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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

smallest / suitable fluid head for R1 ? HELP

David Nardini

David Nardini

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OK ... requirements :

- smallest (shortest in height) fluid head; ie: distance between tripod head and R1 mount as small as possible
- light weight (but can handle say up to 8 to 10kg)
- non bowl mounted (ie, can be screwed down onto traditional tripods), ie: flat base tripod with a 3/8" female thread attachment

Will be running a bare bones R1 with just CF card and LCD monitor and Nikon lens (no hard drive and battery on floor cabled to camera) ... ie: keeping to minimal weight config.

Anybody out there have any suggestions ? Is the Manfrotto 516 any good ? Does it pan/tilt smoothly ? Is the 516 'plastic build' (look plastic ... never seen on in real life) ok or is there a cast / aluminium equivalent I should consider ?

I have to carry this on my back (for some distance) ... any help / advice appraciated ;-)

Cheers
 
Hi David, Manfrotto 516 sounds like an answer to your question. I use it with Red One when need to minimize weight. It comes without a ball, and if needed, that's available as a seprate part. Does it pan/tilt smoothly? I have panned the EF 500mm/f4.0 lens with it and when showed the footage to some friends they were impressed of the smooth pan. Though one has to be careful in panning such a lens.
 
I purchased a Manfrotto 516 a while back... Returned it as I just wasn't happy with it. But I know several guys are using it and for the price it's not bad at all. I would shop around for a used older O'Connor or Miller head first though if you're trying to save some money.

As for size, the Miller Arrow 55 (or older 50 model) are very good and work very well with RED.

The Cartoni heads are great too. I like the Cartoni Focus head and used to own one, but it's just not quite good enough for a RED setup, even a minimal one. Should be a great head for a mobile Scarlet kit though.
 
I have a small Cartoni Delta. It'll happily hold a Red One with peripherals and a Cooke 18-100mm on it. Sachtler 18 or 20's would be very similar, but probably pricier. They're ok for doing your own stuff on purely because they're lightweight and small enough to chuck in a car but obviously aren't quite as happy as a bigger head when it comes to doing whippans etc. That said a good op ought to be able to get a lot out of one (If they're not complaining about being handed a 'little' tripod. If you can afford it the oconnor 1030 is a good 'smaller' head.

Paul
 
I recommend Libec tripods.
I got one to have my Red on the go and I am really happy.
Agree with Jeff; stay away from Manfrotto.
 
Jeff Kilgroe said:
I purchased a Manfrotto 516 a while back... Returned it as I just wasn't happy with it. But I know several guys are using it and for the price it's not bad at all. I would shop around for a used older O'Connor or Miller head first though if you're trying to save some money.

As for size, the Miller Arrow 55 (or older 50 model) are very good and work very well with RED.

The Cartoni heads are great too. I like the Cartoni Focus head and used to own one, but it's just not quite good enough for a RED setup, even a minimal one. Should be a great head for a mobile Scarlet kit though.
Click to expand...

We too are Miller 55 Arrow owners and its KILLER even with an HUGE ANGENEUIX 20-120 that weights around 400lbs... well ok 12lbs
and it still pans/tilts nicely... with RED ONE...

but we bought it for EPIC, which will be lighter than RED ONE... but Jim confirmed in another thread that the BRAIN IS A TANK and not light.

We also got the Carbon Fiber legs and mid level spreader. Its a nice lightweight run-n-gun Tripod that is extremely well built.
 
Tim Whitcomb said:
We too are Miller 55 Arrow owners and its KILLER even with an HUGE ANGENEUIX 20-120 that weights around 400lbs... well ok 12lbs
and it still pans/tilts nicely... with RED ONE...

but we bought it for EPIC, which will be lighter than RED ONE... but Jim confirmed in another thread that the BRAIN IS A TANK and not light.

We also got the Carbon Fiber legs and mid level spreader. Its a nice lightweight run-n-gun Tripod that is extremely well built.
Click to expand...

The Miller 55 is spec'd to 50 lbs if I recall
 
sMALL BUDGET HEADS.

sMALL BUDGET HEADS.

Whilst heavier than many modern heads the Ronford F4 is suitable and can be bought for less than $1000 for a nice unit making good value for money in the cash strapped times.
Tony Covell.:smilewinkgrin:
 
Shawn Nelson said:
The Miller 55 is spec'd to 50 lbs if I recall
Click to expand...

Hey Shawn, I think its actually 55 and linked to its Mode Number

We have had as much a 60-65lbs and it seemed fine panned and tilted smppthly when balanced.... We also have a Kessler Hercules Head and Kpod System if we need a real heavy duty RED ONE rig... that head supports 150LBS and the K-POD supports like 500 lbs...

Together still less than an Oconor 2060, which we can easily rent as their are tons of those in town...
 
The Miller 55 is great for the money -- also consider an Oconnor 1030 new or used. The head itself weighs only 8 pounds and Oconnor is hard to beat. I own both Miller and Oconnor heads and find them both tough and smooth.
 
