Inside a Bogen 501

John Peterson · April 5th, 2019, 10:38 AM

The re-greased Manfrotto 501 works perfectly, but I just bought a Manfrotto Nitrotech N8 for my EX1 and it works very well for that camera with or without a wide angle lens. The unique nitrogen piston prevents it from drifting up or down once you balance it even if you point it nearly straight down or up.

Derek Heeps · December 15th, 2024, 11:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve Oakley

answer 1 : you take it outside, smash it to bits with big hammer as it deserves, then get a real head

answer 2 : no. its designed to never be serviced by the user

seriously, bogen / manfrotto heads are crap. try a vinten or satchler and then you'll understand, but not until then. before you cry how "expensive" they are, consider that they are very well made, they are in fact rebuildable at the factory, and will last a lifetime if not excessively abused... oh and they work great.

Bogen , Manfrotto and Vinten heads are all clones of each other ; they are all part of the VITEC group and just badge engineered versions of the same products .

W. Bill Magac · December 15th, 2024, 07:05 PM

In 1993 Lester Bogen sold his tripod company to Manfrotto. Subsequently Manfrotto was purchased by Vitec. Lester Bogen was famous for this ad advertising how strong his tripods were. https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=...AAAAAdAAAAABAQ

Derek Heeps · December 22nd, 2024, 04:24 AM

I’d be less worried about the tripod supporting that weight than my own ability to hold all that weight .

Derek Heeps · December 25th, 2024, 04:36 AM

Further to this , and while I don't own a 501 ( I did once have a Vinten Pro-Touch , I think 5 , which was a clone of it ) , I do have many other Manfrotto tripods and heads , both for stills and video .

Amongst these are a 505 , which is a proper fluid head as opposed to a fluid damped friction head , and two 116 Mk3 heads , which are of the latter type . One came attached to a set of 360MV legs and was always in good order , the second was probably the cheapest 116 on UK eBay and I bought it for a song because it was too good to pass up . As it arrived , the head turned out to be in much better condition than I expected , and was just missing a few parts , which may have been robbed to fix other heads as the seller had several for sale .

Anyway , I had a few panning handles spare , along with a spare quick release plate , and some knobs etc from a 116 Mk II head , which looked wrong but fitted OK . Incidentally , despite being based on the same design , and having had both , the Mk III is a huge step up from the Mk II , with much smoother operation and nicer controls , although unlike the 505 you don't get valves to limit the flow of fluid between chambers for each degree of freedom , not a set of interchangeable compensating springs to counter the camera tilt when away from the horizontal .

On looking at the excellent manfrottospares.com website , most parts were available , but cruicially not the pan lock assembly , and despite checking back regularly , it remained out of stock , until last weekend .

Before it sold out again , I quickly ordered it up , along with a new pan handle clamp , the handle lock bolt and lever , and the knob for securing the camera plate . All arrived yesterday , and everything built up within an hour or so . So I now have a second fully functional 116 Mk III .

I am under no illusion that these heads are 'proper' fluid heads , even if Manfrotto describe them so , but they have always been fine for studio type use with my larger cameras ( JVC GY-DV500 , Sony DSR500 , and my current PDW-F350s ) .

Having recently picked up the Sony HVR-Z7 , I was looking for another tripod to use with it , so I'm now looking for a set of 350 MVB legs to put the 505 head onto , and then will put the 116 onto one of my matching sets of 350MV legs . Only thing there is the 505 uses a 75mm ball , which I have fitted with an adaptor , and I've been searching the last couple of days for the original 100mm half ball that I know is somewhere around the house , but hiding from me just now .

I also have a small set of legs designed for still cameras , no levelling ball , but fitted with the very basic pan and tilt 128 head , Manfrotto even have the cheek to describe that as a fluid head , which will be fine for my HVR-V1E to be locked off on , and a miniature tripod with a ball and socket head , which will do for the A1E to be positioned for static shots .

Perhaps I will get a set of legs complete with another half ball , then of course I will find the one I've been looking for !

April 5th, 2019, 10:38 AM	#46
John Peterson Major Player Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Monroe, NY Posts: 703	Re: Inside a Bogen 501 The re-greased Manfrotto 501 works perfectly, but I just bought a Manfrotto Nitrotech N8 for my EX1 and it works very well for that camera with or without a wide angle lens. The unique nitrogen piston prevents it from drifting up or down once you balance it even if you point it nearly straight down or up.

December 15th, 2024, 07:05 PM	#48
W. Bill Magac Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2017 Location: New England USA Posts: 80	Re: Inside a Bogen 501 In 1993 Lester Bogen sold his tripod company to Manfrotto. Subsequently Manfrotto was purchased by Vitec. Lester Bogen was famous for this ad advertising how strong his tripods were. https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=...AAAAAdAAAAABAQ

December 22nd, 2024, 04:24 AM	#49
Derek Heeps Major Player Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Glasgow , Scotland Posts: 264	Re: Inside a Bogen 501 I’d be less worried about the tripod supporting that weight than my own ability to hold all that weight .

December 25th, 2024, 04:36 AM	#50
Derek Heeps Major Player Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Glasgow , Scotland Posts: 264	Re: Inside a Bogen 501 Further to this , and while I don't own a 501 ( I did once have a Vinten Pro-Touch , I think 5 , which was a clone of it ) , I do have many other Manfrotto tripods and heads , both for stills and video . Amongst these are a 505 , which is a proper fluid head as opposed to a fluid damped friction head , and two 116 Mk3 heads , which are of the latter type . One came attached to a set of 360MV legs and was always in good order , the second was probably the cheapest 116 on UK eBay and I bought it for a song because it was too good to pass up . As it arrived , the head turned out to be in much better condition than I expected , and was just missing a few parts , which may have been robbed to fix other heads as the seller had several for sale . Anyway , I had a few panning handles spare , along with a spare quick release plate , and some knobs etc from a 116 Mk II head , which looked wrong but fitted OK . Incidentally , despite being based on the same design , and having had both , the Mk III is a huge step up from the Mk II , with much smoother operation and nicer controls , although unlike the 505 you don't get valves to limit the flow of fluid between chambers for each degree of freedom , not a set of interchangeable compensating springs to counter the camera tilt when away from the horizontal . On looking at the excellent manfrottospares.com website , most parts were available , but cruicially not the pan lock assembly , and despite checking back regularly , it remained out of stock , until last weekend . Before it sold out again , I quickly ordered it up , along with a new pan handle clamp , the handle lock bolt and lever , and the knob for securing the camera plate . All arrived yesterday , and everything built up within an hour or so . So I now have a second fully functional 116 Mk III . I am under no illusion that these heads are 'proper' fluid heads , even if Manfrotto describe them so , but they have always been fine for studio type use with my larger cameras ( JVC GY-DV500 , Sony DSR500 , and my current PDW-F350s ) . Having recently picked up the Sony HVR-Z7 , I was looking for another tripod to use with it , so I'm now looking for a set of 350 MVB legs to put the 505 head onto , and then will put the 116 onto one of my matching sets of 350MV legs . Only thing there is the 505 uses a 75mm ball , which I have fitted with an adaptor , and I've been searching the last couple of days for the original 100mm half ball that I know is somewhere around the house , but hiding from me just now . I also have a small set of legs designed for still cameras , no levelling ball , but fitted with the very basic pan and tilt 128 head , Manfrotto even have the cheek to describe that as a fluid head , which will be fine for my HVR-V1E to be locked off on , and a miniature tripod with a ball and socket head , which will do for the A1E to be positioned for static shots . Perhaps I will get a set of legs complete with another half ball , then of course I will find the one I've been looking for !