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Fluid Head Advice

Ryan Sheets

Ryan Sheets

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I am looking into fluid heads...

My biggest issue is long lens filming on the Dragon. (Nikon 600mm f/4)

Budget is always an issue. Seeing if I should hold back until I can afford something better. Finding Sachtler video 18 and maybe a video 20 used in rough price range. Also found one Sachtler video 25 used on eBay...also major stretch with legs.

Wouldlike super smooth starts and stops.

Advice?
 
I was in the same boat, using a too small FSB8 from when I was shooting a 5D a lot. I just kept checking eBay until a used O'Connor 1030s came up at the right price. It was missing some pieces but I could easily buy the pieces from Vitec's parts site. I spent maybe $2200 altogether for the head. I think if you're on a budget, one just has to look even harder for a good deal!
 
Ryan Sheets said:
I am looking into fluid heads...

My biggest issue is long lens filming on the Dragon. (Nikon 600mm f/4)

Budget is always an issue. Seeing if I should hold back until I can afford something better. Finding Sachtler video 18 and maybe a video 20 used in rough price range. Also found one Sachtler video 25 used on eBay...also major stretch with legs.

Wouldlike super smooth starts and stops.

Advice?
Click to expand...

I have several Sachtler tripods, from FSB8 to to Video 18 to CineHD 30. First and foremost, the heads work great as long as the load is properly balanced (center of gravity is not too high up and not too far forward or back vs. the tilt axis). Secondly, and this is where you really need to do your homework, the tripod legs have a certain amount of stiffness that turns to resonance when their load limits are exceeded. If you are using a large lens in a windy environment, you will really wish for the stiffest tripod you can find. But even in a completely still studio environment, a long, heavy load is going to act much more like a torsional pendulum than would a cube of lead with the same C.O.G.

The Video 18, 20, and 25 give you correspondingly more freedom to balance and counter-balance your C.O.G., but all three fit into the same tripod leg platform, which becomes more flexible and more resonant as you push the limits of weight, C.O.G., and especially length of inertial moment arm. The Cine30 fits into a much stiffer platform, which will give you correspondingly smoother starts and stops if you are panning or dealing with the elements.
 
Hi Chris,

What are you filming on the Miller 25?

Would it be super good with a Red Dragon and a long 600mm lens?

Thanks!

Ryan
 
I often use long teles, 800mms, 400mms etc. My heaviest lens is the Canon 400 f2.8 L IS USM lens (5.3kg) and I often use it with a 2xII TC. The OConnor 1030HDs with Sachtler ENG 100 HD2 CF tripod works fine. However, you need to balance it well. I use an 18 inch Arri style dovetail made by WC for easy balancing.

However, there are situations when even this combination was not enough. I just returned from a shoot. I was shooting on top of a hill using OConnor 1030 HDs fluid head on top of a Sachtler 100ENG HD 2CF tripod. It was windy and that used to shake the tripod. I then choose a place just behind a bush and that reduced the vibration. Placing further weights, bean bag etc controlled the vibration. For my next shoot, I am planning to take some stuff to use as a wind cutter.
 
Sabyasachi Patra said:
I often use long teles, 800mms, 400mms etc. My heaviest lens is the Canon 400 f2.8 L IS USM lens (5.3kg) and I often use it with a 2xII TC. The OConnor 1030HDs with Sachtler ENG 100 HD2 CF tripod works fine. However, you need to balance it well. I use an 18 inch Arri style dovetail made by WC for easy balancing.

However, there are situations when even this combination was not enough. I just returned from a shoot. I was shooting on top of a hill using OConnor 1030 HDs fluid head on top of a Sachtler 100ENG HD 2CF tripod. It was windy and that used to shake the tripod. I then choose a place just behind a bush and that reduced the vibration. Placing further weights, bean bag etc controlled the vibration. For my next shoot, I am planning to take some stuff to use as a wind cutter.
Click to expand...

Take a lesson from the Steadicam guys. A solid wind break is generally heavy & large, and needs sturdy fixing to the ground. The Steadicam guys use a mesh wind break - it lets some air through so the wind break is less of a sail, but slows the air flow enough to prevent the gusty wind which is usually more of a problem.
http://shop.sunbounce.com/en/108-wind-killer

or a 4x4' scrim frame.
 
I often shoot on long lenses and find the tripod to be more of an issue than the head. Obviously put the spikes in the ground when you can, ground spreaders are bad. Mitchel base ronfords are way way more stable than anything with smaller tubes. In good wind you can end up getting vibrations, so go through every connection and make sure it is tight and a quality one. For instance if you have a sliding stage on the head for balance, you don't want it all the way out one way or the other. Get an arri dovetail, and keep the head locked down in the center, etc. Little whippy tripod legs turn into springs when you pan with a fluid head and are total crap for long lenses.

Nick

Woops. Didn't see that Michael pretty much said exactly what I did. Sorry for the redundancy.
 
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