Run and gun tripods

junct

junct

Active member
I'm looking for a very lightweight, compact tripod with a decent video head. I need to be able to move fast, light and with as little as fuss as possible. Shooting on a g80, so weight is never going to be mad.

Mostly I'll shoot stable non-moving shots (generally i prefer shoulder rig for movement), but there will be occasional pans and tilts (particularly when shooting events and actual paying work), so a competent video head is important (but I won't need the best of the best, as that's not going to be possible on the light/compact needs).

The Manfrotto BeFree nearly ticks the boxes, but is quite short (145cm) fully extended, which might be too limiting.

Any suggestions?

This is for run and gun doc, videography, and low budget guerilla music video work.
 
That looks like a good deal. If you want something taller with a potentially smoother video head, check out the Benros. I use this in the studio and the quality for the cost is good: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1026242-REG/benro_c373fhs8_s8_video_tripod_kit.html

This goes to 183.9cm: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1335979-REG/benro_a3883ts7_aero7_travel_video_aluminum.html
158.5cm https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1080215-REG/benro_a1883fs2c_aero_2_video_travel.html (more similar build to Manfrotto).

If you're going to want smoother pan/tilt motion from the head, you'll need something like the S7 or better (really smooth heads are $$$).

No reviews but Gitzo can be decent: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1436575-REG/gitzo_ghf2w_2_way_fluid_head.html

This looks pretty good: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1301015-REG/really_right_stuff_fh_350_fluid_head_with.html

Larger fluid heads that work well are much more $$$.

If you don't need a good/smooth fluid head you can get something fairly low cost.
 
That aero2 tripod looks the most viable in terms of weight - thanks for the tip. The others are too heavy for these needs.

I don't need good/smooth fluid head *most* of the time. I do like it for b-roll and establishing shots. It'd be nice to have something usable in a pinch - but maybe getting to something small and light enough will be too poor to even both with the fluid head.. In which case many much lighter photography head tripods are available..
 
Even the large and heavy Benro S8 isn’t particularly smooth, especially for a light camera. Perhaps the light and lowest cost solution would be a photo tripod with a gimbal attached that allows remote control (butter smooth). Or a motorized pan/tilt head.
 
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Interesting idea.. I've never looked at gimbal solutions, as I've never liked the typical movement i've seen with them (I prefer steadicam or handheld movement), but I've never seen one used for this application. The market has also moved on several years since I last paid attention to gimbals. Would you have any suggestions for a starting point as to very light gimbals that can be tripod mounted?
 
I just sold a Ronin-M- moving to smaller/lighter cameras (had to buy a new battery in order to sell it as the two originals died- a common issue). I purchased a Moza Air 2, which I think is a superior gimbal, however quality control appears to be an issue (someone else here had issues and mine worked really well, however some kind of power-circuit related issue required a return (died with a full charge (could use for about 1/2 hour); tried other batteries, same problem). Like many huge bang-for-buck made-in-China devices, if you get a good one, great, if not, hopefully you find out before the 30 day return window... Both gimbals could be mounted to a tripod, and both have remotes (Ronin-M has an R/C style controller, Moza Air 2 uses a mobile app (Ronin-M might have the capability too)). In any case, I was impressed by the butter smooth pan and tilt control possibilities.

I found some motorized pan/tilt heads on Amazon. I know sliders have come a long way, including with a lot of programmability. Thus, a compact slider that's also a pan/tilt head could work if possible to remote control live. Given that truly decent fluid video heads start around $2k (e.g. the RRS example) and go way up from there, it looks like a market opportunity as a motorized pan/tilt head can be even smoother while also lighter, remote controllable, programmable, and most importantly for most people- vastly lower cost. The only real drawback is it is battery powered tech and can have issues a normal fluid head won't.

Here's a good start, perhaps there's smaller/travel friendly options out there: https://edelkrone.com/products/headplus

EDIT: that's kind of expensive, lol. Perhaps the smallest/lightest one-handed gimbal that will work with your camera that has remote pan/tilt would provide the best bang-for-buck solution. Another possibility to smoothing things out is to mount the gimbal to a cheap video head and let the gimbal smooth out the motion. The Moza Air 2 has a "Sport Mode" with quick reaction time that could work (other gimbals probably have a similar feature, e.g. Ronin-S).
 
