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Hercules 2.0 Tripod, Any Good?

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Ralph Wong

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I just saw the ad from Kessler Crane. It has a Hercules tripod head selling for around $350. Says the head should support up to 150lbs. Has anybody had any experience with this tripod head? Is this the revolutionary product in tripod heads that will do to tripods what RED did to cameras? If the head can make silky smooth pans and tilts, I'm sold. Unfortunately, I didn't know about this company until after I went to Cinegear expo. Therefore, I am asking to see if any RED owners out there have had any experiences.
 
I have one and have no complaints about it at all... works perfectly, smoothly, built like a tank.... and easily adaptable to just about any thing you'd ever want to put under it. You will need to also order a quick release plate.... unless you have one already.

I also have one of their pocket dollies..... combined with the herc2 works very well. I put a fully loaded RED on and it handles it perfectly.
 
Thanks for the response Chris.

I'm wondering why people aren't making a bigger deal out of this tripod head if it is as smooth as people are saying. Seriously, a tripod head that can handle 150 lbs which is more than most any of us will need under $400! That would be a ridiculously great deal. I just worry that this head will be like the Manfrotto heads. They are alright but not great in comparison to Schatler. Anybody else have any experience?
 
Its a GREAT Head for Crane work, I own this and the K-POD System and
the Kessler Crane.

Its purpose built for lots of torque and weight. And Pan/tilts well so far... (over a year)

what its NOT good for is lightweight cameras...

But that said, you cant compare it to Sachtler or any other expensive HEAD
as the difference is what you "cant see"

the internals... but like I said, for a year... its been solid as a rock...
 
Tim Whitcomb said:
Its a GREAT Head for Crane work, I own this and the K-POD System and
the Kessler Crane.

Its purpose built for lots of torque and weight. And Pan/tilts well so far... (over a year)

what its NOT good for is lightweight cameras...

But that said, you cant compare it to Sachtler or any other expensive HEAD
as the difference is what you "cant see"

the internals... but like I said, for a year... its been solid as a rock...
Click to expand...

When you say the stuff I "can't see", do you mean that the head might wear out faster than the Schatler heads because the build is not as good? Or are you talking about the actual movement of the head itself. I currently own a Schatler video 14 II tripod. It's weight capacity is rated for around thirty pounds. My bare bones RED setup is already weighing in at 28 lbs so I'm afraid of putting anything else on it. If I downgrade (upgrade?) to the Scarlet later, I think this tripod will be fine. However, if I stick to the RED One, I would definitely want a tripod that can handle more weight.
 
by "what you can't see", i think he means how the head feels when using it as opposed to just reading the specs.

g
 
Ralph Wong said:
When you say the stuff I "can't see", do you mean that the head might wear out faster than the Schatler heads because the build is not as good?
Click to expand...

The Hercules head has a lifetime warranty, just like our cranes and K-Pod tripod. Should something happen to wear out (not that I would expect it to), just contact us and we'll take care of it for you.
 
I use a Schatler, but if the one you are choosing (Hercules) has a lifetime warranty. I would say go for it -- oh and great Price BTW. Schatler was $11,000 for me and $14,000 for my Actioncam Red-Edition.
 
JosephArthur said:
I use a Schatler, but if the one you are choosing (Hercules) has a lifetime warranty. I would say go for it -- oh and great Price BTW. Schatler was $11,000 for me and $14,000 for my Actioncam Red-Edition.
Click to expand...

This is what I don't get. Why does a Schatler cost so much more. Are people simply paying through the nose for a slight upgrade to their tripod system? I wish I could try the Herc 2.0. Really regretting not knowing about them before Cinegear. If it is as smooth as people say, the only drawback I could see is the size of the head. From the pictures and descriptions, it seems monstrous. Is there any chance of Kessler coming out with a smaller tripod head that could support maybe half the weight. Unless you are using it with the crane, I don't know if most of us will need to load 150 lbs on it. I know this model was built to be used with the crane, but there are a bunch of us RED guys looking for a solid, smooth tripod head that costs under a $1000.
 
This is what I don't get. Why does a Schatler cost so much more.

The parent company Vitec who own sachtler own other support companies, Vinten, O'connor and probable more so are able to hold the market price high....
 
