Budget fluid heads - are they worth it?

aserota

aserota

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Adam
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Hi all,

I'm being asked to film more short videos for friends and small business, but I'm struggling to do anything more then static shots currently due to the lack of a decent video tripod and head. I'd like to get an basic, but well built tripod and ideally fluid head but am struggling to work out if there's any point in going for an Amazon cheapie or just investing big in something that will do the job properly. Reviews online are so contradictory that I really can't make up my mind - has anyone got any direct experience with these 'cheaper' video fluid heads and tripods?

The one I've seen a majority of positive reviews is below:
Fancier FC-270A (well reviewed on YouTube, with the odd contradictory review) @ £120 new
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fancier-F...rder-Tripod-/131328902055?hash=item1e93d003a7

and on the flipside a very solid combination would be:
Manfrotto Combo 503/525 @ £350 second hand
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Manfrotto...ch-RARE-VGC-/151795642992?hash=item2357b9b270


I buy a fair bit of cycling gear from China and have been overall very impressed with the quality of items. However, I've extremely sceptical when it comes to sensitive equipment like video fluid heads as quality really does matter. I'll be using this for my 5D3 with a 70-200 f2.8 is ii and other lighter lenses - I'm no pro, but don't want something that doesn't provide buttery smooth pans!


Any advice would be greatly appreciated :-)
 
I've got the tallest fc270 that fancier sell, and it really is fantastic. I don't find it lacking in any way performance wise, but be warned that they weigh an absolute ton and don't pack down very small at all. I took mine on a walk through some woods and wished I'd brought something more portable (but the footage was worth it).
 
Is the vertical and horizontal pan buttery smooth? The feedback on the legs of the 270a is great its just the head I'm a little concerned about

I'm not concerned about weight as I'll be carrying this in a wheelable suitcase!
 
Thanks for this, video looks spot on - I'll give one of them a try!
 
Picked one up - went for the 270A and it feels great so far! Will grab some video on it next week, but very happy with the first impressions :-)
 
Glad to hear it! You should stick up a couple of photos too ;)
 
I bought a cheap Chinese Mefoto Globetrotter tripod for a pack-down-small travel tripod. It's far stiffer and much better built than I expected, and without it having been specified as a fluid head I found that the ball head it comes with has a separate rotation about the vertical axis which is very nicely fluid damped for horizontal panning rotations. I often find the engineering of a cheap Chinese photo accessory product to be impressively good.
 
TomTomTom said:
Glad to hear it! You should stick up a couple of photos too ;)
Click to expand...
Not sure there's any point putting up a load of photos as it's exactly as you see in the advert. I'll grab some footage shots of panning and tilting once I've used it for any more then a sturdy fixed tripod :-)
 
If you're happy using a video head on a photo tripod the MVH500AH Manfrotto is a good head and screws on to a 3/8 inch screw.
 
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