Tripod and head advice

S

sabbott

Member
Hi there - Can anyone tell me if using a Miller DS10 fluid head with a Manfrotto 535 tripod would work fine?

I have the tripod already, and was going to match it with the Manfrotto 502 fluid head, but I notice this head has a max payload of just 4kg, which I am likely to exceed by a little bit at times (eg when I'm using a telephoto lens). I am reluctant to go with the Manfrotto 504 because of its weight (I will need to hike a lot with whatever I get).

I have some credit to use with a shop that sells both the Miller DS10 and the Manfrotto 502, but no others that would do the job that are within my price range.

Any advice on this?

Thank you.

sarah
 
Buy once, cry once. Buy yourself a good fluid head and you will regret it. I wouldn't buy neither of the 2 Manfrotto head you mention. Put a bit more cash and buy yourself something better. Never tried the Miller...maybe a good option.
 
Problem is that with his weight restriction, you can't buy only once. A Vinten Vision 8AS system is not going to be appropriate for hiking unless you hike with a pack of Sherpas to carry all your other gear. Even if you buy the carbon fiber sticks it is going to be heavy on your pack compared to lighter weight systems. I'd have to weight one of our 8AS systems to find out how much they weight, but the are a lot heavier than our cheap Libec systems.

That said, I don't have experience with any of the listed choices. I'm probably going to go with a cheap Benro Aero4 and eventually replace the head with either their S6 or S8 head. For the equpment I plan on using, this should be good enough for me, even if I am at the upper range of weight for the S4 head. I'd like carbon fiber sticks, but don't want to spend that kind of money on this type of tripod.
 
Greg_E said:
Problem is that with his weight restriction, you can't buy only once. A Vinten Vision 8AS system is not going to be appropriate for hiking unless you hike with a pack of Sherpas to carry all your other gear. Even if you buy the carbon fiber sticks it is going to be heavy on your pack compared to lighter weight systems. I'd have to weight one of our 8AS systems to find out how much they weight, but the are a lot heavier than our cheap Libec systems. That said, I don't have experience with any of the listed choices. I'm probably going to go with a cheap Benro Aero4 and eventually replace the head with either their S6 or S8 head. For the equpment I plan on using, this should be good enough for me, even if I am at the upper range of weight for the S4 head. I'd like carbon fiber sticks, but don't want to spend that kind of money on this type of tripod.
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When I wrote ''Buy once, cry once'' I didn't meant that he should buy only one tripod head. I meant that he should buy a QUALITY tripod head and not a cheap one that he'll regret buying in the near future. For example, I have 2 tripod head...one light enough to travel with and a Cartoni Focus HD when I need a very smooth and sturdy head.
 
That I would agree with. Having one that is top notch is very valuable. On the light side it's harder to choose from the multitude of products, and some of the Manfrotto stuff is actually very good. The old R510 heads were good but heavy, the R519 heads were lighter weight and not really as good. The 542 ART sticks were great for professionals, not so great for students, but I certainly wouldn't want to drag an R510+542ART on a mile long hike up a mountain because the entire package was heavy.

The Libec stuff is OK, but our LS7 heads are very basic, no counterbalance adjustment, no drag on the pan, no real drag on the tilt... But we bought the system for $380 each and they are only about 7 pounds weight. Our students complain a lot about the weight of everything. :Drogar-Angry(DBG):
 
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