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Tripod recommendation for Scarlet?

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Peter Steele

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Hey everyone, I'm just looking for recommendations for a good tripod for a Scarlet. Something around $1000 would be great but I know it might have to be more than that. Thanks!

Peter
 
Depends on the package deeply. Say, if you're going to use DSMC1 Scarlet with Allura Studio zoom, on a 19mm rod system with a studio mattebox, studio FF, 200+ Wh batts and so on - you'll end up in 18-24 Kg ballpark. Or, you're using a DSMC2 Scarlet with light Sigma photo zooms - averaging 5-7 Kg total.

For a serious work you want to use any tripod with a dovetail system - be it Cartoni, O'Connor or Sachtler. For personal use and one man band something like Cartoni Focus will do the job done. Manfrotto are cheap and have lots of available spare parts online, also being rather fragile.
 
i would always try to get a good head and spend as much as i can allocate at the moment and even more. Good head makes a difference and if you buy a good head it can be for decades in future. questions theta you need to ask your self, when it comes to fluid head are:

1) What do you expect dorm tripod? if your style of work asks for camera to be static with small correction movements: corpos, documentary, news... then you want something light easy to setup, and something that you can set up your self. 100mm ENG Sachtler are superb for that. Sachtler heads 18 and 20 are strong, they have a lot of control and they are easy (not cheap) to repair. Sachtler dont leak oil and they are really good option if you travel a lot. finally 2 stage carbon fiber legs will basically eliminate need for baby legs and with small and inexpensive 100mm hiheat like Benro you can rice your camera form ground to 5ft.

2) if you do drama and you need precise movements that can be repeated, take after take. you need a Head that can be balanced to perfection. Oconnor is a king of that game but be ready to brake a gank and brake your back. 2060 is Goog head for any red setup unless you are shooting with Optimo 12x or vintage Arriscope anamorphic. in such workflow you will me using dollys, jibs, sliders and your head will be mounted more on other peoples equipment then on your tripod. however you will need 2 tripods and high heat. so you ar looking in to 12k investment.

3) if you are shooting wild life (like me) or similar problematic where you need light weight and stability for long and heavy lenses then you are doomed. as you need best of all the worlds in to one device. this is possible but it will cost a lot of money. Oconnor 1040 paired with Flowtec legs will give you all you need. easy to use and perfect to balance system, high tec materials that are sturdy and strong and easy for one person to operate and drag all day. Down side to this is 11k price tec and the fact that you will still have underdog whn to comes to drama.


it comes down to what you need to do. and if you rent your kit or not. if you are owner operator and you dont rent, you can go with less robust and less expensive options like Libec, or Cartoni. if you need ENG tripod that basically hold your camera and you do correction movements with occasional pan or tilt, go with Miller as they are ultra strong and not that expensive. if you want portability and outstanding reliably you can go with Sachtler but it will cost you a lot. Finally if you rent to others and if you want uncompromising control of movements( and compatibly with the industry) go Oconnor. All of them Sachtler , Occonor, Cartoni and Miller have different models and i would suggest that you go with bit higher payloads than you are using. Sachtler 20 in 100mm or 2060 in 150mm/Michell are ideal for Red builds in my opinion they are different setups but i find them interesting for camera buld of this size . you can go with bigger 150mm Sachtler but then you are at size and price point of 2060

My self i have 20III on ENG100CF legs with mid spreader as my Run and Gun tripod. I shoot up to 600mm primes or big 150-600mm zooms with my Helium or Sony F55 no problem. its reliable, reasonably lite and relatively manageable to travel with wile giving be enough stability. Aside from that i have MOY-mini Mk4 Geard Head that i use for drama or studio work. I am operating wheels for 27 years now and unless i need to to whip pans i cant imagine my self working on the Drama or commercial (studio or location) shoot with fluid head... but again that is only personal preference. but if i had to have only one head that i have to use for Drama and to do wild life i would go 2060 as that is in my opinion best of two world
 
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Wow, thank you, super helpful. I am new and uneducated in all of this so I appreciate the insights, you've given me good directions to research in. Much appreciated.

I am just doing things myself with my brother, mainly shooting lots of b roll footage for videos that are primarily speech driven, so don't need to do too much moving around, but I would like something for nice smooth movements but nothing that needs to be repeated or ultra precise. Many thanks!
 
then its easy. if you have a money buy Sachtler 20s1 with EFP100CF legs and you are golden. you will have a more tripod then you need in terms of support. you can build DSMC2 with a all sort of accessories 200Wh battery, 7" monitor and viewfinder, teradeck, followups, studio mattbox and you will still be liter then Cameras that 20 was designed for.
finaly buying Sachtler like that is investment and it will serve you for 20 years. in case you decide to move up you can always sale Sachtler 20s1 in a blink.
 
Hi @petersteele, I actually used to work for Sachtler, O'Connor and Cartoni! If you are considering Cartoni, I know that they will be having a demo gear sale of the display gear they were going to use at NAB. The sale is supposed to happen in the next week, and I do know that they are partnering with B & H as you already mentioned. You can contact Chris at maniosdigital dot com to inquire about the demo gear sale. You might be able to get a nicer head as a result of the demo gear. Let me know if you have any questions about the differences between the brands!
 
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Hi @tanyalyon, thank you, that is great to know. I guess one question I would have is about this particular Cartoni deal on B&H that I mentioned:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/prod...sdsal_focus_hd_smart_deployment.html/overview

$1800 off is pretty attractive hah. Is the normal Cartoni Focus price $3600? I know that the Focus is the one that Alex recommended above, but I don't know about this particular set up, with the spreader that it comes with.

Again, I don't want to waste any more money buying low level stuff that just sucks and breaks on me, but I also don't need the highest level, my projects are simplier than many that are doing real professional work. So any thoughts or tips you have on that would be great. Thanks a lot, I apprecaite it
 
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