Manfrotto 701HDV Best Option?
 

Ok, so, I finally won an auction on some Manfrotto 755xb tripod legs and now I’m looking pretty hard at the Manfrotto 701 head. I know it’s probably not the top of the line and/or pretty far from it, but is there anything in that price range or not much more that I should at least consider first?

I’ve just got a little Canon HF S20 right now that doesn’t have any attachments on it to speak of. It’s super light. I’m afraid that anything further up the Manfrotto lineup would be too big and bulky for what I’ve got – even if it had nicer features; adjustable friction, etc. (502 for example).

Just curious if I might find any input here?

Re: Manfrotto 701HDV Best Option?
 

Little camera does not equal little tripod/head.

The tripod and head you are suggesting to use will hold the camera up, but don't expect smooth pans or tilts.I know everyone has his budget, but sometimes budget will not do the job. At the price point you are looking at, yes that head you are looking at is probably the best you can get.

We really need a sticky here for a thread like this one I started a long time ago.
http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/tripod-s...y-why-why.html

Re: Manfrotto 701HDV Best Option?
 

I have a 701HDV and it's primary use is a place to put my XF300 on my teleprompter rig. Before it was demoted to stationary duty, I did play with it and compared it with my 501HDV and 503HDV. Maybe I got a really good 701 but with a DSLR it worked pretty well...actually nicer than the 501 or 503.
Then I got my Sachtler FSB6...
All my Manfrotto heads are now lockdown duty only.

For the camera you have and budget, obviously a high end tripod may seem silly. BUT...consider that an investment that you will have way longer than your camera...or your next camera...or the next!
Just sayin! :)

On a side note, a friend of mine got a 502HDV head (same capacity as the 701) and is raving about it. $170 at BH

Re: Manfrotto 701HDV Best Option?
 

Well, pulled the trigger on the 701 already! Sorry that I posted and didn’t listen, but I sort of figured I might hear I should spend more. I touched on this earlier and got advice to go with a Sachtler Ace, but I just can’t do over $500 on this – it is purely a hobby for me really. Nothing professional. At the most I might be interested in bettering my home videos and/or try to put a little effort at polish on a documentary I’ve been thinking about.

I suppose I might have hoped to hear there was a head in that price range that I should consider. I have checked out that 502 and it’s not a lot more money, but it is rather large by comparison. I do admire the adjustable friction like the Ace has (I haven’t even bothered to look at anything higher end than the Ace)

Worst case scenario, it turns out to be not for me and I have to Ebay it – people are bidding these things up to and over B&H/Amazon prices. I might lose $20 on it at the most. They are super popular apparently!

Re: Manfrotto 701HDV Best Option?
 

Quick update; got my 701 and I am very pleased with it. I had some question about videos I have seen on Youtube with people’s handiwork, but it must be in their encoding or how Youtube handles the video possibly. It’s just as smooth as I can operate it – which is going to take some practice, but I’ve already seen pretty good results with it.

We had a Halloween Parade last night that was perfect to test it out. 24p seems generally worthless without a fluid head – it looks pretty good for my little camera with the 701. I’m hoping that it uploads without the choppiness that I have seen in other’s videos. It encoded fairly well and plays back smooth as silk!

Anyway, I know most here are pretty far beyond my level, but just a word of thanks for the input that I have gotten on the ‘sticks’ and such.

Re: Manfrotto 701HDV Best Option?
 

Out of the box practically; I had some pretty good results with the 701 (relative to my ‘skillz’). I’m super pleased so far. I was a little concerned as I said that from other people’s videos it looked like it was sticking, but not the case at all. It’s as smooth as I can work it.

Again, I know most of you are pros and I’m not in your league, but I appreciate the tips I’ve picked up here to better my ‘home movies.’
The source video is much better than what Youtube reflects, but Youtube is free! A little dismayed that it would only take a 1.3 mbs (or whatever) upload and it took over 24 hours to upload, but hey, it’s 1080p and it betters my paid Vimeo account generally. Vimeo has its pluses, but sure has been a pain to upload to recently – everything seems to fail over and over again.

Oklahoma Gazette's Halloween Parade - YouTube