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Fluid Head 5kish budget

Tom.Wong

Tom.Wong

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5 thousand dollars ish, give or take a 1k or so, what fluid head is your top choice on that budget? Looking into one... top choices right now are

O'Connor 1030 HDS

Miller DS60

anybody with experiences with either or? pros/cons? alternatives that offer a non overbearing weight, but great mechanics and can take a decent payload?
 
Miller Arrow 55 $4000
 
55 is great too, wondering if anybody used their top of the line ds60 though... only 1.5k ish difference, worth the extra money?
 
Have not used the DS60, but I own the Arrow55 and it's one of the best $$/performance heads out there. I use it with their HeaveyDuty (HD) 920 carbon legs with mid spreader and also with their Solo carbon legs for when I need to be more portable.

If you can hold out and make it to NAB, you can really check them out. Should be someone in NYC that has these to look at too.
 
I actually know several people with the 55, and I agree, it's pretty awesome. but look for a 150 mm bowl, and for 1.5k more, the ds60 is their top of the line, but oddly not a lot of people have or have used it. So i'm very curious about it....
 
I used the DS60 on several shoots in Bali, in Indonesia this head is rented out more often. I am used to the 2060HD and 2575 and they are in another league... The DS60 is also restricted to +/- 60° tilt (as is the 1030HDS).

If you want a 150mm I suggest looking for a used 2575B. This head you can also rent out easily.

If you go with a 100mm bowl and the EPIC I would take the 1030HD, I have not too much experience with the arrow 55, but it gets good reviews.
 
Hey guys,

I'm in cohoots with Tom. I'll be purchasing the head, i would KILL for a new 2060, but if anyone knows of a new/used 2060 im ready to buy. Preferably 150mm bowl, but will consider Mitchel.
 
If you're going 150mm ball mount, my goto head is the O'Connor 2060 with the stiffer fluid setting, not the default thinner fluid like the 2060HD has. I love that head, but don't own one. For my "big head", I share ownership in a 2575. I so want to buy a GearNex too, but I just can't put it all into the budget with Epic-X looming overhead. Of course, none of those bigger options fit within a 5K-ish budget...
 
The dilema is this, The 2065 is of a significant size. Similar body to the 2575.

The 2060 is big, but with lightlegs, a simple carry. The 2065 is just too damn big. IT just got cut from the running last night. its just not worth spending 11k on a head that is impossible to carry, for a camera thats light. ( for now im in line for a F3, with Epic lite on the horizon) The epic is light, so im thinking the 2065 may well just be over kill. The 2060 will be about perfect....

I want the stability of a 150mm bowl, but with a medium level payload. The 1030HDs is just not quite heavy duty enough, as im buying a Cooke 18-100, w/ 19mm rails, and with monitor and goodies the package can get pretty close the operational limit of the 1030.

I suppose the Arrow55 it is till i find a 2060.....
 
Arrow55 holds a RED One with 18-100 and an assortment of other gear just fine. Done it lots of times. The Cooke 18-100 was my workhorse lens with the RED One for nearly 2 years straight and I sold the lens last summer. 19mm rods and all that. I preferred running that configuration of RED One w/Cooke zoom with 24" carbon rods. 24" were long enough to support the lens up front and still come out the back to mount battery and drive behind the camera, which helped to counter-balance the rig somewhat. There's enough slide on the Miller headplate to offset the rig if you use a 12" or longer dovetail in most cases.

A 2060 does provide a more stable platform. We went with the 2575 for our larger head. I love the 2060, but for the money it just didn't offer much over the Arrow55 other than the larger base and 5 pounds more capacity. If I were to buy today, I would probably choose the 2065 for my larger head since cameras are getting smaller and lighter. The 2065 technically replaces the 2060, but it is bigger, better stronger, etc..

One thing I like about the O'Connor heads is their sliding headplate is removable. ElementTechnica's dovetail plates drop right in. I use their 2060/2575 plates mounted to the quickplate for the miller or I can drop them right into the O'Connor head.
 
Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions Jeff.

What 19mm lens support did you use on the Cooke? I am looking into this:
http://www.vfgadgets.com/Quick-Mounting-Lens-Support-Bracket-19mm_p_165.html

the ET 19mm Plate, and the ET 12" dove tail ( the one pre cut for the oconnor, for the eventual upgrade), Also gonna pickup RED carbon 18" rods. That should cut it for me.

Now the other obstacle is how to get the F3 to the correct height for the setup, at least while i am on F3.... ;)
 
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