Which tripod?

I have to agree with Dan. I am a Sachtler user, I have two 2 DA75s one with a DV4 head and the other an older but fine Video14 rated to 30+ pounds. You get what you pay for. They have been around the world with me from Southern Brazil to Cambridge Bay in the Artic. NEVER a problem or failure.
I recently bought a 501 head to use on my Fiesol CT3442 lightweight legs. I used this setup originally with a Gitzo lightweight composite head. It was too lightweight for a mattebox/rails etc. I have to say for an inexpensive head it works well if not over loaded.
Buy a good set of legs and an excellent head they will last for years.
 
Hi Everyone
After lurking around here for a while and seeing some impressive stuff, I finally bit the bullet and bought a HMC151. It truly is an impressive piece of kit for the price point.

But now I need a tripod. I've been looking at the Manfrotto 501HDV - 525PKIT - Video Tripod Kit. Has anyone had any experience of this piece of kit.

Would it support the camera and a 35mm lense adapter, or do i need to get something a little more heavy duty.

By the way thank you to everyone on the boards, seeing your stuff really inspires me to get out there an shoot stuff.


For basic stuff the 501HDV head is effective and it works. If you are planning on hanging a bunch of stuff on the camera like matte boxes, monitors, rails, adapters etc, then you need something beefier, but if you are using the camera naked like I do, the 501 works great. There are many professionals using 501's. It is all about how you use the tool, not how much you spent on it.
 
If you can swing around U.S. $1,300.00, the Sachtler FSB-6 is pretty damned fine. Don't team your amazing new camcorder with a piece of junk tripod. With tripods, you get what you pay for.

We went almost the identical route with our HVX200. Started with a 501-503 and quickly realized its limitations.

Ponied up for a Sachtler FSB-6 with CF legs and never looked back.

Half the price of the HMC150, but it will be around longer.
 
I bought my DV-6SB for my DVX100A, then the HVX200 came and went and it is currently living underneath the HPX170. Pretty good, already three cameras and still using the same tripod.

Dan
 
the accessories alone would more than double the weight of the A1, ...depends though...carbon/alum/or steel rods, flip/no flip for adapter, etc...and don't bother with that stuff without a decent monitor, and if you plan on attaching it to your camera, blammo....the $500 tripods suddenly look like toys...the aforementioned HF11 will suddenly sound better and better....but i heard about your recent issue with your A1....have you bought a camera yet, or still deciding?


Chris

I leaning more towards the 150. Both are about in the same cost range. The machine i'm building should be able to withstand anything I throw at it, such as a converted avc-hd file. I'm just waiting to see where all my money will go and once I have a definite on everything I'm buying, it should be a good month.

Im asking about the weight because the FSB-6 setup is $1300 bucks, and it only holds 13lbs. So im just wondering if a setup (camera,mattebox,35mm adapter,ff) will work properly on it.
 
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