Libec LS-38M drift-back

C

carbon3c

Active member
This is my first fluid-head tripod. It's seems to be well built, and the drift-back when panning is absolute nil. Beautiful! However, when doing a tilt, I have only 17 degrees (yes, I measured) of movement where the head doesn't have drift back. My HV30 is fairly light, but is this normal? If so, I guess I'll have to drape a sandbag overtop of my camera when I need it. :( If this isn't normal, please let me know, if you have any expericence with one of these, so I can send it back for a replacement. Thx.
 
What you're experiencing is that the counterbalance spring in the head is significantly stronger than your camera needs. The counterbalance spring is what keeps the camera from taking a nosedive if you tilt down too far, or keep it from falling back if you tilt up too far. But, in this case, since it is stronger than your camera's weight, it pushes it back up, or back down. I'm not sure if you can turn the counterbalance off on the LS-38, but if you can, I'd recommend it for a camera that light.
 
the libec doesn't have a counterbalance adjustment, I guess one of the trade offs of this model. I found that for optimal performance on tilts you have to have the correct weight, and the weight hast to be evenly distributed along your whole camera rig. Top heavy rigs, for example with a monitor mounted on top for the rig, can also cause balance issues in terms of getting a perfect tilt balance.
 
L38 is not made for the HV30. The camera is way too light.


But on the bright side. You can now finally justify buying a 35mm adapter, a rod system, external monitor, mattebox and follow focus. You may not need it, but it WILL bring the rig to the 12-14lb that would make the L38 happy like a clam.
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I already have the Merlin dovetail plate and tripod adapter plate on there, but those are very light. I would like to stack a third plate in there for the sole purpose of adding weight, if I could find something that weighed a couple pounds. Anyone have any suggestions?
 
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