What's up with Vitec?
 

Thought I'd purchase a Sachtler or Vinten Flowtech 75 tripod. (Was told by Vinten here in the UK that they were identical tripods apart from cosmetic differences).

I tried all the UK retailers, nothing until December!

Surely these tripods not made in Russia or some such similar restriction?

One distributor claimed that the Vinten version was made in Bury St Edmunds, UK, which I think hard to believe.

Vitec seem to have a problem.

Ron

Re: What's up with Vitec?
 

B&H also has Flowtech tripods listed as out of stock. It is my understanding Sachtler tripods and video heads sold in North America are assembled in Costa Rica.

https://www.vitecproductionsolutions...Factory_EN.pdf

Re: What's up with Vitec?
 

You'll need to buy a used one or wait for it to come into stock. Not uncommon that there a supply issues coming out of the pandemic. Rather an expensive tripod...

Re: What's up with Vitec?
 

. . . and well worth the money. I have four Flowtechs. The best tripods you can buy today.

Re: What's up with Vitec?
 

I lit on Flowtech not just because of good reports and very well known manufacturers but also because of my now rather elderly "Vinten Vision 6 "outfit.

I love the head, much better than my also old DV6SB (which also assembled in Costa Rica!) and miles better than my newish Ace XL. But the aluminium sticks, "Vinten" they say but I think a Manfrotto clone, are unpleasantly clumsy to use, albeit they do their job once firmly set up.
So let's get some different carbon fibre legs.

However as I found out ages ago the Vinten head not happy on anyone else's sticks. I tried it on my Gitzo and Libec sticks and it is then not very good at levelling on anything but fairly level ground

A design feature I think Chris Soucy may have once mentioned here.

Having established that the new(ish?) Vinten "Vision Blue" head(s) was an update of the Vision 6 (etc) I thought that matching legs. e.g. Flowtech, should be okay with my old Vision 6.
I asked a Vinten rep who said that Flowtech would be okay with the Vision 6 and that furthermore Sachtler and Vinten versions were practically identical.

So here we are,

Ron

Re: What's up with Vitec?
 

Sachtler, Vinten, and Oconnor are all owned my Vitec and they all have identical Flowtech tripds. The only difference is that the levers on Sachter are red, blue on Vinten, and black on Oconnor. In every other way they are the same.