Manfrotto Heads: 503 vs 503hdv

Simon Höfer

Simon Höfer

Veteran
Ok, so I want to buy a tripod in the near future. Reading here for quite a long time, I came to the solution, that the 503 should be a solid tripod head. Even though it is the low end solution.

Now there comes the new 503hdv along the road. It is sure that the 503hdv is better than the 503. But how big is the difference.

The point is, that I could buy a used 503/525 kit (very good condition) for about 400€ (549$) at ebay, while I have to pay about 640€ (878$) for a new 503hdv/525 kit.

Are these 329€ more worth the money?
Most important advantages of the 503hdv which I found so far:

It has a 3 (4?) step counter balance.

It holds up to 17.6lbs (8kg) instead of the 13.2 lbs (6kg).

And then there are not so important differences like design, weight etc.

Is there anything else? Does somebody have experience with both of these heads? Of course I want to save money, but if it is really worth the money, I would think about it.
 
Of course I have seen this site... actually I was asking for some real life comparison by other people with more experience, which used both.

Anyway I will go to a shop and have a look at it once I am back to germany.
 
I don't know about the hdv one but you won't be disappointed with the regular 503. Smooth as butter with an hvx.
 
You should be wondering if the 503 hdv is any smoother than the 503. I personally think the hvx's image looks too good to stick it on a low end head. Your panning combined with your' tilts will look like real movies on a good head.
 
Have you used the 503? It's a true fluid head with infinitely adjustable drag -- it's not as bad as you seem to think.
 
I have the 503 - 3460, which is the older model. Like anything else, it takes some getting used to...but it is definitely a pro head. I've had no problems once I figured out to take off the locks and just use the drag adjustments.
 
Hey THoff I do own a 503, aswell as a Sachtler dv6 sb. I know it's an unfair comparison, but it's impossible not to see what a big difference it makes to have a decent head. Especially when you are trying to do slow pans and compined pans and tilts. I say spend the most amount of money on the head, and you'll probably never be sorry. I allready went through a few heads, the 503 being my second. it's painfull to spend that much and realise it takes more $ to get the look you see in the movies for camera pans etc. But that's the movies, nothing's cheap. Even my Sachtler is not perfect, but it's a good start for a camera like the hvx.
 
i have the 503 and like it a lot with just the hvx. however, once i add the redrock m2, lens, rods, mattebox, follow focus, and onboard monitor, the 503 just can't hang. just too much weight i guess. starts getting sticky. looking to get a 516.
 
I originally had a 503 for my HVX200. It's a great head for a barebones camera. Once I added a 35mm adapter with rails, the 503 literally became painful to use. I upgraded to a 519 and it has been sweet. Worth every penny.

The 519 is similar to the 516, except that it is actually smaller and has interchangeable springs. This makes it easy to balance when using lighterweight cameras as well as much heavier ones.
 
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