O'Connor 50

John Scott

John Scott

Well-known member
I can buy an O'Connor 50 Fluid head for 150 bucks.

Can someone give me some idea if this is as good a deal as I think it is or am I missing something?

I am only using an HV30 mostly but plan on upgrading down the line and I also shoot on HVX200 at times as well.

Any help would be appreciated, I have Googled as much as I can looking for solid take on these and I figured you all could help.
 
It's a great head as long as it's not leaking and comes with the mounting plate.

The later ones, with knobs, are better.

.
 
It doesn't leak, it has the mounting plate but is missing the pan-handle.

I heard that O'Connor uses a more proprietary size on their handle threads.. any idea how tough that might be to fix? Either via local machinist or buying a part online that would work?
 
I have one that I use for an 80lb crane and it holds just fine. :)

I don't know if they're all the same, but mine has a stiff counterweight spring on the tilt that makes using it with a light camera somewhat tough. Seems like it was meant for a camera weighing at least 25-30lbs. The pan is smooth as silk though.

The handle itself is not threaded, it goes in a hole and then a screw pushes on it to hold it in place, so unless it's missing those knobs/ screws, you just need to get a piece of pipe bent into a handle shape that will fit the hole. I've seen handles for sale occasionally too.
 
It depends what kind of work you do.
It also depends if you can deactivate the counterweight spring. It made it a no-go for me, because when tilting down I would lift the whole tripod off the ground unless it was heavily weighted.
And speaking of weight- With compatible size sticks, it's big and heavy, not your run-n-gun type of deal.
It will also look a little silly with a tiny camera on a giant head. :)
 
it only works well for tilt, if the camera is very heavy, as the built in unadjustable counterbalance is very strong....

I have one. its been my head for 3 years now. It has the smoothest pan ive ever used for 400$ when i bought mine. The pan is close to a miller arrow 25, and honestly not quite like a new o'connon but damn fine. cinema quality definitly. some places like visualproducts.com make custom upgradeparts for it. check it out.
 
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