Vinten Fibertec vs. FlowTech 100

I wanted a set of Fibertec legs when they came out, but at the time I couldn’t really justify buying them, especially considering that my regular CF Vincent legs were working. But I have a friend who has a couple of sets and loves them. Vinten has even tried repeatedly to buy them back from him. Why, I’m not entirely sure…. I do know that the manufacturing process was very expensive and one of the reasons that they were not produced and sold for very long. I have used one of his sets once or twice, but my user experience was less than ideal, because one of the release latch handles is broken on one of the legs on one of his sets, so it’s a complete PITA to open and close, which obviously affects my overall impression of using them.

As far as the Flowtechs, they are absolutely fantastic to use and rigid as hell with no backlash/twist. But both of my sets have had the internal cables that actuate the leg clamping system fail.
 
Run&Gun can you elaborate on "fail"? I have a set of FlowTech 75s and while they've been great so far (I never thought I'd be excited about a tripod) I do wonder about how they'll hold up (it's been about 2 years since I bought them).
 
Run&Gun said:
As far as the Flowtechs, they are absolutely fantastic to use and rigid as hell with no backlash/twist. But both of my sets have had the internal cables that actuate the leg clamping system fail.
Click to expand...

R&G, I've heard of other people having the same problem with Flowtech sticks. When the cables fail, are your still able to clamp the legs in some less-convenient manner, or are the legs unusable until repaired?

And how did you get your Flowtechs working again? Were you able to get a new cable and install it yourself? Or did it have to go a Sachtler service provider? And if so, for about how long were you without your sticks?

Thanks,

Jim
 
drboffa & Jim: What happened with me the first time with my first set, one of the legs stopped deploying when the release lever was unlatched. You could manually pull the leg sections out by hand and then they would work, more less, freely for a little while, then it would hang again. But it always clamped back securely. I sent it to Vitec and they told me the internal cable(s) had become stretched. There wasn't much more elaboration on it than that. Then my second set started doing the same thing several months ago(at less than a year old), but also slipping under load on the same leg that is hanging(probably actually just the brake tension needing adjusting for the slipping, which can actually be easily done by the customer, but Vitec service agrees that the hanging is definitely the cables being stretched). I've had an RA number for a while, but just haven't sent them in, yet. Kind of disappointing that I'm 2-for-2 with this same issue on legs manufactured several years apart, especially considering how much I actually love using them.
 
Run&Gun Thank you very much for your detailed message.

Sorry to hear that you had problems with both of your sets. Are they from the same batch, do they have close serial numbers? You probably had to send them in for repair. Where were they made? In Costa Rica? It seems like there was a QA failure.

I'm asking for comparison because I have an opportunity to get them in combination with a Vision 100 head - used, in excellent condition - for the same price as a new FlowTech 100 with Aktiv 10.

When making the decision, I wouldn't put much weight on the fact that FlowTech is faster to operate.

Both have a mass of 3.2 kg and when comparing the capacity, Fibertecs are rated at 99 lbs, while FlowTechs can only do 66 lbs.

Do these numbers translate to the real world and are Fibertecs more robust than FlowTechs?

Are Fibertecs really "bolted to the floor"?

From the original press release:

"Vinten has made a break-through in tripod innovation by designing a product that provides 58% more rigidity than any other product on the market."

Was that other product Pozi-Loc?

Also:

"With exceptional rigidity, Fibertec is noticeably more stable when using high levels of drag or long lenses, providing three times less backlash than other products on the market."

In this article here, they are highly praised:

"...is claimed to be more than twice as rigid as Vinten's previous best performing tripod (the Pozi-Loc), and up to four times as rigid as some competitors."

"It does even better on backlash, ... being claimed to be about four times better than anything else."

When Sachtler released the Flowtech 75 they said that it was 265% stiffer than the Speedlock 75 legs. According to Sachtler the new Flowtech 100 is 75% stiffer than the ENG 2 CF and 25% stiffer than the Speedlock 100.

It's really hard to interpret these marketing numbers, that's why I wanted to hear from the person who had experience with both.

Regarding Vision 100, how does the counterbalance behave when handling less weight than required?

