150mm ball base vs. Mitchell base tripods

[Nick Gardner]

As I said, one is not better than the other, at least in major markets in the US, Mitchell is the standard. Things are definitely geographically dependent.

Guido, maybe you should read all the posts before you act like a dick.

Nick

 

[Guidofilippi]

Guido, maybe you should read all the posts before you act like a dick.

Nick

Just kidding Nick... don´t get overheated.
I think that, as real names are mandatory here, it would be good that location stating be "strongly suggested"... you answered the original post apparently assuming that the author was based in US... and neither the original post nor his author´s data state where he is located. Given that this is an international forum, with people from all over the world reading and writing, it would save everybody´s time (and reduce unnecessary posts) to know that.
As an example: just a few days ago, a guy with a Chinese last name suggested sharing a set of RPP lenses if anyone was interested. After several posts, and somebody asking him, he told that he was located... in China! One of the other guys was quite angry about that. It would have certainly helped if that was known from the beginning, don´t you think?
Guido

 

[David Cho]

I'm based in Los Angeles! Just so you guys know, I switched out my 150mm ball base for a Mitchell mount and my 150mm ball sticks for Mitchell sticks. However, in the very near future, I plan to buy the 150mm mount and the 150mm top cast for the sticks - all of which will run me less than $500.

If any of you are in the LA area and own either a Oconnor, Sachtler, or Vinten - make your way to Camera Dynamics in Burbank. They have the best customer service that I have ever had. They wanted to make sure that I was completely happy with the product. They even gave me a cool free t-shirt.

 

[ericyoung]

...Basically these different interfaces seem to me to be more of a concept than a standard. I find it funny that OConnor, Sachtler, and Vinten marketing all claim to make the best gear, yet they are all owned by the same parent company, Vitec Group. The bottom line is that it's probably best to match the brand of your support to the brand of your head to avoid headaches.

They were once all separate rival companies. And Vitec apart from now owning them, prefers to let them keep themselves as distinct manufacturing companies still in competition with each other. That's why the product lines haven't merged under one name, and similar models from each brand haven't been dropped in favour of a single offering in each category. While there may be more convergence in future, each brand has a following which would be foolish to alienate. But agree that keeping legs and head branded together saves some potential incompatibility.

 

[Mitch Gross]

They also are different styles and designs, and some people prefer one design to the other. If all your career you used Sachtler and suddenly found yourself face to face with an OConnor you might be a tad uncomfortable with it. Not necessarily better or worse, just different.

 

[david_winters]

I mainly shoot with an Oconnor 2060 and Sacthler CF 150mm tripod, ground spreader. I shoot a lot of jobs without an AC and a basic Red kit on this setup is the most I can handle without back pain the following morning. Just my personal setup not really interested in the rental market.

 

[Philip Allister Anderson]

Being an AC and aspiring DP, my opinion is the Mitchell base is superior to the 150mm ball head. when I work in either position I like the reliability and absolute sturdiness of the mitchell base. It is very frustrating when working with an operator who loves a ton of tension on the head, perform a fast tilt and have the ball head slide forward. Since ball heads are held in place primarily with friction on older heads and sticks I find I have to really tighten them sometimes.