New Manfrotto 504HD....

Anyone have any idea if that head will work with the same QR plate on the 503HDV, and vice versa?

I know the 504HD plate is a bit longer, just checking to see if you could still interchange plates between the two models.
 
i agree, horrible advertising. They keep saying bridge, however, seems like the fact that the shape is a bridge brings no added value except the word bridge being repeated 20 times per video.
 
Has anyone got one?

While not that heavy, it weights more than a 503 & I'm wondering if it is worth it.
 
Howdy...

I just spend my first week shooting with the Manfrotto 504HD and 535 Carbon Fibre Legs... Thought I'd post my impressions...

First... weight. The system is about 3 or 4 lbs lighter than my previous setup, and traveling across the country, I really notice it. Not sure if it would matter that much if I was just using it around town, but if you travel, even the small savings of switching to CF is very noticable...

Ergonomics: Wonderful! Coming from the 503hdv head, everything is familiar, but seems refined. I wouldn't call it revolutionary difference, but definitely a step up from the 503. The nicest thing is the drag adjustment, which is a lot more precise than the 503. I really liked mike 503 head, so I'm hoping for a similar relationship with this head...

The 535 sticks are nice, but I miss my Road Runner's instant up and down with no leg locks... WHY did Manfrotto nix the Road Runner series? For a run-and-gun shooter like me, there was NOTHING faster! Still, these are fairly quick to setup, and the only thing I would like to see would be marks on the legs to make setting up to equal length easier. I plan to add this via sharpie myself. :-)

The head feels solid, and works well. One gripe is about the Quick Release plate. The 504hd comes with, and is obviously designed for the 501LONG plate, which is just like the 501 plate, but a little bit longer. It's nice to have this extra travel, but the standard 501 plates will work just fine. This would have been a deal breaker for me, because EVERY camera I have, plus a few other items of gear already has its own 501 plate. It would have been expensive to replace them all, so I'm happy for the backwards compatibility...

What I don't understand is why the 501 plates are $19.95, but the 501LONG is, like $70!!!! It's the same think, but an inch longer. Maybe it should be $25, or even $30, but $70? Wow!

So, I won't be buying any long plates any time soon, but am happily using the one it came with on my main EX-1...

That's about it for now. Very happy with my purchase, and happy to have a nice, if incremental, upgrade...

BTW: My other option was going with a Miller Compass, but after seeing it in action a few weeks ago, I didn't think the extra money/weight/unfamiliarity/expensive QR plates justified the purchase. Hopefully I'll be happy with this choice in the long run...

Best to all...

-Ben
 
What kind of weight load did you have on the new head?

I'm intrigued by the new head and Manfrotto in general. A lot of people think their stuff is crap. I briefly owned a 501 in April. Although I found the movements much less smooth than my Sachtler DV8, I'd stop short of calling it "crap." But I couldn't bear having to heads that were so far apart in terms of performance, so I returned the 501.

I'm still looking for a second head. I demo'd a Miller Compass and it is fantastic. But I'm really starting to question the expenditure of $2000 on another head and sticks. At some point, it starts to become excessive. I saw a news photog whip out a $25 Sunpak plastic tripod and mount up his video camera yesterday to shoot a story. While that's the other end of the extreme, it makes one wonder: why spend all the extra money.......certainly my viewers and don't care what head I used.

Thanks for your review.
Bob
 
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