Vinten VISION 8
 

I have the Bogen 501 head/Manfrotto 525MVB tripod kit already. I had the Vinten rep bring the Vinten VISION 8 system over and we compared the two tripod systems head to head. We used my fully rigged Ikegami HL-DV7AW(two IDX batteries, Sennheiser wireless rcvr and Frezzi MiniFill) for the test. There really wasn't any contest. The Vinten was far smoother and stable no matter how we angled it. If you accidentally put substantial pressure down on the camcorder body the tripod legs were rock solid (no sliding). Whereas my Manfrotto legs slid unevenly down about 1 1/2" on two of the legs. The Vinten head/tripod combo also had enough residual capacity to properly tension the weight for a teleprompter or other heavy accessories like a 8" LCD HD quality monitor with it's own IDX battery. But at almost $5K for the Vinten compared to my Bogen/Manfrotto at under $1K, I wasn't suprised with the performance differences. If I get the HPX500 I'm going with the Vinten VISION 8 unless I get convinced otherwise.
The BH Kit: Vinten VISION 8 Carbon Fiber Tripod System: Vision 8 Fluid Head, 2-Stage Pozi-Loc Tripod, Mid-Level Spreader and Softcase - Supports 31 lbs Mfr# V8CP2M • B&H# VIVIN8CP2M

The 501 head is fine for DVX sized cameras, anything larger is out of its resitance range, just too heavy.

Hi, I second what Dan said and also quite happy for having listened to the advice from Dan back when I bought my kit.
I have the similar setup, but not the Solo legs, my legs are from Gitzo, very similar shape, weight and features to the Solo. (Miller has lousy network in Europe, thats why I had to find an alternative).

Highly recommended setup, works perfect.

What is the smallest Sachtler you could get away with for the HPX? Would a DV8-SB work? i think the max payload is 26.5 lbs? (2,800.00 U.S)