Official Tripod F.A.Q's

FilmBoy77 said:
i keep hearing that 503 head is pretty weak dude. if yoi plan on getting additional accesories that will add to the camera weight you may wannna try and step it up. jus an opinion.
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I think for a while, i'll just be using the stock hvx200 with a mattebox in the future. I don't see myself getting a 35mm adapter or such for a long time.
 
You know what RE i have also used a miller. It feels really good, the head is amazing. Now i have tried the mini35 setup on my 503. I was a bit worried about counter weight with it. But if you go ahead and get the longer base plate you have nothing to worry about. As it being weak, I am not to sure about that.
 
weak if you add a crane and/or additional accesories. plus it not being a true fluid head. this just based on other people's experiences and comments on this website. i have not had it myself. just passing it along. good luck.
 
I've been reading this thread for a while and want to chime in now that I finally bought a head & sticks today.

I went up to Abel Cine leaning toward the 503HDV head, that is until I tried it. Just like I've read online, the pan is weak and nearly impossible to start without a jerk. I then tried the Cartoni Focus and it wasn't even close, I mean it felt GREAT - a true fluid head - and that's what I wound up buying. The 503 honestly felt like a Circuit City tripod.

I also tried the Cartoni HiDV (their new smaller version of the Focus) and even though it didn't feel as smooth & sweet as the Focus head, it still blows away the 503 and would be a good choice who doesn't mind the 11 pound max load.
 
Frank:

You are lucky you didn't try out the Panthers there. The Panther and Sachtler make the Cartoni focus feel like the Bogen did to you. However, a check for the Panther or Sachtler is at least about double or more than the Focus.

The Focus is decent for the money and at least it is a true fluid head.

Enjoy!

Dan
 
Ohh I did try them. And drooled all over the HPX500 too.

On the bright side, I snagged the only 32 gig P2 card they had! Woohoo!!!! They cut me a deal on the purchase of both the Cartoni kit and the card, great people there.
 
32GB card huh? Lucky dog!

I am between a new 8" field monitor or a 32GB card. I need the monitor more, I have three 8GB and a 16GB already. P2 cards are like crack though, you can't get enough of them and can't have too many of them.

Enjoy your rig, it's a great camera.

Dan
 
NeverColdCall said:
Ohh I did try them. And drooled all over the HPX500 too.

On the bright side, I snagged the only 32 gig P2 card they had! Woohoo!!!! They cut me a deal on the purchase of both the Cartoni kit and the card, great people there.
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what a day!
happy holidays you %@!*%!@&$!*&^#@#%@& !!!

:thumbsup:
 
I lucked out on that, I didn't call ahead on the P2 and only asked when I got there, to which I heard "We have tons of 16 and only one 32 in stock...." The cost hurts but at least I got an extra discount overall and their price on the Focus was great to begin with.

Now tomorrow my business partner won't get annoyed at stopping to offload after only 8 minutes of shooting ... lol
 
I need your 8! lol...

BTW, I say there ain't no legs other than the miller sticks...

I finally got to see the ones I wanted so desperately, and sure enough that thing can get down like only Gary Coleman could... I hate my sticks... I need to remove the spreader and get a third 32lbs sand bag to get that low... probably not even with 32's
 
Yeah the Miller sticks are hot. That's what Abel had the Focus mounted on. Since I already busted the budget with the Focus head and 32 gig card I had to pass and take the included Cartoni legs with the kit.
 
Man... welcome to the world of almost perfect... lol... I know the Focus isn't nearly perfect (unless you factor the $) but those legs with the cheapest fluid head make it what I consider to be the most versatile tripod-head combo for the money... I LOOOOOVE low shots... in fact... if anyone wants to buy a very decent 2-stage Cartoni sticks with removable and adjustable spreaders, a 100mm bowl and spike/rubber feet... let me know.... cause I NEED those sticks
 
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Official Tripod F.A.Q's

Hey all,

Already searched the forums, couldn't find any reference to this particular combination. Is anyone using the 100mm ball DV-8 head with the Miller Solo sticks? Any problems with this combination or does it go together right out of the box?

Also looking into the Miller Arrow 25, but afraid it might limit me from using the HVX bare (I think it's 2 lbs too light for the 25) Anyone have experience with it?

Thanks! Planning on buying ASAP.

Phil.
 
I use a Sachtler head, not with Miller sticks but Gitzos ( same idea) . The ball tightening handle on Sachtlers use to hit the inside of the legs if they were tilted at much of an angle- there just wasn't much clearance on the inside due to the wide dimensions of the ball tightening handle. I use to have a Sachtler 18P and this was a bummer while using this combo.

The good news ? Sachtler has apparently redesigned the tightening knob on their heads in order to work better with a variety of legs other than their own. I recently purchased a Sachtler DV8SB and the knob is a much lower profile, working great with my Gitzo legs.

Short answer- they work well with Gitzos and I imagine the same with Millers.
 
I hope once I get the Brevis with follow my Focus will balance right... till now it has been a bit back heavy with the bare HVX. This sounds to be the way it was designed though... would someone confirm.comment?
 
Can someone please tell me if the tripods on ebay that I am not allowed to mention the name of are any good? If I mention the name, my post will get deleted, so please goto ebay and look up fluid head tripod. The sellers name starts with the letter LUM.
 
Bogen / Manfrotto 503-HDV question

Bogen / Manfrotto 503-HDV question

I got this 503 HDV brandnew. I have a question about the vertical axis dampening system:

I turned the wheel on the right to 3 (counterbalance)

There are two controls on the left side of the head.
A) the lock-switch which goes from 9 to 12 o´clock
B) the fluid resistance control

Even when I screw the fluid control all the way in the vertical axis is very loose. I need to use the locking switch to get a decent drag from the head. I have the lock at around the 10 o´clock position.
Shouldn´t the head be unlocked and only controlled by the fluid-cartridges?
 
hotchkiss said:
I use a Sachtler head, not with Miller sticks but Gitzos ( same idea) . The ball tightening handle on Sachtlers use to hit the inside of the legs if they were tilted at much of an angle- there just wasn't much clearance on the inside due to the wide dimensions of the ball tightening handle. I use to have a Sachtler 18P and this was a bummer while using this combo.

The good news ? Sachtler has apparently redesigned the tightening knob on their heads in order to work better with a variety of legs other than their own. I recently purchased a Sachtler DV8SB and the knob is a much lower profile, working great with my Gitzo legs.

Short answer- they work well with Gitzos and I imagine the same with Millers.
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Thanks, Hotchkiss, I ordered the DV-8/100 SB, it's on back order, I'll report back on how it works in a month.

Phil.
 
Official Tripod F.A.Q's

i tried the sachtler dv8sb with my stock hvx200 today.

the conterbalance was sooo strong even in position 2 of the speedbalance wheel.

so i would like to ask you:

does the dv6sb better match the wight of my hvx200 ?

or do i have to go with the fsb6 ?

please excuse my bad english. thank you.
 
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