Tripod/Sticks Advice?

[Evan Prosofsky]

Hi everyone, I apologize as this question has been asked before.
I've searched and read up about all the top end tripods, but like many people- still can't make a decision. My dilemma may be a bit different than others though so hopefully its worth asking about.
Long story short I will be using my HVX/35mm adapter setup until I can afford a red. My tripod is horrible, I need to upgrade it anyways. I dont want to buy one to tide me over, then buy a new one for the red. I want one that is best suited for the red(red body, nikon lens, mattebox, followfocus, panny btlh80 moniter) but that i can get by with for my hvx setup, its around 15 pounds but i can make it a bit heavier if needed. I understand that for many tripod choice is purely personal preference, however i probably won't have the ability to test each tripod for myself because where i live there are no rental houses that have such amazing gear. As far as I'm concerned it comes down to a sacthler cine 30HD or one of the higher end oconnors like the 1030hd.
Are these heads going to be overkill for my red setup?
Are they just barely enough?
What exactly makes one better than the other?
Are they all a great choice?
Any advice on sticks i should buy to accompany the head?
Any advantage between 100mm and 150mm? Disadvantage?
I'm sorry for my long post and lack of tripod knowledge, anything you pro's can tell me about these tripods would help me out greatly! Thankyou!!
Evan

 

[Jason Ing]

A quick post here... For the Red, you're looking at the oconnor 1030 or 2060 level of quality and weight requirements. The 2060 is heavy and expensive. If it's in your budget, you can't go wrong with it if you're okay with the weight... it's a tank. I personally got the Cartoni Delta. Only the cartoni and oconnor are true stepless counterbalance systems. The others, miller, panther, and sachtler are not. Some people don't consider that a big deal. I do.

The delta and 1030 are similar in quality. I didn't like that the 1030 counterbalance dial is partially hidden at its base and difficult to dial. the delta's is exposed and easy to turn. The delta can carry a little more weight then the 1030 too. I heard someone went with the gamma (cartoni's step below the delta) because they were going to have a lighter red setup in general.

anyway, hope that gives you a general direction to look into. i think the delta or the 1030.

100mm is common for jibs.

my 2 cents.

 

[Brandon Fraley]

Jason, I'm buying my tripod any second now. If you could PLEASE PM me and tell me all about the delta and maybe even include a few pics, I'd REALLY appreciate it. I liked what I saw at NAB, but most people here say Oconnor is the way to go and BJ at Custom Supply is giving me a better deal on the 1030.

Thanks

 

[Martin Weiss]

Cartoni Delta:

Direct Link: http://www.cartoni.com/eng/delta.html

Head only is about 4200 @ BHphoto

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/con...sp&A=search&Q=*&bhs=t&Go.x=0&Go.y=0&Go=submit

 

[Martin Weiss]

Jason, may I also throw in a question: the Delta seems to have quite a small bridge plate, similar to the Sachtler Video 18/20/25. On another thread I read that people had problems getting their Red to sit properly on the Sachtler exactly because of the small size of the bridge plate. What are your experiences here with the Delta?

Thanks for sharing.

 

[Matthew Rogers]

Jason, may I also throw in a question: the Delta seems to have quite a small bridge plate, similar to the Sachtler Video 18/20/25. On another thread I read that people had problems getting their Red to sit properly on the Sachtler exactly because of the small size of the bridge plate. What are your experiences here with the Delta?

Thanks for sharing.

I've got a older Video 18 head and the issue I've had was with a new top plate that I bought. If you remove the little rubber strips then it is rock solid.

Why not get the Miller Arrow 55 instead of the Delta? I believe that the head only is about $1000 less with more payload weight.

Matthew

 

[Ed Watkins]

I might have a Delta for sale (depending on whether I sell one of my REDs today) PM me if you want the tripod details.

 

[Martin Weiss]

Thanks, Matthew.

With my ENG/EFP, film and general German background, I am naturally inclined to go for a Sachtler. Good to hear that the wobbling situation isn't really an issue.

Why not get the Miller Arrow 55 instead of the Delta? I believe that the head only is about $1000 less with more payload weight.

The best price I found was 4000, which is just 200 under the Delta.

If I had a bit more time, I would put together a list of current and eBayable heads for the Red. Unfortuantely I just don't right now...

 

[Matthew Rogers]

Thanks, Matthew.

With my ENG/EFP, film and general German background, I am naturally inclined to go for a Sachtler. Good to hear that the wobbling situation isn't really an issue.



The best price I found was 4000, which is just 200 under the Delta.

If I had a bit more time, I would put together a list of current and eBayable heads for the Red. Unfortuantely I just don't right now...

I believe that BJ at Custom Supply here in the US had it for under $4,000. I personally love my Sachtler, but unless I can find a Video 20 used for about the same price I'd get the Miller. My Video 18's head comes close to counterbalancing my fully loaded RED, but not quite. I have to hold lightly to keep it from tilting when I start to get an extreme tilt.

