I have had a 501 for a number of years.

If you leave it in a fixed position for more than 10 minutes or so it won't tilt up without having to exert so much force that a jerk occurs on the film. It pans OK though.
This has been reported in several places on the internet with no real solution to the problem. Apparently the 503 suffers from the same thing despite a counterbalance spring. That's because they aren't truly fluid heads. They are disks sandwiched together with some kind of automotive-like chassis grease between the discs.

John

"That's because they aren't truly fluid heads."

And that's why I bypassed this thread the first time around (for fear of being misunderstood). But now that you brought it up, John, I guess it needs to be said: "You get what you pay for."

Ethan, I'm not knocking you, your tripod/head, or anything you said!

I understand not everyone can or will pay thousands of dollars for a tripod and head. Be that as it may, those who can't/won't pay MUST know they will not get the performance from a $300 tripod/head that they will from a $4000+ tripod/head.

It's really comparing apples to oranges.

Jeez and I recently got told on another forum that anything less than a $11K O'Connor tripod was a toy not worthy of use by anyone seriously in this game. I'm not game enough to take the guy on. Anyone who lugs one of those around for a living I do NOT want to meet in a dark alley :)

Aside from that though and whilst indeed you get what you pay for and ever so much more so with tripods there's a hole in the market. No one makes good or great tripods for the smaller cameras. We've got an old Daiwa (not cheap in its day) that I rescued for a few dollars that works quite nicely under our HC5. Aside from that though I'm at a loss to recommend any tripod at any price for a smaller camera such as what Ethan has.

If anyone knows of a tripod with a real fluid head that weighs no more than twice the weight of a typical palmcorder I'll be quite interested.

Bob.

I think if we wait a little longer, shakey, jerky, ugly video will be in vogue, then those of us who cannot afford a really good tripod will be cutting edge.

For example - I see commercials and movies that were shot handheld while running on a rocky path, overlays of fake debris on the lens. Pretty soon my stuff is going to look "relevant."

BTW Ethan, I bought my college student daughter that same head (and maybe the same tripod) a month back. It will serve her well until she wants to spring for high end equipment.

I haven't yet mastered the random zooming used in various SCI-FI channel made-for-cable classics.

It appears that the Manfrotto 701 head does not allow adjustment of tilt or pan drag. My $110 vaseline lubricated unit does this with little plastic knobs, but you have to be careful not to unscrew them entirely or they just fall out ...

Ethan's stuff is really cool. Check out this video:



That is just so much hipper than the infomercials and product safety stuff that the guys with all the high end stuff are making. ;-)

> If you leave it in a fixed position for more than 10 minutes or so it won't tilt up without having to exert so much force that a jerk occurs on the film.

Wow, mine doesn't do that. I haven't touched it since yesterday, and I just tried raising the handle very gently and slowly. Worked like a champ.

--Ethan

Thanks Laurence. BTW, there's a much better version (both the video and the audio quality) on Vimeo:

http://www.vimeo.com/871714

--Ethan

Ethan,

I had seen the Cello Rhondo a few years ago and it impressed me very much. Sorry I didn't remember your name when you posted, but that was a very creative piece.

Bravo,

John

Before you use any head remember to "warm it up". In other words tilt it up and down and pan it around briskly several times. This warms up the lubricant and distributes it evenly.

Bob.

Vimeo has a reputation for better video quality, but lately I am getting pretty incredible results with Youtube. It's well worth a re-encode and upload again. Plus, I can play Youtube videos on my cell phone.

They require an exacting adjustment of the drag settings to work acceptably. I've found that exercising the pan and tilts for a couple of minutes before shooting helps tremendously in achieving smooth starts.