Vinton Vision 10 Injured in transit.
 

Steve and Elloit Rice got back from their shoot in S.E. Asia two days ago. Elliot strained an ankle and the Vinton Vision 10 slept in the baggage hold under something heavy and hard. Elliot has recovered well but the two friction control knobs on the Vinten have been damaged.

Does anyone know how to get them off. There is no obvious grubscrew and they do not seem to pull away like radio knobs or the spot-flood knobs on some lights.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated along with any advice on a source of spares (besides finding another tripod head.)

Hi, Bob..............
 

Never fear, help is at hand.

Get them (S & E) to fire a mail to Peter.Harman@VitecGroup.com and he'll sort it.

Not sure from your description what is actually damaged - do you mean the pan and tilt lock levers (always in the firing line and designed to be easilly replaceable for that very reason) or the pan and tilt drag controls, which from memory are practically bomb proof?

Whatever it is, Peter is your man. When I last heard (a couple of days ago) he was "on the road" but he's still getting his mail, tho' he may take slightly longer to reply than usual.

Think we need a sticky somehow:

Vinten inquiry?................. Peter.Harman@VitecGroup.com

Sachtler inquiry?.................. Barbara.Joumann@VitecGroup.com

Manfrotto (USA) inquiry?....... Wayne Schulman (mail address pending).


CS

PS:

All of the above are members here on DVinfo, so can be contacted through here as well as the above addresses.

And another thing...............
 

and worthy of a post all on it's own.

Anyone with any Vinten gear can log onto the Vinten web site and register a new member account AND the serial number(s) of their gear.

Having an account gives you access to not only the operators guides for just about anything, but also the maintenance manuals as well.

There is a manual for the 10LF with more info than anyone is ever really going to need, but at least you can look up the part numbers of bits killed in action.

However, I think your friends will find that if the damage is simply broken knobs, Peter will get a set whizzed to them in the post gratis, with instructions on how to replace them.

Its very hard to beat Vinten service.


CS

Hello Chris.


Thanks for your information. I'll pass that on. It is the big knobs which have taken the hit this time. I think something really heavy sat on the head for the whole flight because the knobs have gouges in them and polished corners and the shafts are bent. They had it well padded but it looks like the padding chafed through.

The friction controls still work but for how long ?? Also the pan drag fluid has begin to creep.

According to the owner, it has been a very good head. Kudos to Vinten for bringing it into the world.

Hmm, sounds a bit worse than the odd knob............
 

Still, Peter is your, er, they're, best bet

If it needs to go to Vinten service, he's the man to know about who, what and where.

Tell them to get in touch and keep at it, Peter is incredibly busy (he's the World Product Manager forcryingoutloud!) but he's always a gem with clients problems, so he'll be on it in a flash.

If fluid has started to creep, it may well need a rebuild. Can't say, I'm not a Vinten tech.

Get 'em to contact Peter, he'll know.


CS