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FWIW I have been using a set of Fiesol legs and a inexpensive yet quite good E-Image/Weifeng head for several years for quick run and gun and small plane gigs. Here is a link to a head like the one I use:
https://prophotographygear.com/coll...oducts/e-image-gh03-fluid-head-with-75mm-ball
and here is a link to the legs:
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/prod..._CT_3442_Tournament_CT_3442_Rapid_Tripod.html
I have the 75mm ball kit for the legs as well.
This setup weighs nothing and extends high enough for standing interviews and most other work. But good luck there is lots out there to choose from.
 
I only fly about 5x per year with a simple kit. The tripod has always been a major inconvenience for me because I always wanted to keep everything in a carry-on (even sticking out a bit with a sweatshirt over it), and all of the small/light ones had a maximum height of 55-60 inches or so. (I would like to have at least 6', and I can work a couple more inches with a small riser.)

Recently I picked up one of these which goes up to 6.8'! Super happy with it.

It can hold up to 15 lbs and the head isn't too bad (much better than the Befree head which I also had).

Most importantly the entire set up is 4.5lbs and folds around 27.5", which is a bit longer than I would like but the overall size/weight makes it more manageable.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1034327-REG/magnus_vt_350_video_tripod_with_2_way.html
 
Thanks - that last one is a very attractive price as well! Have you used the Benro s4 for comparisons sake on the head?
 
If you're referring to my post, I haven't but I do like Benro.

Personally, I didn't want to spend more than $75, but I thought the Magnus was worth the money.

(I also use small/lightweight cameras so I'm not sure how it would do with something more closer to the 15lb capacity.)
 
We have three Benros. For pro use, they are flimsy and fall apart, in my mind, no better than Manfrotto/Bogen junk. Maybe okay for a hobbyist who babies their gear? With tripods, they are old school, you totally get what you pay for. Real tripods seem to start at $1,000.00 and go up to $3,000.00 to $7,000.00 for a pro level tool like Sachtler or O'Connor. Problem is, nobody seems to make a pro level small and light tripod head and legs, it doesn't exist. The closest I came to is my Miller AIR head and Miller Solo DV legs, about a grand for the pair. But they are too long and heavy to carry on for most situations.

I now have the Fujifilm X-T3 and I have been looking for something new to drag to a shoot in Florida in May to cover a race. You might want to check out some of the smaller Induro carbon leg sets (about $350.00) and this new Gitzo Video Fluid Head that looks mighty interesting and not bad for $320.00 https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1436575-REG/gitzo_ghf2w_2_way_fluid_head.html?sts=pi
Gitzo makes great still stuff and it's defintely a few levels above Benro/Manfrotto junk. I may spring for this combo to cover this race in Florida, trying to travel super light with just X-T3, gimbal and this tripod. About $650.00 for the pair. Not going to be total pro level but I don't think it will fall apart like all of our Benro/Manfrotto stuff has.
 
From @BrianMurphy 's post: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/prod..._CT_3442_Tournament_CT_3442_Rapid_Tripod.html 2.4lbs- that's awesome!
And from that page I found this: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/prod...WG_J3K_Jobu_Jr_3_Gimbal.html/pageID/accessory . If it has needle bearings for both axis, that could be very compelling for smooth pans + tilts. What I've found with the non-ultra-high-end heads (the S8 is really just a stable platform for studio use; I wouldn't call it a smooth device) is that they are sticky, and hard to make really smooth pans/tilts. Needle bearings may not provide much resistance (other than the friction from the knobs), but perhaps would allow for smooth motion with some practice.

To go really old school and get truly smooth pans + tilts, they used gears and wheels. Modern example (only $46,400): https://www.abelcine.com/buy/camera-support-movement/fluid-heads/arri-arrihead-2-compact-geared-head
Thus a modern system with motors (as with a gimbal) would be even smoother (along with extra complexity of batteries + electronics = possible reliability issues vs. purely mechanical).

If you just need a stable camera platform, going cheap like NorBro's example is a reasonable choice.

@Dan / puredrifting- I linked that head in earlier post- could be decent but not likely very smooth. For small size/weight something like the RRS example might start to get smooth: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1301015-REG/really_right_stuff_fh_350_fluid_head_with.html . It's $2K and note that it's back ordered. This head with the light Feisol legs would be a sweet travel combo.

