VINTEN PRO 5 for XF300?
 

Can anyone say if the VINTEN PRO 5 tripod would be good with my Canon XF300? I have seen one for sale used at what I think is a fair price. Is £275 a good price for a used one?

Andy,

I think (but could be wrong) that you are getting a re-badged old Manfrotto 501 head, but with a decent set of Vinten pozi-loc legs.

If I am right about the head being equivalent to a 501 head, then it really is bottom of the barrel for a camera like the XF300. But if your budget is under 300 quid, then there's no point telling you to buy a £800 or £2000 model!

It wouldn't set your world on fire, but it might just about do as a beginner tripod, and if it really is a set of proper Vinten poziloc legs, then you could keep them and just upgrade the head later.

I'm not sure I would be happy putting a £5000 camera on a tripod as basic as this though. Leaving aside performance issues (smooth pans etc.), I would be afraid of it collapsing...

Can you try before you buy?

Mike thanks for the reply.

Really my budget is pretty limited right now. I am all but jobless at the moment so it's VERY hard for me to justify blowing £500+ on a tripod right now. I have to spread what little cash I have around.

I can't really go and test the tripod because I think it's over 100 miles away!

Andy,

I understand totally the budget problem.

Unless someone else chips in (I'm looking at you, Mr Soucy, if you can tear yourself away from your mob of high quality tripods that you're reviewing!) it might be an idea to shoot an email to Peter Harman, via the Vinten.com website, or private message him via his profile on this forum.

The spec of that head is 4.5 kg max, so in theory it should support the camera. You might be OK if you are not doing a lot of long lens work.

Also I can't be 100% certain it is a 501 head equivalent, it might be a 503. Never having handled the exact model, I am not absolutely sure.

Thanks Mike.

Are there any other budget tripods I should be looking at?

Hi, guys............
 

BatPhone answered.

The Pro 5 under a XF 300 will drive you absolutely nuts, IMHO.

It's only got one counterbalance setting and OFF, which means you're going to be using almost all your tilt drag to keep it under some sort of control.

The Pro 5 started life as a Manfrotto design, Vinten took the fundamentals and significantly re - engineered it to increase the performance, so, no, it's not a re - badged anything.

The PoziLock sticks are some of the best sticks out there in the price bracket (and better than some a heck of a lot more expensive), tho' best used with a mid level spreader and not a GSL.

If times are hard and the cash just isn't there, you could go for the Pro 5 till it finally reaches your pain threshhold, then upgrade the head to a Vision Blue, which is the Vinten recomended system for that camera.

I can't think of anything out there for the price mentioned that's going to have sticks anywhere near the PoziLocks performance and at least the head won't have ground glass for bearings.

If you really can't spring for a VB now, go for it, but don't say you weren't warned, it will, most definately, reach your pain threshold sooner or later (tho' anything else will do so many times faster).


CS

Andy, at the £300 level, you probably won't do better than this tripod - assuming it is in good nick and has nothing wrong with it.

There's nothing else to recommend (new) at that level. Manfrottos at under £300 won't be good, neither will Libecs or any of the cheap knock-off brands. You can get one of those E-Image tripods, but nobody seems to know much about their performance, I have only seen one or two rather less than thorough Youtube reviews.

While not ideal, it would appear that the 2nd hand deal you have there is as good as it gets for the money. And, as me and Chris both agree, you should get a great set of Vinten legs that you can keep using long after you get fed up with the tripod head in years to come.