16lbs of camera combo
 

Hi All,
I've just weighed my XLh1, Ronsrail and Eos Lens combo and found that it comes in at 15.8lbs! Thats with the smallest EOS I use.
I've still been using the old Manfrotto 510 set up from my XL1 days but the needs have changed substantially..
Any suggestions on what to use for this combo? From searching the net I'll I've managed so far is to deepen the furrows in my brow!

Your thoughts are eagerly awaited.

Chris

Chris,

I have also started a thread regarding almost the exact same setup. Perhaps it may be useful for you to state your budget and tripod requirements e.g the ability to go flat to the ground. That point alone will rule out a number of legs.

Cheers

WeeHan

That's true WeeHan, most of those monster tripods don't allow you to spread the legs enough to go flat to the ground.
I'm using a Miller Arrow HD tripod myself, with Canon XLH1, Ronsrail and up to Canon 500mm 4.0L lens (almost 18 lbs). This is a rock steady tripod, but very pricey!

Chris, I'll recommend you to take a look at the forum- support your local camera: http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/forumdisplay.php?f=118, make a search I know this has been discussed there previously.

Best;

Aargh! I thought I'd posted in the Support your local camera forum but trying to juggle too many jobs here this morning..!
Perhaps Chris would move me over??

Budget, what I'd aim to do is change the head first and with less than £1000 hopefully, and go for new legs at a later date. That may be the wrong way forward but that's what I'm looking at for now.

Chris

Chris

You might consider the Bogen 519. Works well with the H1. I also have a Sachtler DV-8 which is great but for the price difference, I find the 519 to do just as good.

Chris,
Don't despair. My XL-2 rig weighs as much as yours, and with the tripod it's over 30 lbs. Even so, when I sling it over my shoulder (the legs are padded), it becomes nicely balanced and I can comfortably walk half a mile with it. You should have no trouble.

Bill, how do you find the Bogen for smoothness? My 510 is not up to the work I put it through as I cannot get a smooth enough pan. I've beeen lent the use of a Sachtler - that was a revelation, but well outside my budget!
Vinten seems to getting a reasonable press in the SYLC forum - any thoughts on that make?

Steve, I wasn't complaining about the weight, although many is the time that visitors to the kite feeding may have heard me wishing for a sherpa when climbing a hill..
Which head do you use? Any thoughts in Vinten?

Cheers
Chris

Chris, I believe it's as smooth as the Sachtler for the given weight. Much more control than the 510, in fact not in the same class. I believe this might fit your budget. I will say the Sachtler has a wider window whereas the 519 must be fine tuned just right but once you do its great.

Thanks for that Bill,
Couldn't open your Jpg - not enough credits i guess but I just get sent back to the login..

I've put a rather large (13mb) QT movie up on my site if anyones moved to look at it - http://www.gigrin.co.uk/lostondive.mov
(Best to right click and download than load into browser)
It shows the slight tremmor I get from this head when tracking the birds.

I'll check out the 519 sites this evening - can't actually buy anything just yet as I've an XL2 to sell first!!

Many thanks for your help.

Cheers

Chris

Chris,
Bill hit the nail right on the head. The 519 is excellent, but you need to adjust the pan and tilt just right (read tighter than you think appropriate) for optimal performance with moving or elevated subjects.

I've only now noticed that this is a 75mm head. would I notice the difference in use as the 510 has a 100mm bowl.

Chris

Chris,

The raptor quicktime was interesting, but I felt that the problem you were concerned about was more due to the size of the bird in the frame and the birds rapid weaving movement. I doubt if any tripod head could have helped in this case, actually I think you were very lucky to have kept the bird in frame.

What lens were you using and aprox distance to the bird?

Bob

Hi Bob,

The lens in this case was a Canon 70-200 2.8 usm and this kite was 150 - 200mtrs away.

I now think that kite footage was not the best example to show the problem but Sorenson Squeeze has stopped working so I put up the lightest example I had to hand. As you noted, this bird was not really still enough to see how sharp or otherwise the image was.
If Sorenson gets my s/w working I'll put up a better example - a bird flying across my line of sight. That would show a tremor that spoils the focus. This was not in similar footage taken with a Sachtler head I had loaned me.

Thanks
Chris