Beef Up Your Tripod

Jazzx,

I tried out the Cartoni Focus at a trade show a few days ago and it was definately the best bang for the buck. However I was very disturbed at the way the quick release plate worked with the sliding base plate.

I'm wondering if was operating right so I hope Jazzx will reply.

Let's see if i can describe this.
When you put the plate on the head - instead of sliding it into a groove as most heads require, the release opened the catch that holds it in the slide , so that you just tipp the plate in. So instead of sliding from the back into a forward or balanced place, you just tip it in at a centered position. That's fine.

The problem was that to slide the plate back & forth for level ,you release the same catch so that the whole camera plate was released. Your camera could just fall right out of the head! It would be very dangerous to anybody who wasn't familiar. And even as an owner op it seemed scary.

Did I miss something there Jazzx? It was a deal killer for me and 2 of my friends. Otherwise my check would be in the mail.

So far the head I love is the DV-6, but the legs that come bundled with it are kind of dinky & lightweight. I may go with it anyway.
 
Hey Lenilenapi:

I think I get what you're saying, thing is I tried the head with some smaller weight cameras and I'm not 100% sure my feedback is absolutely precise but though the release mechanism is a little different (lock lever and another lever for releasing the plate) The camera didn't move by itself unless I pulled the plate release lever all the way with force and that's because it was already applying a certain amount of pressure to the plate already due to the spring that it uses...I guess if the camera was tilted down a bit it and was really heavy with matteboxes and the sort it could be a problem but I'll try to prevent that from ever happening.

I hope that helps...
 
Jazzx,
Thanks for the reply as I would love to find a reason to by that head.
I wasn't worried it would fall off when locked in, but that when you went to slide it forward or back to balance, you had to release the whole catch. If you didn't hold it well or weren't careful at that moment it seemed dangerous.
I didn't think the average user ( esp a rental) would be watching for that.

Usually when balancing I slide a head around while keeping it loose until I get what I like then I lock it off. I would lose the whole thing with that head.

Did I miss something when looking at it?
 
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