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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 :)

Hercules 2.0 Tripod, Any Good?

mikeburton said:
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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Thanks Mike, I have to agree. Its a great back up head... but a must have is the Quick Plate... $30 I think. We used it recently as a tripod and indeed it was smooth. But I give credit to the operator, moreso than the head.

Some like it really heavy so they can LEAN into it, others like it near limit
it's horses for courses for sure. BUt as an INDIE RIG... and using our 1TON Angeneuix 20-120 it performs great.
That lens has to be 15lbs. easy.

One should note its a 150LB head... as far as worrying about locking it down
for fear of tilt. we use a long ET plate to balance the weight so even unlocked, its not going anywhere unless tipped.

While its not a fluid head, (what I meant in earlier post) we find it performs well, but works best for the CRANE and the RED fully loaded as well.

No way it compares to an O'connor, but it actually has a higher weight rating
I believe, and for the $, forget about it. You can buy a Scarlet for the difference and accessories.

Horses for courses.
 
Ralph Wong said:
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.
Click to expand...

Compared to the O'Connor 2060 its tiny actually.
 
Tim Whitcomb said:
Thanks Mike, I have to agree. Its a great back up head... but a must have is the Quick Plate... $30 I think. We used it recently as a tripod and indeed it was smooth. But I give credit to the operator, moreso than the head.

Some like it really heavy so they can LEAN into it, others like it near limit
it's horses for courses for sure. BUt as an INDIE RIG... and using our 1TON Angeneuix 20-120 it performs great.
That lens has to be 15lbs. easy.

One should note its a 150LB head... as far as worrying about locking it down
for fear of tilt. we use a long ET plate to balance the weight so even unlocked, its not going anywhere unless tipped.

While its not a fluid head, (what I meant in earlier post) we find it performs well, but works best for the CRANE and the RED fully loaded as well.

No way it compares to an O'connor, but it actually has a higher weight rating
I believe, and for the $, forget about it. You can buy a Scarlet for the difference and accessories.

Horses for courses.
Click to expand...

Does the O'Connor style ET Base Plate work on the Herc2.0? I guess it would have to screw directly into the head itself with the supplied double sided adapter screw correct?
 
what legs are people using with the Herc2.0 head? anyone tried the carbon miller 100mm bowl legs?
 
here it is.


eth.jpg
 
the wonderful folks at Element Technica helped me out with them. They are standard 1/4" I think. Same thread as the RED accessory screws, but you need them to be a bit longer of course. The screws can't be the same thread as the ET holes or the plate will be impossible to make flush on the Herc.
 
Joseph S. said:
the wonderful folks at Element Technica helped me out with them. They are standard 1/4" I think. Same thread as the RED accessory screws, but you need them to be a bit longer of course. The screws can't be the same thread as the ET holes or the plate will be impossible to make flush on the Herc.
Click to expand...

good to know, thanks for sharing. Emailing ET now. :001_smile:
 
Just received Kessler's Hercules 2.0 studio plate, and it is worth every penny! If you have the hercules 2.0 (which is a great tripod for the money) and the red is smooth as butter on it. If you own the Hercules 2.0 and the RED, this is a must buy! Pics to come soon!
 
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