Is the Satchler Video 18 good enough?

[Mark B.]

It's cheaper than the Video 20, but the Video 18 is only rated for a 40lbs load. Is that enough to support the Red? What component within the head would break if more than the maximum weight was applied to the head? Is the 40lbs limit merely referring to the counter-balance forces available?

 

[Fredrik Callinggard]

The Video 20 is making it tight already, so imagine the 18. You will be surprised how heavy RED is together with all the gear. If your budget is really tight you'll find a lot of Video 20's on Ebay, but I would suggest going for a head with a 150mm bowl instead.

 

[Hans von Sonntag]

For many applications a 150mm bowl system is needed to cope with the weight of the Red assuming that you want to use a cine-zoom or MPs with all the goodies, say mature mattebox, FF, EVF, LCD, battery, eventually Redraid, etc... 15-18 kilograms are easily reached and a head that can work with such payloads even when tilted down is needed.

On the other hand a Video 18 with CF sticks is a light, yet sturdy solution - for its payload realm. It surely is not made for high payloads close to 20 kilos but can work with 12 kilos well (even fully tilted down). I use it occasionally when a light tripod is need for remote locations and the camera is striped down in doc-mode (still 14 kilos - yes the Redcamera is a heavy-weight).

Personally, I would buy a new Sachtler Video 25, it has the best payload to weight ratio - 35 kilos payload and 11 kilos weight with CF sticks, if I recall right. Others find a O'connor smoother and much nicer and can live with the higher weight. It really depends on your applications.

Hans

 

[Tim Bradley]

I run a Video 18 on either Light weight or heavy weight legs for my DVCpro50 camera. However the heavy CF legs are my choice when shooting Red. The head is fine on the heavier legs IMO

 

[Mitch Gross]

The latest version of the Video 20 is rated to 55 pounds. That is far more appropriate for the RED over the Video 18. First damage to be caused to a tripod head by overweighting is heavy wear on the braking mechanism, followed by bursting of the seals for the hydraulic fluids. These can be very expensive repairs. Blow out a head once and the cost for the repair equals the difference in cost to have purchased the bigger head in the first place.

 

[Mark B.]

...First damage to be caused to a tripod head by overweighting is heavy wear on the braking mechanism, followed by bursting of the seals for the hydraulic fluids....

The Sachtler heads use a spring counterweight instead of hydraulic fluids, right?

 

[Paul Hazlett]

Red with the 18-50 and all the accesories is fine for the 18 I do it all the time
no prob. but the cooke 18-100 is a problem. So I think it comes down to lenses.

 

[Mark B.]

Red with the 18-50 and all the accesories is fine for the 18 I do it all the time
no prob. but the cooke 18-100 is a problem. So I think it comes down to lenses.

What accessories are you putting on?