I've got both Benro and Induro legs- both seem fine for the price and my understanding both are made by the same folks in China? Both are beefy, and not really very light compared to aluminum (always check the weight between Al and CF when both options available: most of the time CF isn't much lighter and is much more $$$, so not worth it). The Feisol example (1st link in this post) is pretty awesome at 2.4 lbs! (my Benro CF legs are 4.1lbs)

68.1" and only 2.6lbs: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/prod...APID_CARBON_TRIPOD_TRAVEL_4_SECTION_TALL.html
 
I've mentioned the Befree in another post....it is not a professional piece of gear, the handle is rubbish and the tilt function is practically unusable, and the height is inadequate. For your needs, BUT for flying it is unbeatable!...it fiolds down to 19 1/2 inches and extending the height would be a simple thing with 3 PVC pipe and gaffers tape. But at this weight and size it will go where nothing else does! Oh, and no, I'm not a hobbyist and it is a piece of rubbish, but one that I could not take my big Miller's to (my favorite sticks) but in your hands alone and with some care, it will get you shots that little else will!...mine is going on for 2 years and I'm happy for what it is....the trick with extending the height would be purely in the legs....you leave the center column at its lowest setting and hang a small sandbag for a reasonably steady shot....also good for shooting in sand. As no high quality light weight tripod exists in this category that folds up so small, this may do the trick combined with a little imagination....with care it will pay for itself many times over and also works really well, as a monopod with the legs folded together and gets you extra height that way, but unlike a monopod you can unfold the legs and the camera can live on the tripod while you're changing lenses....
 
With the amount of mirrorless cameras being bought and used by actual working pros, I think there is a sizable potential market NOT being served for people like us who would pay $1,500.00 or so for a small and lightweight "can be attached to a backpack" pro level tripod and head. It would need to be light, fold up short, have a real head, but the combo would need to only handle in the 3-5lb overall weight range. Real fluid head, light weight but strong and relatively rigid legs but almost a 2/3 size version of something like the Miller AIR I have. The Miller works great, I shot with it with my X-T3 and the Fujinon XF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 OIS with the Fujinon 1.4X TC. I was shooting sea otters from a distance and the resulting footgae is decent. But the Miller AIR is too large, long and heavy for what I am thinking of. I can't fly with this Miller without checking it, which defeats the whole purpose of this idea which is a great, pro level tripod for pros who aren't using mid level to heavy cameras for a particular gig.

IMHO, the RRS is undoubtedly good but pair that with some good legs and it's too expensive for this market and still weighs too much and is too long probably with the existing legs that would support it. It's rated at a 50lb load capacity? That's quite overkill for a mirrorless travel camera setup. The setup I used above weighs less than 5lbs even with the equivalet of a 550mm lens
 
jcs said:
Seems like this could work well for smoothly tracking subjects, even fast motion, after balancing camera+lens:

After further review- it's designed for video too, so gimbal heads will indeed work for video.

Lots of fluid gimbal head options: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/sear...&N=0&InitialSearch=yes&sts=ma&Top+Nav-Search=
Click to expand...

I don't know if a gimbal head would work very well for video. I've only shot stills with them. Anyone here try to shoot high quality video with long lenses with a gimbal head?
 
puredrifting said:
I don't know if a gimbal head would work very well for video. I've only shot stills with them. Anyone here try to shoot high quality video with long lenses with a gimbal head?
Click to expand...

Needle bearings with electromagnetic drag- light and smooth and no stickiness issues. Certain designs won’t need batteries (variable resistor etc.). Another Kickstarter perhaps :)
 
puredrifting said:
I don't know if a gimbal head would work very well for video. I've only shot stills with them. Anyone here try to shoot high quality video with long lenses with a gimbal head?
Click to expand...

MYT Works builds a couple of gimbal/nodal heads for motion/video work. Cartoni used to, as well, among some others.
 
The point of using a tripod is for immediate and precise camera control. Gimbals would make terrible fluid head replacements (for now) because the movement is way too sluggish, one of the main reasons steadicam is still around.

It doesn't matter that a tripod operator cannot match a a gimbal pan for smoothness because control is more important.

jcs I think you're onto something but don't think we're there yet. It'd be cool to put a gimbal on any light stand and not have to worry about tripods.
 
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