Matthew

 

[Evan Prosofsky]

any reviews/comparisons of the sachtler cine 30 to something like the O'connor 1030? i'm curious no one has much to say about the sachtler, it seems there are so many models to choose from, i cant much tell the difference from the higher end ones. it appears that some sachtler heads can hold more weight than the cine30 but they are cheaper? i'm curious if it holds some sort of quality the others dont, cool! thanks!

 

[Marc Berger]

Look at the homepage of megavideo.it!! Special offers for Cartoni Delta and CS20 and so on. Delta with Sticks EUR 2335.- (actually about $ 3600.-)
Cheers
marc

 

[Jeff Kilgroe]

The small bridge / attachment plate is not an issue with RED, provided you mount the camera properly. The shoulder dovetail is not a proper tripod mount interface -- it works in a pinch, but that's about it. If you use the RED baseplate with RED cheeseplate combination, you can get a very solid mount for the camera. Or the ET Arri dovetail is also a great way to go and actually preferable in many situations. The small tripod plate attaches to the bottom of the ET dovetail, then you slide the camera onto that -- camera equipped with the Arri bridgeplate.

The ET Arri dovetail plates will mount in place of the sliding euro-plate on O'Connor tripods. This is great as it eliminates one more piece of equipment to manage and lowers the center of gravity about 1/2 inch.

I have the Miller Arrow 55 and really like it. I'm using it with the Miller HD (Heavy Duty) CF tripod that supports 220lbs. It's a very solid rig and more portable than an O'Connor 2060. The Miller Sprinter II legs are nice too and quite a bit lighter, but only support 65lbs or so total. They're better for portability, but can be less than solid if you have a heavy rig on them and/or use them in areas with wind or vibrations.

 

[Dominique Grenier]

Hey Jeff, this is the kit I'm planning to buy, is this something like this that you have?

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/469664-REG/Miller_1741_1741_Arrow_55_Tripod.html

 

[Jeff Kilgroe]

Dominique,

That is the exact kit I have. ...Actually, I had the same kit, but with the lighter Sprinter II legs. Then I sold the kit thinking I was going to go with the O'Connor 2060, but ended up going back to the Miller because I couldn't squeeze the O'Connor into the budget.

I bought my current kit through Custom Supply, gave me a better deal than B&H and they're easy to work with. Not sure what the best deal would be for you Canadian guys, though.

 

[Hans von Sonntag]

Sachtler is in the US not that famous, especially if we talk about cine-style productions.
Nevertheless if weight and payload are of concern I strongly recommend a look at the System 25 EFP CF2.

http://www.sachtler.com/index.php?id=1716&exp_mode=product&exp_cid=111&exp_pid=362#111

It's very light, full 150mm sized and can carry up to 35 kilos. No, its not a O'Connor 2575 but can be easily compared with the 2060 but is considerable lighter. For small crews in remote location which want also use their Cooke 18-100 a back-friendly solution.

Quality is very good. Since Sachtler is Geman and therefore Euroland I am afraid that their stuff is not a bargain in the US.

Hans

PS: Sachtler, O'Connor and Vinten all belong to one company: Vitec...

 

[Wil Klassen]

A quick post here... For the Red, you're looking at the oconnor 1030 or 2060 level of quality and weight requirements. The 2060 is heavy and expensive. If it's in your budget, you can't go wrong with it if you're okay with the weight... it's a tank.

We have the 2060HD and a couple Sachtler's (DV4, DV12) and the 2060 is great (like, really great!). Def. agree things a tank, and everyone who's used it has had zero complaints about it. Steep price, but so so worth it.

 

[Martin Weiss]

I believe that BJ at Custom Supply here in the US had it for under $4,000. I personally love my Sachtler, but unless I can find a Video 20 used for about the same price I'd get the Miller.

Thanks for all the advice on- and offlist. I found myself a nice, newly refurbished Sachtler video 20 III with legs for just about 3k.

Sometimes it does pay to speak 3 languages and do a bit of eBay hunting.

 

[David Birdy]

I have a Sachtler video 30 II and Vinten CF stix with 150mm ball mount & Mitchel
mount.

My Red Demo in Talladega went great with a large & small lens.


Dave

 

[Jason Ing]

Jason, may I also throw in a question: the Delta seems to have quite a small bridge plate, similar to the Sachtler Video 18/20/25. On another thread I read that people had problems getting their Red to sit properly on the Sachtler exactly because of the small size of the bridge plate. What are your experiences here with the Delta?

Thanks for sharing.

Sorry for getting back to this so late... but there is no problem with the small bridge plate. The delta's bridge plate also slides back and forth quite a bit (it fits into a sliding plate on the head) and you can also reposition the cheese plate on the Red even more so there is no problem with finding a good balance so far... but then again I don't own 50lbs monster lenses.