Bogen 503 head for Z1?

[Chris Gorman]

" I'm pretty sure that you can get a ball head that simply has a 3/8" screw mount on the top instead of it's own plate mount. That way, you could have the ball mount and the 503 plate adapter at the same time. Just mount the plate release to the ball mount's 3/8" threads"

I haven't been able to find such a thing - I've been searching on BH. Let me know if you find a model # or link for a ball head. It might just add too much weight to my monopod though.

If I was just going to use the 501p long only with the tripod, do I still need the QR577 just to be able to release the camera from the tripod?

"I have considered the method you describe using a belt pouch, but I figure that it will only work for about 10 minutes at a time before I get tired. Still, it seems that it should be easy to pan and tilt a fixed-head with the monopod resting in a pouch. Why do you need the tilt? Is your pouch so tight that it doesn't allow you to lean the monopod?[/QUOTE]"

I've found that with the pouch attached to a belt around your hips - worn low, you don't feel the weight at all. Because I don't have a flip out screen on my vx1000, I have to keep the viewfinder to my eye - therefore, the tilt head allows me to tilt with it still close my eye. I'm so accustomed to using it for so many moves when I'm using the monopod, I'd have to experiment to see how much I could do without the tilt head. The pouch is not too tight for tilt.

The only hard part is when I kneel partially or fully for some shots & then try to rise smoothly - cold weather & concrete adds to creaky knees, and this is when the weight adds to the difficulty. Standing and walking using the pouch is fine.

[Joe Barker]

I use the 503 head on a set of 525 manfrotto legs with my XL2 ,and it works just about right with the weight of the twin battery pack. I personaly think it would be too big a setup for a smaller, lighter camera.

[Marcus Marchesseault]

I found that the spring is balanced for 5.5 pounds, although the head is rated to hold much more than that.

Now it makes sense! I didn't realize you don't have a flip-out screen. I could never do without an LCD with the way I shoot. I move around too much and need good situational awareness. Keeping my face in a viewfinder would be a pain and would probably give me a headache. You will like having the flip-out LCD on the Z1. The Z1/FX1 have an especially nice screen as it is mounted farther forward so you don't have to try to focus on something that is 2" in front of your face. If I leaned my head back just a bit, I could shoot with it propped against my shoulder. I think you will find that shooting with a monopod on the floor with a flip-out screen is more comfortable than carrying the camera constantly. Still, I plan to try out your method for those shoots that are just a bit too mobile for planting the monopod. What did you use for a belt and pouch? I looked into flag carrier pouches, but they looked too small for monopod feet. How about a tool belt?

The 577 QR adapter is just like the very top part of the 503 where the plate attaches. It is just the attachment part and no swivel/tilt head. It is simply a coupling that receives the camera plate. The 503 has this built-in. The 501plong is just a longer plate with the right shape to fit into the 577/501/503 camlock coupling. What is nice about the 577 QR adapter is that it is only a few ounces and has the same safety lock pin as the 503 head. At such a light weight, it will help monopod users to keep agile. Once you switch to the Z1, you may find that your shooting style changes. Most of the time, I just shorten my tripod and hold onto the camera's handle from above for low-angle shots. It's easy to swivel the LCD into place. I usually only go down to my knees if I want to get my okole (butt) out of someone's face/shot.

Chris, here is what I recommend for you. Get the 503 and 577 (assuming you go with Bogen/Manfrotto) and hold off on the long plate. You can always get that later. Uniformity between tripod and monopod, that is essential. I almost never use a tripod because I have had different mounting plates. My stabilized monopod is good enough to get away with this, but a tripod would be more appropriate at times if I could switch quickly.

If you want the ball head for the monopod later, I believe this is something like what you would need:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...ughType=search

It is 3/8" top and bottom with a 1.5" adjustable-friction ball mount with panning function. This means that it can be tilted and twisted. It says it can be tensioned so that it can hold steady without clamping down, allowing re-positioning without relaxing and re-locking the tension. Honestly, I doubt you will need it.

For a total of about $335 with shipping (503 and 577), I doubt a better combination can be found. It is not always easy to find both tripod heads and monopod QR adapters that accept the same plate. The 577 even came with a 3433 plate (same as 503 short plate). Anyone want to buy my extra?

