looksharp65
Well-known member
This is my first adequate video head and it's now mounted on my old Manfrotto 055 legs.
It was bought as a result from Rick's (RJM) recommendation and a local sale, where I could buy it for less than £100, which was in accord with my budget.
This is a fairly large video head with "spidery" build style as opposed to its closest competitor, the Manfrotto 701HDV which is more like a compact, but not small fist.
The knobs protrude from the chassis and may possibly hook into various things they may encounter. It holds a tiny spirit level, which unfortunately is impossible to check from straight above. Nice touch anyway.
The lever is very solid and rigid when mounted, which can be done on either the right or the left side. The change is done by unscrewing a dog clutch, removing the lever and put it into the opposite side of the same clutch. This way, the head is turned backwards and the knobs will change side from left to right or vice versa. This is very much to my liking.
I would have liked the lever to point slightly more downwards and this can't be adjusted without bending it.
The head is mounted onto the tripod with either 1/4" or 3/8" threads. An interesting touch is that both options require a similar adapter. That is, we're not talking about 3/8" as standard and 1/4" with adapter. Both mounts take an adapter. The base is about 52 mm or 2" wide.
This head does not feature any counterbalance system. The quick release plate is about 100 mm or 4 inches long and the internal travel of the mounting screw is about 60 mm or 2½". The plate can travel about 40 mm /1.6" inside the head. All together, there's plenty of travel to balance a scope, telephoto lens, telescope or digiscoping outfit.
Vertical (tilt) and horizontal (pan) movements are locked independently with knobs. The tilt knob is more of a little lever while the pan knob is a wing nut.
I find the asymmetry of their function objectionable - the tilt lever seems to be a lot faster threaded than the pan nut.
In real use, this means that one must pay close attention to adjustment of the tilt drag. The travel between very loose and locked is not very far and I suspect it can cause some disturbance in the field.
The pan nut, on the other hand, doesn't appear to have much effect on the drag. I would say it's nearly a fixed drag since it cannot be completely locked out and the pan resistance is almost equal throughout the travel of the nut's threads.
The pan resistance is indeed fine, but I would have liked to be able to pan with less resistance now and then. I suspect the drag can be too tight in cold weather.
Movements are smooth and precise as expected from a fluid head. Anything else would have been a failure. Initially I could detect a definite pan rebound at scope magnifications, but after closer inspection I take it comes mostly, if not completely, from the legs. High resistance while panning seemingly twists the tripod "star" in the pan direction. Thus, the leg's upper section follow the star while the feet stay grounded. Once panning is stopped, the legs strive to resume straight position which causes the rebound. My tripod is prone to vibrate, but most of the vibrations will be inhibited when I hold the lever, as I always do.
It should be mentioned that I also looked at the Gitzo 2720 head. I may be unfair here, but I only needed to touch the lever to know there's a stability issue. I also didn't like the single locking knob for pan and tilt, which felt plasticky.
The Manfrotto 701HDV had very smooth movements and I liked the counterbalance system. But being in urgent need for a head and on a budget, the Velbon was what I could afford.
I plan on putting the head into the freezer to find out how much the pan resistance is affected by cold weather.
To be continued...
It was bought as a result from Rick's (RJM) recommendation and a local sale, where I could buy it for less than £100, which was in accord with my budget.
This is a fairly large video head with "spidery" build style as opposed to its closest competitor, the Manfrotto 701HDV which is more like a compact, but not small fist.
The knobs protrude from the chassis and may possibly hook into various things they may encounter. It holds a tiny spirit level, which unfortunately is impossible to check from straight above. Nice touch anyway.
The lever is very solid and rigid when mounted, which can be done on either the right or the left side. The change is done by unscrewing a dog clutch, removing the lever and put it into the opposite side of the same clutch. This way, the head is turned backwards and the knobs will change side from left to right or vice versa. This is very much to my liking.
I would have liked the lever to point slightly more downwards and this can't be adjusted without bending it.
The head is mounted onto the tripod with either 1/4" or 3/8" threads. An interesting touch is that both options require a similar adapter. That is, we're not talking about 3/8" as standard and 1/4" with adapter. Both mounts take an adapter. The base is about 52 mm or 2" wide.
This head does not feature any counterbalance system. The quick release plate is about 100 mm or 4 inches long and the internal travel of the mounting screw is about 60 mm or 2½". The plate can travel about 40 mm /1.6" inside the head. All together, there's plenty of travel to balance a scope, telephoto lens, telescope or digiscoping outfit.
Vertical (tilt) and horizontal (pan) movements are locked independently with knobs. The tilt knob is more of a little lever while the pan knob is a wing nut.
I find the asymmetry of their function objectionable - the tilt lever seems to be a lot faster threaded than the pan nut.
In real use, this means that one must pay close attention to adjustment of the tilt drag. The travel between very loose and locked is not very far and I suspect it can cause some disturbance in the field.
The pan nut, on the other hand, doesn't appear to have much effect on the drag. I would say it's nearly a fixed drag since it cannot be completely locked out and the pan resistance is almost equal throughout the travel of the nut's threads.
The pan resistance is indeed fine, but I would have liked to be able to pan with less resistance now and then. I suspect the drag can be too tight in cold weather.
Movements are smooth and precise as expected from a fluid head. Anything else would have been a failure. Initially I could detect a definite pan rebound at scope magnifications, but after closer inspection I take it comes mostly, if not completely, from the legs. High resistance while panning seemingly twists the tripod "star" in the pan direction. Thus, the leg's upper section follow the star while the feet stay grounded. Once panning is stopped, the legs strive to resume straight position which causes the rebound. My tripod is prone to vibrate, but most of the vibrations will be inhibited when I hold the lever, as I always do.
It should be mentioned that I also looked at the Gitzo 2720 head. I may be unfair here, but I only needed to touch the lever to know there's a stability issue. I also didn't like the single locking knob for pan and tilt, which felt plasticky.
The Manfrotto 701HDV had very smooth movements and I liked the counterbalance system. But being in urgent need for a head and on a budget, the Velbon was what I could afford.
I plan on putting the head into the freezer to find out how much the pan resistance is affected by cold weather.
To be continued...
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