Dave Blackham said:
This is what I don't get. Why does a Schatler cost so much more.

The parent company Vitec who own sachtler own other support companies, Vinten, O'connor and probable more so are able to hold the market price high....
Click to expand...

yeah just like Steadicam .. its a nice rig.. but its a god awful heavy price for those who just wanna use it. maybe its an artificially raised price for all the products that they dont sell. (cause they are too expensive themselves).
- or a trade/union thing. dunno.
 
Can anyone post pictures of their full Red setup on the Herc 2.0? I'd like to see this for myself.

I just find it hard to believe that such a cheap head can smoothly and safely handle a large RED setup (though myself and my pocketbook want to believe it).
 
Justin - Here is a photo of one of the rigs we had setup at CineGear this year. It's not a RED, but I think it will show you that the Hercules 2.0 can handle a large rig.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/photo.php?pid=1936284&id=59544435858

If you have watched any of our online DVD, we use a RED setup for many of our Hercules 2.0 and K-Pod segments. Thanks
 
I'm usually pretty quiet on this forum, but I just got my Kessler setup a few hours ago and had to put in my 2 cents.

IT IS HEAVY DUTY. These guys don't mess around.
 
Joseph Safai said:
I'm usually pretty quiet on this forum, but I just got my Kessler setup a few hours ago and had to put in my 2 cents.

IT IS HEAVY DUTY. These guys don't mess around.
Click to expand...

So what are your impressions of how smooth the tripod movements are? How well does this head work in comparison to a Sachtler, or other professional head setup? I'm very curious to know. Thanks.
 
Ralph Wong said:
So what are your impressions of how smooth the tripod movements are? How well does this head work in comparison to a Sachtler, or other professional head setup? I'm very curious to know. Thanks.
Click to expand...

Me too. Feedback, please.
 
Just ran across this thread. VERY interested to hear more about how smooth this thing is.
 
So, I just recently purchased the Herc2.0 Head and the Pocket Dolly. I am very used to working with O'Connor 2060HD or 2575C Heads so I must admit I have very high standards. I also must admit that I did not expect to get anywhere near the performance as with one of these other higher end O'Connor setups. My initial impression is as follows and please keep in mind it is just my opinion after a fairly short time period with the Kessler products.

First, I purchased the head and pocket dolly combo for adding more dynamic, small dolly movements to my one man band style shooting scenarios. I need quick and easy setups and be able to move quickly with as little gear as possible. This is exactly what Kessler offers and in this area they fully succeed. Moving the lightweight gear around quickly is an easy task.

Second, the Herc2.0 Head is nice for the price. Its pan locking mechanism needs to be ridden by the operator quite often to find that correct pressure point that your fully loaded or even partially loaded RED Camera won't keep falling forward or backwards. This varied amount of pressure on your pan lock is a fine line of keeping the head loose enough to still get smooth tilts and also tight enough to keep the weight from taking the camera over. Even if your balanced front to back you need to apply the pan enough to compensate for the RED's weight. You must keep your eye on this as I could see it possible for someone to forget to lock the pan lever, walk away from the rig a brief moment and RED takes a forward/backward dive. That said, its quite smooth and is built extremely well, and the price, well...no contest.

Third, the pocket dolly is a nice little dolly to achieve small moves with. I use two light stands that fit perfectly on either end to support the edges when using my RED rig. There still seems to be a little bend however and you need to be fairly cautious. I noticed quite a bit of back and forth wiggle with a Bogen Fluid Head and the Herc2.0 Head attached with the RED Camera on top of the mounting plate on the Pocket dolly. Its a height thing and the pocket dolly is quite narrow so any back and forth movement at all can ruin your shots. There is supposedly a brace support that is coming soon that hopefully will take care of the track flex issue.

Overall I am impressed with product line and for the money its a great head to get you in the ballpark. The pocket dolly i was a bit dissapointed with but I am going to wait and see what the support rod will do for the product before I dismiss it. I don't think its fair to compare an O'Connor or Sachtler head to the Her2.0 head. Two different tools and if you have used both you know exactly what that difference feels like and which you would use for the particular shooting environment in which you find yourself.
 
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