Oh, I should say that I have used the FX1 with my monopod (on it's dreaded hex plate) and it worked fine without a ball joint. I actually liked the shooting process better with the FX1 than with the VX2000. Except for low-light performance, the FX1 has so many other improvements that it would make make a good successor the the VX cameras even without HD. Since it's low-light ability is probably similar to, or even better than the VX1000, you should really like the Z1. It takes some time to get accustomed to it (because of so many more features), so read the manual and play around with it for several hours before going on a shoot. It's easy to pick up and get going, but if you practice you will get more out of the camera. Hold off on getting a wide-angle adapter since the FX1/Z1 may not need it due to the wide format. We shot a character in an elevator with no problems.

[Chris Gorman]

Marcus,I really appreciate your details & explanations.

"What did you use for a belt and pouch?"

My pouch is the (Bogen) BO3247 from BH for $13 some years ago. I just happen to thread a guitar strap through it so I could have a bigger belt that would hang low enough on my hip - pouch hanging just right of center on my hip. I keep the pouch attached to my hip even when shooting on my tripod so it's there when I need it. I needed that hanging low so that the viewfinder wouldn't be too high for my eye (monopod at shortest length).

"Hold off on getting a wide-angle adapter since the FX1/Z1 may not need it due to the wide format. We shot a character in an elevator with no problems.[/QUOTE]"

I understand the .8 WA (comes with the "kit" I'm ordering) will provide only a small amount of wider angle, but it still might be worth it in this case. I usually don't go for "kits", but this one is giving me all the accessories I would have ordered separately and saves quite a bit. I do pay about $90 extra compared to ala carte w/o the WA, but guess it would be worth the $90 for this .8 WA which would be $396 alone.

[Marcus Marchesseault]

If it's a name-brand WA adapter, that's an excellent price. .8x magnification is probably going to give just about the right amount of benefit with a low distortion (assuming a good lens). I use a .7x adapter frequently on my VX2000 and didn't "feel" like I needed a WA on the FX1. That camera just "feels" right when composing a shot. I also really like the focus ring on the FX1. Once you get accustomed to meters instead of feet, the ability to focus at a certain distance and have the distance indicated is a nice touch.

Thanks for the info on the monopod pouch. I've been looking for something like that for months and it was right under my nose!

[Chris Gorman]

"[QUOTE=Marcus Marchesseault]If it's a name-brand WA adapter, that's an excellent price. .8x magnification is probably going to give just about the right amount of benefit with a low distortion (assuming a good lens)."

the .8x is a sony, not the more expensive .7x century. probably a dumb question, but i don't quite get the numbers - is .8x slightly less wide than a .7x? would be nice if it didn't give too much distortion which i assume could be a problem because i hear some saying that the Z1 has some "barrel distortion at full wide". i think they are talking about the lens w/o the adapter - so wouldn't want the adapter to increase that problem.

[Marcus Marchesseault]

Yes, .8 is less wide than .7x. I would never use anything wider than a .65x due to the distortion. A really good .5x might work in some scenarios if it doesn't have too much barrel distortion. I simply don't understand why anyone would use a .3x fisheye lens that cost so much money. I just can't see those things as useable lenses except for the odd "walleye vision" shot.

Yes, the FX1/Z1 have some distortion at full-wide. The good thing about a WA adapter is that you don't need to go full wide very often when using one of these lenses. The Sony should be just fine. Century Optics may be the best, but a moderate-strength adapter from a reputable manufacturer should be just fine more almost all shots.

One nice thing about the FX1 was the ability to assign the different rocker zoom to different speeds. We assigned one to just slow crawl to make fine lens adjustments. I also don't like to do obvious zooms during a shot, but a little crawl to change composition can be nice. I love the ability to assign values to the switches on the FX1. For every weakness, there are two strengths.

The only bad thing I can think of about these cameras has been a few reports of cameras failing to boot up one day. I haven't heard of it happening during a shoot and it seems the few people that experienced this problem had it happen overnight. Some have speculated that it is due to some sort of power spike while charging a battery. The good news for you is that you are getting the Z1, so you should have a seperate battery charger and will deal with Sony pro service in the event a problem happens. I wouldn't worry. I am officially envious.

[Floris van Eck]

Originally Posted by Evan Donn

I'm looking for a good match for an HC1, which I believe is less than half the weight of a vx2000 - it sounds like it'd probably be way too light for the 503 based on your review. Does anyone know of a good fluid head for ultra light cameras? Would the 501 be a good choice, or should I be looking somewhere else entirely?

Same here.