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Opinion on tripod head (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Rejean D.
- Start date
I own the Weifeng 717 head which is probably the same. I have used it for about a year now. My thoughts about it:
Its construction is very much like the Manfrotto 701HDV but both panning and tilting are a lot stiffer. While I prefer the stiffer tilting over the Manfrotto's, the panning is too hard: sometimes (especially in cold weather) the head even unscrews from the tripod. I tried cleaning the grease of the panning system and it completely failed, no matter what grease I used (even high viscosity silicone oil doesn't help). The friction screw on the right side of the head is totally useless since you cannot add any more friction without completely locking.
The metal parts seem quite soft to me; after several times of dis- and reassembling the panning parts, the screw threads were gone... I think it's built quite cheaply.
One screw has come lost from vibrations and the security mechanism for the quick release plate feels not 100% safe for me.
To sum up, I wouldn't buy it again and instead get a Manfrotto 701HDV (which is not perfect either but definitively better)
Greetings Johannes
Its construction is very much like the Manfrotto 701HDV but both panning and tilting are a lot stiffer. While I prefer the stiffer tilting over the Manfrotto's, the panning is too hard: sometimes (especially in cold weather) the head even unscrews from the tripod. I tried cleaning the grease of the panning system and it completely failed, no matter what grease I used (even high viscosity silicone oil doesn't help). The friction screw on the right side of the head is totally useless since you cannot add any more friction without completely locking.
The metal parts seem quite soft to me; after several times of dis- and reassembling the panning parts, the screw threads were gone... I think it's built quite cheaply.
One screw has come lost from vibrations and the security mechanism for the quick release plate feels not 100% safe for me.
To sum up, I wouldn't buy it again and instead get a Manfrotto 701HDV (which is not perfect either but definitively better)
Greetings Johannes
