Good Video Head

Michael

Michael

I Love YTtalk
I'm looking to get a video head for my tripod, I know I need a flat base one rather than half ball as I don't have a bowl tripod and I am tempted to get the Manfrotto 502AH but I have read some reviews mentioning one of the knobs being on the wrong side for right handed people which is putting me off, really what I want is a very fluid head for panning etc without jerkiness when ending the pan etc does anyone know of one that's better and under £200 or is this the best you can get with my budget?

Cheers guys.
 
Michael said:
Please only reply if you have help or advice to offer :) we don't need "firsts" on threads at YTtalk too, keep them on YouTube lol
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Haha, sorry. :(

You're just such a person to look up to so I had to... :D
 
Michael said:
I'm looking to get a video head for my tripod, I know I need a flat base one rather than half ball as I don't have a bowl tripod and I am tempted to get the Manfrotto 502AH but I have read some reviews mentioning one of the knobs being on the wrong side for right handed people which is putting me off, really what I want is a very fluid head for panning etc without jerkiness when ending the pan etc does anyone know of one that's better and under £200 or is this the best you can get with my budget?

Cheers guys.
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Nearly all the knobs on a video head will be on the left side since you're expected to have your right hand on the handle. The Manfrotto is OK (I've used the 502 with the ball mount), but I haven't been impressed with their quality control. If you go with a Manfrotto, buy it in a store and try out several of the same model since some are much smoother than others. Pay lots of attention to the pan drag and if possible, have a camera mounted to the head while you test it.
 
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I have a Manfrotto 502HD with no complaints. It seems huge compared to all the old crappy tripods I've had before, but that's good for holding extra weight. It's pretty smooth but I don't really put it through tough use.
 
brodielawrence said:
I've never used it but the Velbon PH-368 looks alright :)
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I will check it out thank you.

Wreckless Eating said:
Nearly all the knobs on a video head will be on the left side since you're expected to have your right hand on the handle. The Manfrotto is OK (I've used the 502 with the ball mount), but I haven't been impressed with their quality control. If you go with a Manfrotto, buy it in a store and try out several of the same model since some are much smoother than others. Pay lots of attention to the pan drag and if possible, have a camera mounted to the head while you test it.
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Thanks Jeff, I wasnt aware since I havent really used one before, I wonder why people are complaining so much online, unless theyre new to them and have wrong expectations themselves. The problem for me is there are no decent shops around here that stock video heads, all the local ones only appear to stock a very select few photography heads so shopping online will be best for me.

ThioJoe said:
I have a Manfrotto 502HD with no complaints. It seems huge compared to all the old crappy tripods I've had before, but that's good for holding extra weight. It's pretty smooth but I don't really put it through tough use.
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Is yours the flat base or the half ball version? I am struggling to choose a tripod because of my legs, I have legs for photography really without a bowl so I would need to get a flat base version but I have read that theyre harder to level than the bowl versions.

Right now I am tempted to just buy a whole new tripod and head, the Sachtler Ace package is very tempting to save up for rather than buy now with what I have available. I really dont want to end up regretting getting a flat base head and having levelling issues or having to buy adapters etc

This one looks good and is meant to perform very well but its well out of my budget right now:

http://www.visuals.co.uk/salesProductDetail.php?PRODUCTID=2842189&gclid=CP6gjPuf7L0CFbLMtAodFEcAjw
 
As far as I know manfrotto has done a pretty amazing job with their tripod heads. The main thing I walked against was the steadiness but that all depends on how much money you want to put in.
I believe 2 years ago someone wrote about a good steady tripod and changing the tripod head with a manfrotto one. But I couldn't find it anymore. Best way is to actually test it out indeed and make sure the legs are steady as well since you will be touching the tripod and it might wiggle.
 
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