements. The variable pan and tilt drags are okay, however are not as specific I hoped. They both seem to not do THAT much, so you can either have lots of resistance, a little, or none at all. The variable seems to not actually work! The biggest test for me is trying to film a perfect circle. Constantly panning and tilting at slight variations the Pro 5 makes hard work when you go from up to down and vice versa. I figure counter balancing will solve this shortcoming. Build quality is excellent, and the materials used are sturdy. The legs are fine, come with spreader, not too fussed. Head and legs are somewhat heavy. Figured they would in fact be slightly lighter, and would prefer that to be the case with whatever I buy. I would give it a 6 / 10. Sure, it's good value for money, but cannot even compare to the Vision series. So what do you recommend? I hope to be securing some interesting work filming footballers (soccer, that is), and hope in free time to film concerts. This means lots of zoom, and so I reckon I am asking for something my budget cannot provide. Is the Manfrotto 503 (not 501, took me ages to figure this out) my answer? I am not near a dealership at the moment so want to do my research and figure out where to go in order to do some tests. Any help is much appreciated. Chris