The O'Connor 1030 is great, but is actually heavier than the miller 55 and can't support as much weight. The 1030s supports more weight, but sacrifices tilt range, which can be of concern to some people. O'Connor does have some advantages though. Such as the ability to drop in third-party adapter plates like the Arri-style dovetails from ET. And they have continuous drag settings.

The Miller 55 is rated to 55 pounds. It's gread. I use it with the HD[heavy duty]920 carbon legs and mid spreader. Great combination. If I need to be more mobile, I use it with the Miller Solo VJ carbon sticks and it's a great setup for taking on a hike. It's hard to beat the Miller 55 in terms of price and performance. But it's still "expensive" compared to the Manfrotto 516 (like almost 3X as much), but it's like 100X better, IMO.
 
Does anyone here use the Miller Arrow 40? Was contemplating this head instead of the Arrow 55 as its about $1300 cheaper and is rated up to 35lbs. which seems like it will handle a basic Red set up. Does anyone actually max out their Arrow 55 weight capacity with the Red? Just curious. Any insight to the Arrow 40 head would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
 
Elliot Leboe said:
Does anyone here use the Miller Arrow 40? Was contemplating this head instead of the Arrow 55 as its about $1300 cheaper and is rated up to 35lbs. which seems like it will handle a basic Red set up. Does anyone actually max out their Arrow 55 weight capacity with the Red? Just curious. Any insight to the Arrow 40 head would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Click to expand...

Thanks for all the feedback ... much appreciated.

For what it's worth, I use both Miller 40 and 55 as the 'standard'.

The KEY requirement is for a non-bowl mounted head (ie : flat base tripod with a 3/8" female thread attachment).
I've bumped into many of the suggestions you've all been making and they all are bowl (75 or 100 or 150) mounted heads ;-( I've not explored if the bowl can be removed however ... in the case of the Miller heads it's pretty much all part of the unit (I guess no avoiding this for best structural rigidity).

So far I've only come up with the Manfrotto 516, which seems to get mixed reviews. Might have to try one ... somehow.

EDIT : If any of you know of any of the 'better' heads that has a removable bowl PLEASE let me know which one ;-)
 
albert rudnicki said:
I recommend Libec tripods.
I got one to have my Red on the go and I am really happy.
Agree with Jeff; stay away from Manfrotto.
Click to expand...

Can I ask which Libec head you are happy with ? Can the bowl be removed for flat mounting ?
 
Thanks David. Do you notice any performance differences between the Arrow 40 & 55? I am planning on upgrading my Red One to Epic when it comes out and anticipate it to be lighter than the Red One, thus my reasoning behind buying the 40 instead of the 55 (its cheaper too.) Thanks again! Also, what sticks to you use with these heads?
 
I've used the Miller 40, but don't have a ton of experience with it. It's a bit smaller / lighter and the most immediate thing I noticed was that it was harder to counter-balance the head or keep the head from wanting to continue tilting on its own past certain tilt angles when a RED was mounted on it.

I've maxed out the Arrow 55 a couple times, but the head still handled alright. Not that hard to do if you're using larger zooms an lots of other aks. Most heads perform best with weight somewhere within the middle 60% of their capacity range.

I think the Miller 40 would be a good option if you mostly use smaller primes or Nikon / Canon lenses or if you plan to use mostly Scarlet in the future without going insane and piling tons of additional modules and gear on it all the time.

As for the flat base issue. I'm not sure what to recommend there. The Miller heads are pretty much fused with the ball mount. The O'Connor and I think most of the Sachtler heads can be ordered without a mount or with a Mitchell base (flat). Not all heads and their base mounts are standard in this regard. Same with old tripod legs. What legs are being considered here? Older Ronfords?
 
Jeff Kilgroe said:
I've used the Miller 40, but don't have a ton of experience with it. It's a bit smaller / lighter and the most immediate thing I noticed was that it was harder to counter-balance the head or keep the head from wanting to continue tilting on its own past certain tilt angles when a RED was mounted on it.

I've maxed out the Arrow 55 a couple times, but the head still handled alright. Not that hard to do if you're using larger zooms an lots of other aks. Most heads perform best with weight somewhere within the middle 60% of their capacity range.

I think the Miller 40 would be a good option if you mostly use smaller primes or Nikon / Canon lenses or if you plan to use mostly Scarlet in the future without going insane and piling tons of additional modules and gear on it all the time.

As for the flat base issue. I'm not sure what to recommend there. The Miller heads are pretty much fused with the ball mount. The O'Connor and I think most of the Sachtler heads can be ordered without a mount or with a Mitchell base (flat). Not all heads and their base mounts are standard in this regard. Same with old tripod legs. What legs are being considered here? Older Ronfords?
Click to expand...

As I use Canon and Nikon lenses I hardly get to the stage that I max out the 40 or the 55 (and I tend to keep the battery on the floor with long power leads to keep the rig weight down (and low) ... so in practice for me I see little difference between the two heads.

I have done some quick scans of (good) flat base heads and Sachtler do a range (the 150mm/flat base range) ... the Video 25 looks like a nice piece of kit (a tad expensive) ... but it does seem to cover all bases ! ... sadly not exactly light at 4.5kg ;-(
 
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