I've read this:

"One minute I can have a 3D rig with a pair of F3 etc, weighing over 15kg, then after a few turns of the counterbalance knob I can mount just a single F3 weighing only 3kg and the tripod works beautifully well with either payload."

Is it really like that, or does it behave like, for example, Video 14 II, where there is a constant fight against the counterbalance system when the payload is less than 15 lbs?

Ultimately, I would like to get a poor man's version of the 2575 with 150 sticks (or at least the 1040 ;o) for the smoothness when operating longer focal length lenses and for isolation of the vibration when pressing the camera buttons during recording.

What would be your advice and how would your friend respond?

P.S. Parts are available here and here is the basic servicing tutorial. If only we could contact Joe, he certainly would have stories to tell, maybe even enough for a documentary about the 'best tripod ever'. Just maybe.

P.P.S. From the article, they could make 26 in the first month of the production. It could be that the production was very expensive and that could be the reason why they aren't produced anymore. Or maybe they weren't that good and had problems.
 
I have two Flowtech100 and two Flowtech75. All four have worked perfectly and been problem-free since day one. I have lost a couple of rubber feet outdoors, but those are easy to replace. I now cable tie them to the legs and that mostly solves the problem.
 
laverdir:

My first set of Flowtechs were from the initial Flowtech 100 batch produced/released(For the initial release Sachtler only wanted to sell head/leg combo packages, but my dealer broke a package to get me the legs). My second set were produced probably mid-2022. I bought them right after they became available again, because of shortages/supply chain disruptions.

Vision 100/Flowtech 100 is the exact combination I ran until I bought an O’Connor 1040. Then the two sets that lived in the van were the 1040/Flowtechs and Vision 100/Flowtechs. With that second set currently being down, I carry the 1040/Flowtechs and 100/Speedlocks. The 100 is a fantastic head. And in some ways/situations Is a superior head to the 1040. I actually own three 100’s and a 250.

When the Flowtechs are functioning properly, I’ve never had an issue with their weight handling, as they regularly support heavy payloads including my full size 2/3” ENG cameras (22x and w/a lenses, big brick batts), built-out F55(primes, 17-120, 25-250, 2/3” ENG lenses, Teradek, big bricks, etc.), Arri Amira(primes, 17-120, 25-250, Teradek, big bricks), Arri Alexa 35(primes, 17-120, 25-250, big bricks). I’ve also had the big Vision 250 on a set doing long lens work.

The Vision 100 is one of the best heads on the market in its class and is a total steal on the used market, as are the 250’s, because almost nobody outside of the “broadcast” side of the industry knows what they really are. All of the “filmmakers” and “DP’s” only strive for O’Connor and Sachtler. But there is a reason that almost every live sports broadcast or live TV show that you see, the cameras are on Vinten heads.

A few things that the 100 does better over the 1040: sliding top plate adjustment range is much greater. I have the extended sliding plates on my 100’s, so it’s very easy to adjust for camera weight distribution. There is no similar option for the 1040. The 100 also has a numerical readout for the counterbalance adjustment dial. You would think that the 1040 would have, as well, considering it’s larger siblings do. It’s useful when switching payload capacities, so you can just hit a certain number instead of having to crank a dial a feel it out, as it can take a LOT of turns. And the drag dial settings are much easier to see(plus they’re backlit). They are similar in feel, because they are both fluid heads with infinite(non-stepped) drag and counterbalance adjustments within their given ranges, but I find thatVinten is superior when needing to make live “micro-adjustments” to a shot, which does make sense, considering their primary design/use. The 1040 is great for “deliberate” moves with purposeful starts and stops. And I think what makes them great for that, is what also makes them not as able to do the live micro-adjustments. I do use the 1040 a lot on live shows, but I have to concentrate on doing that micro-adjustment way more compared to with the 100 where I just do it or kind of “let” it happen.

Regarding production of the original Fibertec’s: my understanding was that they were both difficult and expensive to build and that’s why they had such a relatively short run.

Regarding Costa Rica: you’re also not the first person that I’ve seen bring up quality differences/shortcomings about items manufactured there, especially vs. original manufacturing locations of the past for some items.
 
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