My Vinten Vision Blue comes today!

[Steve Nemeth]

B&H got them back in stock last week and I went ahead and ordered one. I got the mid-level spreader system. Coming from a Libec LS22 I am very excited! Hopefully the upgrade is well worth the money. I was unable to test the Vinten or Sachtler models before purchasing so I have no idea what the feel of these tripods provides me. From what I've heard, the upgrade from Libec to Vinten will be similar to upgrading from a Kia to a BMW.

I'm truly hoping it is in "another league" compared to the Libec (and Davis and Sanford I had before that.) I'm hoping to never buy a tripod again for the next 10 years unless I upgrade to a much heavier camera setup.

I'll share my thoughts later. Hurry up UPS!

[James Kuhn]

Steve...you will love it! I owned a VB and while I loved the rig, I underestimated my overall total weight and Center of Gravity (COG) and had to sell it. At the time, I didn't give enough consideration to 'weight to COG', and exceeded the design capacity of the fluid head.

The Vinten folks are 'top drawer' in my humble opinion. Enjoy your new rig.

Regards,

J.

[Steve Nemeth]

I actually pretty worried that my COG will be too high. My weight is around 8 or so LBS so that is okay but my rail system + FF has the camera raised higher. I have quick release systems on everything so I could take the camera off rails when on tripod but that would mean I couldn't use my FF on the tripod.

We shall see. I'm hoping it balances properly but if not B&H has an amazing return policy.

[Mike Beckett]

Steve, The VB is so good you should have a celebratory cake when it arrives!

If your rig is a bit too heavy, there's always the new Vision Blue 5, from 12-26lbs. But the VB's 5.5-11 lbs range should be OK for an 8lb rig, as long as the COG isn't way outside the compatible range.

[Steve Nemeth]

UPS usually comes earlier than this hahah. Still hasn't arrived.....

I really hope this works for my rig because there is no way I can afford the Vision Blue5. I'm only 20 years old and I'm on a budget naturally.

You guys on this forum really praise the Vision Blue so my expectations are high, as is my excitement!

[Steve Nemeth]

The UPS truck came and so did I!

The second I pulled the big blue bag out of the box I was impressed. The bag is very well made and padded. My first thoughts were "WOW this thing is heavy, maybe I should have went with carbon fiber sticks or Miller Solo sticks."

After setting up the tripod I stopped caring about the weight. The thing is built like a tank and is extremely sturdy. I was able to balance my rails, DSLR, follow focus, microphone, etc. I haven't even tried it with the handles/shoulder pad attached but I feel that may be too much. Right now the forwards tilt is slightly restricted for range of motion. It is certainly not a problem with this setup, but If I have to add more counterbalance it may become an issue.

One thing that makes me a bit uneasy is the bearing sounds when doing a pan (not a tilt.) It sounds rather dry in there and not "fluid" like other tripods I have used in the past. Is this normal? I have heard that this head is not a true fluid head and it is friction based (like manfrottos, ugh).

So far the movements have been brilliant. Panning and tilting at the same time!? That is new for me! I haven't recorded anything yet so I cannot comment on the final images that this baby provides but from what I can tell on the LCD screen it is very smooth. Not "perfect" but that is most likely due to the fact that my arm cannot move at a perfectly steady pace. This tripod is leaps and bounds better than anything I have ever used!

I'll show some pictures of my setup later. You'll see that my COG for the rig is very high.

[Chris Soucy]

Hi, Steve.........

Glad you like.

I think I can post this quote from Peter Harman at Vinten when we were discussing the system a year or so ago, and I had made a similar "built like a tank" comment with regard to the tripod: Quote "Vinten don't make crap sticks" Unquote.

The bearing noise is not an issue, that's just the way they are and they get quieter with age. It never shows in any of the video train.

Ah, getting smooth moves, the great secret formula.

The human muscle/ nerve system was never designed for consistant linear movement, so needs a bit of help.

You'll soon find that the drag system is your friend here: the longer the lens focal length, the more drag you apply.

The extra drag give your muscles far better feedback on the amount of pressure being applied, enabling far smoother movements where it's really needed, at long focal lengths.

As you go wide you back off the drag, allowing for far faster movement, which doesn't need to be so smooth as the inconsistancies don't show in the final video.

Note also that even with the pan drag set to maximum, it is still possible to do a "whip pan" at any speed you like, not something possible on most other head makes, and that the drag is as smooth as a babies butt at any setting.

You'll soon discover that "smooth moves" become automatic, as will the drag increase/ decrease without concious thought.

Enjoy.


CS

[Peter Harman]

Hi Steve, glad to hear you are happy with your new kit. Dont forget to register it on line for the second years warranty.

Enjoy

[Andy Platt]

I was just like you waiting for this model to come back in stock. Got mine on Monday and had the same reaction as you! Have yet to balance the camera on it as I've been super busy with my real job. Can't wait to get out and use it as I can already tell it's a world of difference compared to what I was using before!

[Andy Platt]

I was registering my Vision Blue online and noticed it said you need to register parts separately but I can't find where a serial number is located on the actual tripod and not the head. Does anyone know where this is located? Thanks

[Andy Wilkinson]

I had that problem with my Vinten. See the picture (post 8) in this thread and I bet it's in the same place - you need to spread the legs wide to be able to see it.

http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/tripod-s...-sony-ex3.html

[Andy Platt]

Thank you that was it!

[Andy Wilkinson]

No problem - and welcome to DVInfo!

My suggestion to Vinten is that they need to put a little note on their website, ideally on the Product Registration Page to help here (or even better a picture, or a link to one, that shows its location clearly like the one in that thread).

I bet you and I are not the only people that have struggled to find Vinten tripod serial numbers over the last few years!!!

Great company and great products - if they get to read this maybe they'll take the idea on board.

[Peter Harman]

Morning Andy. I’ve just been into the registration site and to be honest with you, we used to have diagrams on the registration page showing the position of the serial numbers for just this reason. Something has gone wrong or more likely, someone has disabled the feature. I’m looking into it today, but please accept our apologies for any inconvenience.

[David Probst]

i have 2 Blue's heads and a Vision 3 as well. vintens are very unique in the way that they let you push "pressure" into the start of a move and the exit of a move. before i added the 2 Blue heads i purchased a sachtler FSB8 and was very excited in anticipation and thought this would even be an improvement over my vision 3. honestly after receiving it i was shocked at how unimpressive the sachtler was compared to my vision 3. ill give it that is was very well made but on the negatives it just didnt have the feel of a vinten. the variable drags and counter balance on the vintens make it much more usable compared to the sachtler where you couldnt make any changes on the fly because of the big clunks when changing settings on the sachtler.

i suggest on the Blue... torque down on the both drags and notice that it absorbs your starting pressure in a unique way then it actually eases up to let you execute your move then when you want to ease out it absorbs the pressure in the sweetest way to you slow down to a crawl with much ease. i call it a "helper" on the vinten's. the sachtler did none of this. its completely up to you to be the cushion on the in and out of a move where there vinten helps greatly. i never realized how much until i had that FSB8 in my hands.

i sent the sachtler back (approx $1,800.00) and bought one of the Blue packages and another Blue head only for a little less that the sachtler.

the Blue package is a gem with very impressive legs at a very reasonabler price point.

my only mild negative is that when putting more weight on the head i go with my vision 3 because the 2 drags seem to stay a little stiffer than the Blue's.

david

p.s. on 2 of my vinten heads i use Miller solo vj legs mostly because of the low weight, small fold down factor and being able to go extremely low and ultra tall. with that said the blue legs (package) are excellent but just not as versatile but every bit as solid as the millers.