Is a used Vinten Vision 11 worth it?

B

bollox

New member
Hey all,

I'm a longtime lurker here and thought I'd finally post a question... since I'm genuinely confused :)

I found a deal for a Vinten Vision 11 and Pozi-Loc legs for $700. It seems to be in good shape and hasn't been used very much. I usually borrow tripods for work and that has stopped making sense, so I'm looking to buy. For reputation to price ratio in my small country, that's the best I found.

My bigger setup is about 12-13 lbs, and my smaller setup is DSLR-style, so about 5 lbs. The heavier camera is most important, but ideally, the tripod would work on both setups. I'm concerned about two things: one that the minimum counterweight setting for the vision is 12 lbs. Does that mean my lightweight camera will get a lot of push while tilting? Since my "heavy" setup isn't that heavy, should I postpone buying, and wait till I find something smaller?

The second doubt is whether a tripod that's at least a dozen years old makes sense in 2020.

What do you think?
 
Run&Gun is the resident expert on all things Vinten. I'm sure he'll chime in soon. But my own research suggested that only the Vinten 100 and 250 heads were true fluid heads. Everything else from Vinten utilized the sort-of-fluid-but-not-quite mechanism found in Manfrotto's heads. That's why I went with a Vinten Vision 100 head. I picked up Cartoni sticks and I think the whole thing cost me around $500 earlier this year (which coincided with the beginning of the pandemic, so it's possible that the seller was trying to offload it in a panic).
 
Being only 50 miles from Vinten's factory, I've always had a soft spot and own lots of their products. Ignore the badged Manfrotto rubbish - and every Vinten product is really usable and cameramen friendly. A 5, or 8 or 11 only really change by load capacity. You can get the same feel from all of them. . The Vinten Vision series were their attempt to provide smooth movement without the huge expense of the totally fluid-free engineering - so they are fluid heads, but really well designed ones. Personally, I would snap this none up if the legs are in good condition. There is a HUGE difference between vaseline like gel between concentric rings to soften pretty sloppy engineering and Vinten's patented LF system. There is an 11 and legs win UK ebay at the moment at 750 POUNDS, and I think it will go for more.
 
Thanks for your input. So you don't think the 11 is overkill for my rather undemanding payload? The weight of the tripod itself is no problem - it isn't heavy, but from the perspective of counterweight.
 
Sorry to disappoint. I don't think I've ever used the 11. I did have a friend with, I believe, an(used?) 8 that he/we travelled with years ago, and I didn't like it much. It was underpowered for our rigs, except as a lock-off. But at the time, I was shooting on a tape VariCam with heavy (nickel metal-hydride)bricks and a wireless or two on the back that usually weighed in around 25lb-30lbs, especially if I had a top-light on it.

If it's all in good shape and you're at the bottom end of the payload capacity(remember, it's not just the total weight, but how it's distributed[height of CoG, length of rig], too), it's probably a good deal for you.

I'd rather have a used Vinten 11 than Manfrotto junk or bottom end Sachtler's(like the ACE).
 
I'm pretty sure that tripods age well. I bought a used sachtler video 18 ii 10 years ago from another dvxuser, and it must have been at least 10 years old when I bought it. I'm still happy with it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top