Tripod question « Videomaker Community Forums

jumpymonkey9
Member

So I'm looking at tripods on B&H. What's the difference between a fluid head and a micro fluid head? Would there be any difference in performance? Also, in the specs, for tilt and pan drag, it says "not applicable", and some others it says "1 fixed". What does that mean? Thanks,

Lee

Posted 6 years ago #
Rocktooloud
Member

What's the difference between a fluid head and a micro fluid head?

I believe the difference is that a micro fluid head is smaller and is made for smaller consumer cameras.

Would there be any difference in performance?

Probably, since there was a HUGE difference between my old micro "fluid" head and my Bogen 503 fluid head.

Also, in the specs, for tilt and pan drag, it says "not applicable", and some others it says "1 fixed". What does that mean?

Tilt and pan drag is the amount of drag you have when you pan or tilt. A lot of drag creates resistance whereas minimal drag creates the opposite. Cheaper heads have a fixed amount of drag, but the better heads let you adjust the amount of drag.

Posted 6 years ago #
Rocktooloud
Member

One more thing,

you might want to check out this website for more info: http://www.mediacollege.com/video/camera/tripod/choose.html

Posted 6 years ago #
compusolver
Member

I've had a terrible experience with a Velbon tripod I bought for $130 or so.

The tension controls are too difficult to change and too "flaky". Some of the parts were pot metal and plastic. Those have already broken (within three months). Also, the tripod was too light to properly pan or tilt with my Sony VX2100 without having to hold the tripod down.

The mounting plate wouldn't hold its bite, so I added a lock washer, but the bolt was too short and with the washer only had a thread or two to bite with - not enough as I learned while walking with camera mounted on tripod and tripod slung over my shoulder. Bye-bye $3000 Sonly VX2100!

I hope this gives you a few things to watch for when choosing your tripod.

Can anyone out there recommend a good tripod for a 2100? (about five pounds with battery, I think).

Posted 6 years ago #
svhs
Member

No kidding, Hank, did you ruin a VX2100?

Posted 6 years ago #
compusolver
Member

Looks that way. I took it to a friend in Fort Worth, who repairs camcorders. It fell on the battery-side and cracked the case at the record switch.

When we press the two pieces together, the cam seems to work, but it takes about fifteen pounds of pressure. Sony is out of the cabinet piece that is broken. Mike is going to check out the electronics (he thinks some inner cable is damaged) then somehow, try to weld the two halves together.

I should find out tomorrow, whether he was successful. If not, I need to buy another ASAP because I have a 3-camcorder wedding to shoot on Jan 7.

Posted 6 years ago #
i43 Productions
Member

oh man, that stinks. my #1 biggest fear is accidentally destroying my one camera

Posted 6 years ago #
Rocktooloud
Member

Sorry to hear about that Hank. Talk about a bad day! I hope your VX2100 will be OK after repair.

Can anyone out there recommend a good tripod for a 2100? (about five pounds with battery, I think).

I would highly recommend any Bogen/Manfrotto tripod & head. What's your price range? I recently bought and am very happy with Manfrotto 3246 legs with a Manfrotto 503 head. It can hold my GL2 with 5 hour battery and wireless mic receiver (about 6.5 pounds total) flawlessly. I've even put an XL2 with full gear on it and it's just great. This should be a really good tripod setup for your VX2100.

Good luck with things!

Posted 6 years ago #
compusolver
Member

Thanks for the recommendation. Still waiting to hear on the Sony's fate. I'll check out prices for the Manfrotto stuff. My original tripod budget was $150, but after seeing just how bad a cheap tripod can be, we're going to be open-minded on the price this time. Hoping to get a decent tripod for under four hundred.

By the way, the model of this cheapo tripod is:

Velbon DV-7000. The head says: Vel-flo 9; PH-368; Mini-PRO fluid panhead.

Between Velbon and Azden, I'm learning that any device that says "PRO", really means, "Cheapo-amateur".

Posted 6 years ago #
Johnboy
Member

Hank, I've never gone wrong with Bogen. Good tripod.

Posted 6 years ago #
compusolver
Member

Thanks to everyone!

The repair tech thinks he'll have it working again by Sunday. We're a little apprehensive about relying on a dropped camera though, so as much as it hurts, we may buy an HD camera (Sony HDR-FX1) so we can shoot all-Sony (we shoot with 3 cams) and leave our Panasonic C7 as a backup.

Is anyone out there offering HD wedding videos yet? What's been the market response?

Posted 6 years ago #
Rocktooloud
Member

My original tripod budget was $150, but after seeing just how bad a cheap tripod can be, we're going to be open-minded on the price this time. Hoping to get a decent tripod for under four hundred.

Just a suggestion. Too keep the price down but quality up, go for the Bogen 501 head with 3046 legs. Then, when your budget allows, upgrade the head to the 503. It will provide added support for that FX1 if you decide to buy it. But really, the 501 is a great head. True fluid.

Posted 6 years ago #
jumpymonkey9
Member

I finally decided on which one to go with, and I went with the 501 head and the 3021 legs. That was really pushing my budget, but I wanted to get that nice head and not have to worry about a "mini" fluid head going bad on me.

Posted 6 years ago #