I just bought this camera and I love it, but my tripod head, the Velbon PH-368, is a little small for it. I would like to find a head or full tripod that is stronger and gives me fluid motion like the PH-368, without spending too much money, ideally no more than $150. I especially want the fluidness of the PH-368, that's primary for me. Any recommendations?

Also, any recommendations on a LANC unit to control Zoom? Has anybody tried the Libec ZC-3DV?

Thanks,

Sebastian

Velbon or Matthews.

I suggest a little light reading................

This for example:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/tripod-sticks-heads/5427-newbie-question-about-tripods.html

then immerse yourself in the many others in the same vein in that section.


CS

I just bought this camera and I love it, but my tripod head, the Velbon PH-368, is a little small for it. I would like to find a head or full tripod that is stronger and gives me fluid motion like the PH-368, without spending too much money, ideally no more than $150. I especially want the fluidness of the PH-368, that's primary for me. Any recommendations?

Also, any recommendations on a LANC unit to control Zoom? Has anybody tried the Libec ZC-3DV?

Thanks,

Sebastian

I have the Libec LANC as well as the Libec TH-650DV tripod for my HD1000 and both work nicely, though I now think I should have got the slightly more expensive TH-950DV for the balancer it has.

I have the Libec LANC as well as the Libec TH-650DV tripod for my HD1000 and both work nicely, though I now think I should have got the slightly more expensive TH-950DV for the balancer it has.

It seems that Libec tripods are more widely available in the UK, searching for those models you mention in Google gives mostly .uk results, and also some .au

If I can ask you about the LANC controller, how smooth is the zoom? Are you able to control different speeds easily? Doing tests with the camera I find the zoom lever hard to use, like you press a little too hard and suddenly the zoom flies. I would like to have better control with the controller that I end up buying.

How about this tripod set?

Davis & Sanford ProVista W3 ProVista 12 Tripod Kit in Camera Tripods at JR.com (http://www.jr.com/davis---sanford/pe/DAS_PROVISTAW3/)

At $172 shipped, with a dolly, it looks quite attractive. But my main concern is how fluid the head is. Has anybody here tried this one, at least the head? The model of the head is F12

I've got a slightly more substantial D&S set from B&H, with the FH-18 head, and I have to say it's a pretty good value. Sturdy legs, very smooth two-handled head action and a free dolly as a bonus. All for about the same price as the setup above.

But even with the D&S you'll still need to buy a good LANC controller. I use the Manfrotto 521, although if I had to do it over again I'd get the 521Pro.

I'd recommend the beefier head with a large cam like the HD1000. To be honest I actually put my HD1000 on a much heavier Bogen/Manfrotto rig, as the cam is very front-heavy and needs pretty heavy counterbalancing (and an extended plate to go with it). But the Manfrotto rig is close to $1000 with the LANC, which may not fall under your definition of "cheap."

Overall, though, really cheap tripods are best reserved for minicams like the HC series.

I've got a slightly more substantial D&S set from B&H, with the FH-18 head, and I have to say it's a pretty good value. Sturdy legs, very smooth two-handled head action and a free dolly as a bonus. All for about the same price as the setup above.


Are you talking about this one?

Davis & Sanford | Pro Vista Tripod with FM 18 | PROVISTA7518B (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/243272-REG/Davis_Sanford_PROVISTA7518B_Pro_Vista_Tripod_with.html)

Or this one?

Davis & Sanford | ProVista Airlift Tripod with | PROVISTAIR18 (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/349250-REG/Davis_Sanford_PROVISTAIR18_ProVista_Airlift_Tripod_with.html)

None of them comes with a dolly, I guess it must've been a promo when you bought them.

As for the head, I couldn't find the FH-18, did you mean this one?

Davis & Sanford | FM18 Fluid Head | FM18 | B&H Photo Video (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/336011-REG/Davis_Sanford_FM18_FM18_Fluid_Head.html)

If that's the one, I like that it has two handles. Probably works great with a LANC controller, sort of like a TV studio camera.

Yes, it's the first one (sorry about the typo on the head; didn't have it in front of me), and as recently as a few days ago the dolly deal was still available. It may still be if you dig around a bit on the website.

It seems that Libec tripods are more widely available in the UK, searching for those models you mention in Google gives mostly .uk results, and also some .au

If I can ask you about the LANC controller, how smooth is the zoom? Are you able to control different speeds easily? Doing tests with the camera I find the zoom lever hard to use, like you press a little too hard and suddenly the zoom flies. I would like to have better control with the controller that I end up buying.

I find it easy to get a smooth zoom. I've used it for 6 months now, and not had any problems getting it to get the speed I want, though I tend to film sports event as a norm.