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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Best Video Head with Arca Swiss type Quick release (1 Viewer)

Saxatilis I will be making some serious testing with the Surui in the week that is coming up, I got a Swarovski ATX 95 mounted on it and the best thing so far is the smooth movement that makes it super steady and fluid. It feels great in build quality as well with all that aluminium and the telescopic handle is a nice touch. But I will do some more testing to see if it holds up nicely to my first impressions.
 
Benro S4P is arca-swiss compatible (note the P, the S4 model is not!)
I assume the P stands for Photo.

http://www.traumflieger.de/shop/Sta....html?XTCsid=8c871f7231090274acf44f67ed189e75

it works pretty ok, considering the light weight (700g or less if you use a smaller plate than the one included).
Price is good to. So i think it's good value for money.

BUT I could imagine that a more beefy head would be more
stable and give even smoother panning. But then the price and weight would also increase.

And it's of great value to be able to change between ball-head and video-head
using just one type of plates.
 
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So, im back after some Three weeks birding with all kinds of weather conditions. From early in the morning to late evening my Eye have been looking thru the scope and turned the Surui videohead.

The conclusion is that this is a really good videohead for this task, a Little more adjustibility to the side to side movement and it would be Close to perfect! But this is to be picky!

Stability and feel is super, a really good friend of mine got it with a Leica APO Televid 82 and likes it as much as I do.
 
According to B&H's website the Surui head uses a "Manfrotto" compatable plate. This would make it too wide for an Arca Swiss plate. The little plate, I think its a 200 P is the same width and should fit if you want plate on a camera that isn't 5 inches long.
Steve
 
kabsetz said:
The Sirui VH-10 became available here in early winter this year, so they are very new still. Their one drawback has been the stiffening of the horizontal viscous movement in sub -10 centigrade temperatures. Although my unit still works at -20, with smooth panning, trying to move the head quickly in the horizontal direction is impossible, and one or two buyers have broken theirs, presumably because they tried to force the movement when the fluid had stiffened. The importer has told us that Sirui is changing the viscous fluid they use to rectify this, but I haven't seen any of the "upgraded" units yet. Once they come, I'll try them and if the movement in normal temperatures is still as good as now, I'll swap again. I'll keep you posted on these forums.
Click to expand...

Any more news on the Sirui? I recently used my old Manfrotto 128 LP again for a week (with the Nikon ED82), and it just doesn't cut it anymore, so I really want to switch to a better head. The Sirui looks interesting, so any more news on how it performs in the field would be great appreciated.

Hermann
 
Hermann said:
Any more news on the Sirui? I recently used my old Manfrotto 128 LP again for a week (with the Nikon ED82), and it just doesn't cut it anymore, so I really want to switch to a better head. The Sirui looks interesting, so any more news on how it performs in the field would be great appreciated.

Hermann
Click to expand...

Your ED82 is definitely worth a better head…
:bounce:
 
I've had an ATX95 and Sirui VH-10 for a few weeks now, but haven't had much opportunity to use them. Unfortunately, the VH-10 has developed a bit of a wobble between the main part of the head and the base. A small screw fell out of the mounting hole when I took it off the tripod. I've tried to reattach the screw, but it doesn't seem to take. Have talked to Argraph, the US importer and will send it to them for repair/replacement.
 
Bill Atwood said:
I've had an ATX95 and Sirui VH-10 for a few weeks now, but haven't had much opportunity to use them. Unfortunately, the VH-10 has developed a bit of a wobble between the main part of the head and the base. A small screw fell out of the mounting hole when I took it off the tripod. I've tried to reattach the screw, but it doesn't seem to take.
Click to expand...

Thanks a lot for your report. That's it then, the Sirui is out. I think I'll better stick to some well-tried head.

Hermann
 
John Russell said:
For the past two or three years I have used a Berlebach 552, which uses Arca-Swiss plates.

It is stable, lightweight (820 g) and very well made (all CNC) and is rated up to 6 kg. There is adjustable tilt friction, independantly lockable pan and tilt, and a pre-load lever for scopes or cameras weighing more than 2 kg.
A disadvantage is the price of around €400.

For use with a camera the three-way version (642) might be of interest. There is also a smaller, lighter and cheaper version (510) rated at 5 kg.

