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MYT Works Satin/Velvet head?

S

Scott Pultz

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Has anybody tried out the various heads from MYT Works? They are intriguing, but I haven't found much info or reports about them.
 
Never tried the heads - i've been looking at them for a while as well. If they are built like the MYT slider that I own... they should be sweet.
 
I talked to them on the phone today. Great group of people. The head is a bit large for me to transport to various locations (I often go back country) but for studio work it looks amazing. Tempting!
 
I have seen their videos on site about the various heads. I have a OConnor and don't need another heavy head. The MYT heads are not cheap either. Having said that I love my MYT 3-1in-1 slider. They are good mechanical engineers. Great fit and finish of the slider. Unfortunately they didn't follow up on their promise (yet) of creating a remote for timelapse for their slider.

I wonder why someone will buy their heads vis-a-vis OConnors of the world as the cost and weight are similar.
 
Sabyasachi Patra said:
I have seen their videos on site about the various heads. I have a OConnor and don't need another heavy head. The MYT heads are not cheap either. Having said that I love my MYT 3-1in-1 slider. They are good mechanical engineers. Great fit and finish of the slider. Unfortunately they didn't follow up on their promise (yet) of creating a remote for timelapse for their slider.

I wonder why someone will buy their heads vis-a-vis OConnors of the world as the cost and weight are similar.
Click to expand...

The middle sized head is $3000. Wouldn't an Oconnor be more than twice that?
 
David Ellison said:
They are way lighter and cheaper than O'connors. I'm buying a Velvet head very soon.
Click to expand...

The Velvet is 16 pounds and the O'connor with a similar weight handling spec is just over 8 pounds. But the Velvet is also half the price and offers nodal functionality.

Have you tried the Velvet head and can you say anything about your experience? Their videos are nice, but they don't show much camera movement or footage from the camera itself. Given the big restocking fee it is a leap of faith to buy one.
 
I am extremely impressed with this company and expect great things from them in the future...

Thank you,
 
I own one. I'll post a review here when I get a little time. It's a beautiful thing.

Nick
 
Nick Gardner said:
I own one. I'll post a review here when I get a little time. It's a beautiful thing.

Nick
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Any updates?

I had offered to pay 2-way shipping to try one out and host for other people who wanted to see one in Seattle to no avail so far. The design looks cool but I haven't been able to get much info beyond what the company says.
 
I have been moving all my gear to my new shop, plus the holidays etc. have been a bit crazy. Here re my thoughts on the head -

Build quality is second to none. The machining and design are impeccable. It is a very well thought out and designed piece of gear.

Operationally, it is unlike anything you have ever used before. It is completely different and therefore takes a little getting used. It is very smooth once in motion, and stops on a dime. Really the positive stops are like operating a gear head. One of the coolest features is that you can push through the resistance. Meaning, if you are all dialed in for medium resistance and then something happens where you have to pan or tilt very quickly, you don't get bogged down in the fluid, you can just go.

I haven't put enough hours into it yet to truly get used to it. The one thing that was giving me trouble was getting very smooth subtle moves from stopped. Following actors or action are no problem, but things like slow pans over architecture or little table top stuff are hard - but those are the hardest moves to do anyway, and while starting my be a bit harder (and I'm not sure it is) stopping smooth is easier. I did take it on the set of House of Cards and let some of the other operators play with it and their first impression, as well as mine, was that it was very cool, but kind of weird ;-) It's just so not a fluid head (in a good way). I shot a commercial with it the week I got it and I brought along a fluid head just in case I got into trouble. I never used the fluid head.

So over all I would say this - I think it's a great head. I am sure that with a little more time, it will be my favorite head besides my gear head. It will take a little getting used to, particularly if you are not a great operator. I suspect if you are a shitty operator, this head will help teach you how to operate better, it's a precision tool, more so than a fluid head.

I have the velvet, and it looks like it will handle any set up outside of an optimo sized zoom. If you do heavy studio production and have so much shit hanging off of your camera that it is really wide, you may have to rearrange some stuff to skinny it up a little bit (and I m talking extremes here, like a cine tape, a preston, TC box, wireless etc.). Just put some shit on top instead of the sides and you should be fine.

Please feel free to ask me any specific questions you may have, and I'll be happy to answer.

Cheers,

Nick
 
I just got back from playing with this head at my shop. It' spectacular. Spent an hour or so doing really slow creeps over machine tools on an 85mm. ANy reservations I had about those types of moves are gone. I love it. I feel completely confident endorsing it 100% now.

Just wanted to make sure I was portraying an honest opinion, and man it's just great ;-)

Nick
 
How about the tilt range? I suppose with a long lens and a mattebox you can't point down too far...

I was looking at their heads at the show and was quite impressed that they felt so smooth and they do feel quite solid!

I'm just on the fence about a Velvet and looking for more input.

Cheers!
 
Yes, if you are on a 300mm shooting down from a tower, you should use a different head. in normal use with primes or a small zoom, the velvet works out just fine for an epic. DO you have other heads? What kind of stuff do you shoot? what do you find attractive about it? What info are you looking for?

Nick
 
Well I do shoot on a 300mm for both sports and for narrative work. I typically shoot on a Canon C series but I also bring a lot of my gear when I am on set for others and we use Epic's often then.

I own a Cartoni Focus head and Cartoni Carbon Sticks. I'm very disapointed with the amount of bounceback that the Cartoni head has. I want something that is more stable and smoother. So my options are (I think) either a used O'Connor DVS or 1030 or the Velvet. Velvet pricing new is quite reasonable but weight is a lot more and not so portable on outdoor shoots where I have to carry my gear. Of course O'Connor head would fit the bill better but trying to find a used one in my price range seems impossible...

I liked the Velvet a lot and the thought of having a new head for the price of a Used O'Connor was quite attractive. I just haven't read a lot about this particular head as there is no info online or very few user reviews.
 
Like I said, if you are shooting down from a tower, different head. 99% of the time, I think the velvet will be fine. I don't like fluid heads in general, so I am not the norm, but if you are unhappy with a cartoni, I don't think an O'conner is going to make you any happier. I am not a fan of any of their heads. If you are looking for precise, the MYT is the way to go. The only caveat is that you have to be a good operator. If you are a shitty op, the MYT isn't going to save you. A lot of sins are covered in the slop of fluid heads.

It's a great head, it performs brilliantly. I would take it into the most demanding operating situation you can throw at me when all of the marbles are on the line. I don't know how to say it other than that.

Nick
 
Thanks for the feedback Nick!

I greatly appreciate!

I totally understand that being a good operator is key and that you can hide a lot with a Fluid head. I don't mind the fluid heads personally though. I also quite like the O'Connor heads as they have very little to no bounceback and I'm familiar with them but I'm quite intrigued by what the Velvet has to offer. I think I was at their booth about 4 times at NAB just to play with that head.

It's good to hear that the velvet can perform well in so many different scenarios (I don't shoot from a tower haha).

Thank you!
 
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