Hello all,

Just taken delivery of a shiny new Vinten Vision Blue tripod and loving it.

I've got a Manfrotto remote pan bar I want to attach.

I've detached the standard pan bar by unscrewing it, but can't get the pan-bar clamp to detact from the pan bar... what am I doing wrong?

Sounds like a question for Peter.Harman@VitecGroup.com, I can't get it off mine either and am stumped as to why/ how, just in the interests of science, of course.


CS

Cheers Chris,

Beauty - message just sent..... will followup with what I discover...

Look closely at the base of the screw thread in the clamp. There is a small "C" spring in a grove, which retains the locking screw. It took some time and special tools to remove the spring and release the screw and then pan bar.

Holy cow! Yeah, I see that. Handed it to my expert technician (wife) and she's stumped. Tried knives and screwdrivers... can't get the little bugger.

Oh well, will try the geek-shops tomorrow. Thanks for the tip...

A word of warning on this one, before anyone gets TOO carried away, not entirely sure a Manfrotto bar is going to fit in that clamp, even if dismantled (regards to Terrry for having the eyesight to see the problem).

I suppose a question is in order - why on earth would you want to fit a Manfrotto extending pan bar to a VB head?

If there's a reason you need to be 3 feet from the head, that's one thing, but if it's a control issue, just dial up the drag, that's it, solves 99% of all known control probems known to Vinten heads.


CS

Hi Chris - it's a 522 remote pan bar... can't live without it unfortunately.... I'm pretty sure it's same size...

http://www.video-direct.com/accessories/manfrotto/522p-lg.jpg

Its a simple clip in a groove that holds the pan bar clamp screw in the clamp housing. You will need circlip pliers to release it. However, youll need a replacement clip as the one you take out will not be re-useable.

Hope this helps.

FYI, my stock Manfrotto 522P pan bar does fit in the in the Vinten Vision Blue... no problem once the spring clip is removed. Also, I used a tiny flat blade screw driver and a dental pick to pry the two ends of the spring clip apart, and then out of the grove. (it was not easy, and I see no need to put it back).

Also thanks to Chris and his tripod review thread. He eventually convinced me to get a VB,... and yep he was right. I transitioned to video from still and assumed an Manfrotto 503HDV was all one needed, but I know better now. Thanks Chris!

Edit: Chris, I switched pan bars ONLY to use the 522P zoom controller. I'm shooting Panny cameras, and I found most non-lanc zoom controllers to be hard to use smoothly. For some reason the Manfrotto 522P seems to work better for slow and smooth controlled zooms.

Cheers Terry,

Yes - can confirm this also. I sent a message to Peter from Vinten who replied quicker than President Magobo from Nigeria who is sending me SIXTEEN MILLION UNITED STATES DOLLARS very soon! (but that's another story)

Being as dexterious as a retarded chimpanzee, I resorted to taking my Vinten Vision Blue handle into a jewelers to removed the devils c-clip, and the 522 Manfrotto handle is exactly the same size and fitted perfectly.

I'd just like to publically thank Peter for his amazing service and followup. I can't believe I put up with this Manfrotto 501 junkpod for so long. I've got my first corporate job this weekend and will report back on how it goes.

Thanks Vinten!

Hi My name Is Jan I am from Denmark and I am a new user on this forum. I two has bought the Vinten Vision Blue tripod mainly because of this site. And I must say it is as smooth in its movements as Chris stated in his review. Regarding the service from Peter Harman. Yes its indeed excellent. My questions to him has always been answered fast and excellently. To Chris had it not been for your Vinten Review I would have ended up with the Manfrotto 546 504 combination, but your review made me search for other Vision blue review all of them agreeing with you about its qualities. I am now able to use entire zoom range and do tighter focusing than ever before on my Canon XH A1 camcorder and I am thus looking forward to visiting New Zealand for the 3 time in December.

Again thank you very much your greate tripod reviews.

Gentlemen...............

Humble thanks for all your kind words re the reviews, most heartening.

I can tell you, they give me no end of grief in their compilation, as I'm constantly wondering "Have I missed something" or worse "Have I made an error somewhere" (God forbid!).

Don't seem to have suffered a case of "foot in mouth disease" so far, so lets keep our fingers crossed.

Reviewing the VB was probably one of the best things I've ever done, already being a Vinten user, it was an utter revelation for the price.

I take my hat off to Peter Harman and his team at Vinten, they pulled a blinder on that VB system, and really put Vinten on the serious amateur/ semi pro/ pro map like never before, quite an achievement considering their speciality is studio/ OB equipment at the "God can afford it" end of the market.

Jan - if you're going to be in this neck of the woods when you visit, get in touch and we'll hook up, always good to meet other DVinfo'ers in person.


CS

Hi Chris thanks for the kind invite I will be very much interested in meeting you in person to thank you for saving me from making a very costly mistake by buying the wrong tripod. At the same time I am hoping to see the Albatros colony in Dunedin enhabited this time. It was not the last time, because the young birds had left their nest and the bird laying eggs had not arrived yet. They first arrived 5 og 6 days after we had left Dunedin for Christcurch.

Best regards Jan

For those not in the know, the albatros in question is this one:

New Zealand Birds | Birds | Gallery | Royal albatross, Diomedea epomorphora (http://www.nzbirds.com/birds/albatrossroyal.html)

Spectacular in the air, one of the reasons the heads near Dunedin are favoured by them is the more or less constant NE gales that blow across them, which allows them to take off for feeding trips by basically just extending their wings and taking a couple of steps forward.

Much more common and probably even more spectacular, is the winter presence of these three.

New Zealand Birds | Birds | Gallery | Zosterops lateralis, silvereye (http://www.nzbirds.com/birds/tauhou.html)

New Zealand Birds | Birds | Gallery | Bellbird, Korimako, Anthornis melanura (http://www.nzbirds.com/birds/korimako.html)

New Zealand Birds | Birds | Gallery | Tui, Prosthermadera novaeseelandiae (http://www.nzbirds.com/birds/tui.html)

They normally arrive in April and will hang about till at least September.

In hard winters, which forces them down out of the hills, we get them in almost plague proportions here at our sugar water feeders.

In previous winters (this one is almost rediculously mild, so not really representative) we've had as many as 5 feeders running concurrently, getting through a staggering 100 litres of sugar water in just over 2 days!

Yep, it's a full time job but the aerial displays and ear splitting bird song are worth it.


CS