Should you decide to go with Gitzo there is an adapter from their "C" plates to Arca-Swiss (Part no. GS5160CDT) or a universal Arca-Swiss adapter for 1/4" or 3/8" (GS5360AS).

John
Click to expand...
:t:

Adding in here. Been a user of the Berlebach 552 for 2 years now, it is very well machined and the Arca Swiss-system is hard to be without after trying it.
 
Hello everyone!

New birder here and I've been reading the past posts on setting up an Arca-Swiss type clamp on video heads. I have used Arca-Swiss type plates and clamps for photography for almost two decades (back when Really Right Stuff was run by the irascible owner Brian Geyer) and know how well A/S locks down heavy equipment.

For those of you owning Manfrotto video heads, Kirk Photo now makes four converter Arca-Swiss clamps that fit into existing Manfrotto 501PL, 3157, 3265, and 3271 clamps. They appear to be CNC machined for an exacting fit. I don't know how well they work but I have used Kirk plates and clamps and they are very well made. (Please note that I have NO affiliation whatsoever with Kirk Photo. I'm just a customer that has bought stuff from them in the past.) The products are listed under their "Specialty-Quick-Release-Clamp" section. Click the "View all Specialty Clamps" button to bring the page up.

I currently have a Zeiss Diascope 85 with the dual focus knobs and use Pentax XL 21, 14, and 10mm eyepieces with the Zeiss astronomy eyepiece adapters. I personally don't like the idea of relying on a spring-type clamp to hold in that much weight and handle the torque as the rig is hoisted onto your shoulder and gets carried up and down paths.

I think Kevin Purcell had the right idea when he posted 9 pages back about using a Manfrotto 128LP Fluid Video head with cork base (to help dampen vibrations) and locking the base down with a standard 4-inch long Arca-Swiss Clamp. Then use a 3 to 4 inch long Arca-Swiss Plate attached to the Diascope foot for reaching the optimum balance point.

I just purchased a barely used Manfrotto 128LP on the auction site for $49 US this morning and ordered the clamp and plate from Kirk. Once put together, I'll post my initial amateur impressions.

All the Best.
 
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Finished up the modifications to the Manfrotto 128 LP fluid head. The head arrived in good shape. I purchased a 4-inch Arca-Swiss style clamp from Kirk Photo for $130 plus shipping and a 4-inch long Arca-Swiss style ridged lens plate from Hejnar Photo on ebay for $38 with free shipping. Hejnar Photo also has the same style clamp for $93 vs $130 at Kirk Photo.

It took about 5 minutes to assemble everything together. The clamp itself is held in place with a tripod screw. I have ordered another 1/4"-20 x 3/4 mushroom hex screw so that the clamp can be held extra securely with 2 attachment points instead of just one.

Manfrotto 128 LP fluid Head. Initial weight before modification-- 1 pound 13 ounces (832 grams). After modification-- 2 pounds 3 ounces (1002 grams).

Zeiss Diascope 85T* with eyepiece, lensplate, and scope cover-- 4 pounds 11 ounces (2118 grams).

Manfrotto rates the weight capacity for this fluid head as 8.8 pounds (4 kgs.)

Initial impressions: It is easy to find the balance point of the scope with the long plates. Vertical tilt is smooth with no binding. Horizontal sweep has some resistance (well damped) but is smooth and has no stops or rough patches. With the tension screw set at the loosest fitting, there is some sideways flex felt with the fluid head when I push the rig sideways with my hand. The newer Manfrotto fluid heads with the "Dual Bridge" design probably takes care of this problem.


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Looks great! Now that I've adapted everything else, including my Gitzo GH1720, to the Arca-Swiss standard, I may have to follow your lead and similarly convert my old Manfrotto 128 equivalent. I've set it up with an Arca type clamp in the past (on a temporary basis) but I had a problem with the moving part of the clamp mashing against the cork base, and messing it up when opening/closing the clamp (since the clamp I have is perfectly flat underneath and fits flush against the top of the 128 platform). Do you have any problems with that, or does the current model of Kirk clamp have a little space under the moving bit so it doesn't rub against the cork?

--AP
 
Alexis-- I removed the Kirk clamp and examined the underside. It looks like the moving jaws part of this clamp is just very slightly inset from the bottom of the base, so as the claw moves in and out it doesn't make contact with the cork base. I don't have the Arca-Swiss clamp from Hejnar Photo so I don't know if the same is true for his product.

All the Best.
 
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