Manfrotto 502 max load weight

[Ben Davies]

According to their site it only has a max load of 4kg. But I want to ideally build a crane which will weigh roughly 10kg including counter weights+my camera.

Surely the head will be okay? I don't really have more of a budget to spend anymore on a head..?

Any help? :D

[Nate Haustein]

I just...wouldn't. Cranes are big, heavy and unwieldy. Not the time to cheap out on supporting them as your camera could fall, or worse, a person on set could get hurt. I've tried cranes with a 504HD head and it's just not solid enough to trust. I actually use a tubular aluminum speaker stand for our crane - its solid and affordable. The crane arm assembly fits on top of it and simply rotates. Figure out a way to attach your DIY crane to a solid stand and you'll be good to go.

[Ben Davies]

OliviaTech DIY Mini Camera Jib Crane ($40) Covered In Detail - The Basic Filmmaker Episode 09 - YouTube

This is the crane, so its nothing massive - only a small one really. Would you still have that opinion?

[Mike Beckett]

I'm with Nate on this one.

If that crane really is 10kg, and your head is rated to a maximum of 4kg... it's just not clever to put something that weight on that tripod head.

At the very best, it will perform poorly. At the very worst, the whole thing will collapse, and either wreck your camera equipment or cause injury to someone.

I'm amazed that it's mounted on a 701HDV head in that video. I got one of those on a monopod recently, and found it way too flimsy for just a 2kg camera! Also that they are using a single Manfrotto screw to attach the whole shebang to the tripod. Sheesh.

[Mark Williams]

You really need a separate heavy duty tripod to hold the load. You can use a panning base http://www.feisol.net/feisol-panning...pb70-p-17.html instead of a head. The jib, camera and weights come out to about 28 lbs. The tripod has a capacity of 37 lbs.

Here is my 4 foot glideshot rig. http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/jibs-cra...-thoughts.html

[Ben Davies]

Cheers for the replies, that panning head looks pretty good although it may be a pain switching this out with a video head unless I got two tripods which isnt exactly very ideal! (unless theres a way I can make it quick release?)

I can't help but think this is all a bit over board when in this video Oliva uses it on a "cheap" tripod which looks pretty bad!

DIY Mini Camera Jib Crane $25 dollars - YouTube

Really struggle to see how a £150 head is going to struggle? I'm probably being naive. ;D

[Chris Soucy]

Hi, guys................

I think Mark may have just broken the log jam on this.

The Man 502 is a flat bottomed/ 3/8" attach head, so the tripod is, I assume, a flat top/ 3/8" unit?

Using the Feisol panning base ($39, 3/8" top and bottom), you simply take the head out of the equation altogether and use the tripod bolt - panning base- jib direct.

If the tripod is a bowl unit, simply buy one of these and leave the jib attached to it permanently:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/553993-REG/Manfrotto_520BALL_520BALL_75mm_Half_Ball.html

You now have the head free to use on any other sticks you can scrounge or use for the jib etc.

Easy.


CS

[Ben Davies]

Originally Posted by Chris Soucy

If the tripod is a bowl unit, simply buy one of these and leave the jib attached to it permanently:

Manfrotto 520BALL 75mm Half Ball 520BALL B&H Photo Video


You now have the head free to use on any other sticks you can scrounge or use for the jib etc.

Easy.

CS

Well I don't have a tripod atm, but would like a ball mount and ideally just 1 tripod so I don't have to carry around 2 different tripods for two different type of shots.

Am I right in thinking that that ball will pan fine by itself then? Only problem I see is it being a pain taking the head on and off whenever I wanna use a crane or tripod move.

[Mark Williams]

Chris had a pretty good suggestion especially if your legs can handle the weight. That way you could take your 502 head out of the mix and not risk damaging it. A little trick I learned to keep from carrying heavy counter weight for the jib is to get two empty one gallon plastic jugs strap them to your pack. At least for me there has always been water around to fill them.

[Ben Davies]

Which tripod do you recomend for the crane then? I presume you think this: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/841973-REG/Manfrotto_MVT502AM_MVT502AM_Telescopic_Twin_Leg.html is too flimsy? I can't really afford the Manfrotto 546 BK.

[Chris Soucy]

The half ball is simply an attachment and leveling device, it has no pan function, it's whatever is attached to it that does the pans/ tilts.

Removing a half ball from the tripod bowl takes mere seconds. Admittedly it's not as elegant a solution as using a pan/ tilt head QR plate to detach from the head, but that takes you straight back to the head weight limit problem again.

That said, and I preface this with the observation that attaching jibs to tripod heads seems an exceedingly bad thing to do for all sorts of reasons, HOWEVER...........

The only way I can see the head working with a jib attached is with the head leveled, the tilt lock firmly set, the tilt drag set to maximum, just in case, and no tilting of the head plate required. This makes the "load limit" due to the laughingly titled "counterbalance system" moot.

Which leaves:

The attachment of the jib to the QR plate - use a 3/8" screw and not a 1/4"

The jib correctly balanced on the head - plain old trial and error with that one.

The sheer strength of the tilt bearings - undeterminable without destruction testing, hopefully you won't find out the hard way.

The load strength of the pan bearings - see my comments for tilt bearings.

The leg lock strength of the tripod - they'll give before a bearing does, all things being equal. That will cause a catastrophic system failure and needs to be born in mind, prior testing is in order with that one.

All in all, you should be cool with the stated loads, dependent on those leg locks, but don't blame me if it all goes tits up for any reason, OK?


CS

[Nate Haustein]

Yes, by all means try it and see if you're happy with the results. YMMV, and it may work just fine, but be very careful. I've found that crane weight adds up very quickly as for every pound you add to the camera equals two or more to the counterweight. That being said, a lightweight DSLR on a fairly short 4ft arm would help keep things to a minimum.

The thing about a $150 head not being up for the job is that the expense pays for smoothness and counterbalance, not necessarily outright load bearing ability. Your tripod, on the other hand, should be fine, though I agree with the idea of purchasing another ball-head/panning base combo. That way you would have a rock solid system and never have to worry about the drag settings on the head being out of whack. You can always buy that later though, if you'd like to try the 502 first. Let us know how it works, I just always like to make sure I'm future proofing my gear for when the time comes to move beyond lightweight DSLRs.