Jason Ing
Well-known member
Just wanted to share the NAB info I got... good, bad, or unknowingly incorrect.
If you have better info, please share too.
My everyday config will be birger/canon/mattebox with the thought of renting lenses and eventually getting Red's primes or 18-85 lens. So the weight I figured was 20-40(+) pounds. This was rough guesstimates (someone tell me if I'm way off). I also will be getting some sort of low budget dolly and jib setup.
I mostly focused on the heads, so the tripod info I'm still going to learn more.
I looked at Oconnor, Sachtler, Miller, Panther, and Cartoni.
To cut to the chase, I chose Cartoni's Delta head.
There were other deciding factors, but surprisingly, I found that the counterbalance was what differentiated most of the heads and became one of the main deciding factors (in general, they're all pretty good). Miller, Panther, and Sachtler uses a step system as opposed to Catroni's and Oconnor's continuous system. Continuous vs step makes a huge difference in the setup and performance of the counterbalance. With Catroni and Oconnor, I could tilt the camera forward and backward at any degree and it would stay put. Coupled with the fluid head and drag system, this allowed me to do a pan/tilt/combo movement with one finger (no, I didn't lose my other nine fingers in a shark encounter; but it impressed upon me the precision of these heads). I noticed with sachtler, miller and panther, the camera would tilt forward/backward even after it was supposed to stop. The reps would fuss with it a lot but couldn't get it exactly right. I was told and there are probably users out there that can get this kind of precision counterbalance on a miller, panther, and sachtler but it says something to me that the reps couldn't get that kind of performance that catroni or oconnor could show me in the equal time allowed for the setup and demo. Maybe there was a coincidence that all the step systems had incompetent reps?
So it came down to oconnor and catroni. as far as oconnor's 1030 vs the 2060. i ruled out the 2060 for these reasons: 1) twice the cost; 2) almost twice the weight (2060 is heavy!); 3) the 1030's 100mm ball will fit the jib systems that i'm considering. However, the 2060 has a nice crank to adjust the counterbalance. The 1030 has a partially covered dial at the base of the head which was difficult to use to say the least.
So, between the Delta and 1030, the counterbalance is way easier to use on the Delta. The delta can carry up to 48 pounds vs the 1030's 41 pounds (the 1030 HDS studio head). And a small extra plus, the delta has a lit digital readout.
I was told the delta's fluid system is different then oconnor. so the delta doesn't leak as opposed to oconnor that supposedly could (but to be fair, the source of that bit of info came from the delta rep)
And one more major point: Delta has a 5 year warranty, everyone else has 2 year (If I'm wrong on this, please let me know).
Listed price of a 1030 head is $4790. The delta is listed at $5295. Only $500 difference. Since it's list price, I'm sure they can be gotten for cheaper.
Okay, so that's my tripod/head experience at NAB. It was admittedly a blur of reps, booths, and equipment! So, I'll be the first to say that I could have gotten things wrong on my info.
If you have better info, please share too.
My everyday config will be birger/canon/mattebox with the thought of renting lenses and eventually getting Red's primes or 18-85 lens. So the weight I figured was 20-40(+) pounds. This was rough guesstimates (someone tell me if I'm way off). I also will be getting some sort of low budget dolly and jib setup.
I mostly focused on the heads, so the tripod info I'm still going to learn more.
I looked at Oconnor, Sachtler, Miller, Panther, and Cartoni.
To cut to the chase, I chose Cartoni's Delta head.
There were other deciding factors, but surprisingly, I found that the counterbalance was what differentiated most of the heads and became one of the main deciding factors (in general, they're all pretty good). Miller, Panther, and Sachtler uses a step system as opposed to Catroni's and Oconnor's continuous system. Continuous vs step makes a huge difference in the setup and performance of the counterbalance. With Catroni and Oconnor, I could tilt the camera forward and backward at any degree and it would stay put. Coupled with the fluid head and drag system, this allowed me to do a pan/tilt/combo movement with one finger (no, I didn't lose my other nine fingers in a shark encounter; but it impressed upon me the precision of these heads). I noticed with sachtler, miller and panther, the camera would tilt forward/backward even after it was supposed to stop. The reps would fuss with it a lot but couldn't get it exactly right. I was told and there are probably users out there that can get this kind of precision counterbalance on a miller, panther, and sachtler but it says something to me that the reps couldn't get that kind of performance that catroni or oconnor could show me in the equal time allowed for the setup and demo. Maybe there was a coincidence that all the step systems had incompetent reps?
So it came down to oconnor and catroni. as far as oconnor's 1030 vs the 2060. i ruled out the 2060 for these reasons: 1) twice the cost; 2) almost twice the weight (2060 is heavy!); 3) the 1030's 100mm ball will fit the jib systems that i'm considering. However, the 2060 has a nice crank to adjust the counterbalance. The 1030 has a partially covered dial at the base of the head which was difficult to use to say the least.
So, between the Delta and 1030, the counterbalance is way easier to use on the Delta. The delta can carry up to 48 pounds vs the 1030's 41 pounds (the 1030 HDS studio head). And a small extra plus, the delta has a lit digital readout.
I was told the delta's fluid system is different then oconnor. so the delta doesn't leak as opposed to oconnor that supposedly could (but to be fair, the source of that bit of info came from the delta rep)
And one more major point: Delta has a 5 year warranty, everyone else has 2 year (If I'm wrong on this, please let me know).
Listed price of a 1030 head is $4790. The delta is listed at $5295. Only $500 difference. Since it's list price, I'm sure they can be gotten for cheaper.
Okay, so that's my tripod/head experience at NAB. It was admittedly a blur of reps, booths, and equipment! So, I'll be the first to say that I could have gotten things wrong on my info.
