Fluid heads

WillNicholls · 17 Mar 2013

Hi

I'm going to Cambodia on an expedition to film some wildlife out there.
Long story short, I'm shooting with a Nikon d4 and 200-400mm f4 lens.

Heavy kit. I have a wimberley head at the moment. Will this do? I use it at the moment but it takes a lot of skill to get smooth images when following things.

I think I'd probably be better with a fluid head? Any recommendations? On a tight budget, but would like to see what's out there. Thanks.

Bleo · 17 Mar 2013

Manfrotto 128rc head great...

WillNicholls · 17 Mar 2013

Bleo said:
Manfrotto 128rc head great...

Unfortunately not strong enough to support anything above 4kg!

jacob12_1993 · 17 Mar 2013

You are going to need a big heavy fluid head for that combo, I have used the 701HDV and that is just about at its limit with D7000, 70-200 and monitor. I'd say as a bare minimum you will need a 501 head

Bleo · 18 Mar 2013

Canon 60d battery pack and 70-200 sigma big lens seems fine on the 128rc however see your point

itsdavedotnet · 19 Mar 2013

Ooh boy. You're going to want the biggest, heaviest legs and head that you can afford for that level of long lens stuff....especially if you're using the d4 video crop mode.

Can't help specifically I'm afraid, it's pretty specialist....

WillNicholls · 9 Apr 2013

Hi guys,

Sorry to revive this but been doing more research.
The manfrotto 501hdv head that Jacob recommended has been recommended to me by another photographer as very good for this setup.

Anyone else used this?

jacob12_1993 · 9 Apr 2013

WillNicholls said:
Hi guys,

Sorry to revive this but been doing more research.
The manfrotto 501hdv head that Jacob recommended has been recommended to me by another photographer as very good for this setup.

Anyone else used this?

Will, Manfrotto have just released a new light weight head that uses the bridging technology that is worth checking out too

WillNicholls · 9 Apr 2013

jacob12_1993 said:
Will, Manfrotto have just released a new light weight head that uses the bridging technology that is worth checking out too

Do you have the name of it please?

jacob12_1993 · 9 Apr 2013

WillNicholls said:
Do you have the name of it please?

Something 500 if you check their twitter it was released last night

WillNicholls · 9 Apr 2013

It's rated up to 5kg, will that be enough to take the D4 and 200-400? About 4.6kg.
Whereas the 501hdv appears to be up to 6kg.

jacob12_1993 · 9 Apr 2013

WillNicholls said:
It's rated up to 5kg, will that be enough to take the D4 and 200-400? About 4.6kg.
Whereas the 501hdv appears to be up to 6kg.

Can't really say without trying but its perfect counterbalance is around 2.4kg so you may want the bigger set-up

WillNicholls · 9 Apr 2013

jacob12_1993 said:
Can't really say without trying but its perfect counterbalance is around 2.4kg so you may want the bigger set-up

Forgive my ignorance but not sure what that means??!! :thinking:

Also do you mean bigger set up as the 501hdv ?

itsdavedotnet · 10 Apr 2013

Will, especially for long lens stuff, I'd run very fast away from the 501 I'd I were you... The 502 is ok but probably not stable enough for long lens....

WillNicholls · 10 Apr 2013

itsdavedotnet said:
Will, especially for long lens stuff, I'd run very fast away from the 501 I'd I were you... The 502 is ok but probably not stable enough for long lens....

How come? I only ask because I know people using it with the same set up that think its great.

itsdavedotnet · 11 Apr 2013

WillNicholls said:
How come? I only ask because I know people using it with the same set up that think its great.

Fair enough.... Whenever I've had to use one (though to be fair I am used to the bigger, heavier 504, or sachtler heads) its made me want to break it, just from not being... Fluid enough? Idk, try one first. I was impressed last year by the 502 head though, good price as well

jacob12_1993 · 11 Apr 2013

itsdavedotnet said:
Fair enough.... Whenever I've had to use one (though to be fair I am used to the bigger, heavier 504, or sachtler heads) its made me want to break it, just from not being... Fluid enough? Idk, try one first. I was impressed last year by the 502 head though, good price as well

I'd hang on buying the 501 for as long as possible

, when is your trip?

WillNicholls · 11 Apr 2013

jacob12_1993 said:
I'd hang on buying the 501 for as long as possible , when is your trip?

September, but I need to do some filming in the UK and practise using it before I go.