What tripod do you use with your HVX?

[Rennie Klymyk]

Most people will likely make do with what they already have so I’ll generalize some info. To me the important considerations are size and weight (portabillity, it’s another piece of gear to pack around and volume wise it’s the bulky-est) and performance. Invest in the best one you can afford. You will never regret buying carbon fiber sticks except maybe the first time you get your visa bill. 3 sections (2 stage) as opposed to 2 section (single stage) will fold up smaller and be a lot easier to manage. 10 years from now you will be happy you bought these options. Midlevel spreader is great if you are outdoors on un-even terrain alot, whereas a floor spreader is faster if you are in buildings or on the street. A good Satchtler or Vinten can set you back $15,000.00 or more and Miller and Cartoni hold the middle ground. Manfroto has started producing some better video tripods too but I’m unframiliar with them. 75mm bowl is all you need but 100mm will work fine. The heads all have quick release adapters except maybe some of the old ones but you definately want that. Most of the better tripod heads have a wide range of drag tension so they can be used with large and small weight cameras.I like a canvas bag too as they have off set straps to balance the heavey end of the tripod on your shoulder. A hard case is good if you ship or handle a lot of gear as on multicamera shoots.

Test for backlash. Extend the tripod as high as it can go and borrow a Canon XL1 or something equal in weight to the HVX200 but with a long lens. Hook up a monitor and do some swish pans. Some tripods will flex back at the end of the pan and you will see this with a long telephoto lens. The legs flex and spring back a bit and it looks terrible. This is why I still like a heavey tripod you can lean on even with a small camera.

My 2

[Harryd]

Vinten Vision 3, but it’s more than the HVX needs. I also sometimes use heavier cameras, and its good for that, but I wish I had something smaller and lighter for the HVX. Something under $1K should do OK, and if I were buying today I’d be looking in that direction.

HarryD

[Jim Carswell]

Vinten carbon fiber legs with a Vinten Vision 8 head. I seldom use the camera by itself so this isn’t overkill. Typically I have a Zacuto baseplate, rods, Petroff follow focus, Petrof matte box, another set of rods coming off the back holding the Zacuto battery plate with a Noga arm supporting a Marshall 7″ monitor. All together it’s probably in the neighbor hood of 15 pounds of gear… hence the need for the heftier head.
Jim

Jim Carswell
Spyhop Productions, Inc.
Savannah, GA
http://www.spyhopproductions.com

[Jim]

With my betacam I’ve been using a Schactler 18+ with 2 stage carbon legs. These sticks are my favorite. But for the little cameras,(PD150, HVX200, A1U) I have yet to find something that fills all of my needs. The major problem is finding sticks that are light weight, folds small, mid spreaders, and extends high enough.

It is the tripod height that seems impossible to find. The sticks for the little cameras typically top out at 60 to 64 inches. There are tripods like the Miller Solo that extends higher, but the legs do not lock. I feel that without some kind of spreader, if you bump into them the legs will tuck in and the camera will go down.

I’ve found a Manfrotto 75mm bowl 351MVB2 (503 head) that is very reasonably priced, has 2 stages, a mid spreader, but only goes to about 64 inches. I am looking for a light weight hi-hat or some other way of raising the height another 8 to 10 inches (when situations require).

If anyone has any insights I’d love to hear about then.

Thanks,

[Federico Prieto]

I am using Cartoni Focus…and I am very happy with it.

[Lars Wikstrom]

THis is something that I aksed a while ago too. I was shooting with a pd100a using a Bogan legs and head. The legs I belive were the 3011 I forget the video head but it was a standard screw in type not a quick release. It was perfect for the pd100a that I had and I use it for the hvx right now but I want to replace it. Now the camera shakes more when I grab it and do a zoom in or out. It is anoying and I had to be more gental with it. the legs and head came to around $450 when I bought them new. I’m hoping that I can use the legs and get a beefy’r head. I will take the camera to the store and try it out n different tri pods to be sure.

-Lars

[D. scott Dobbie]

I use the Cartoni Focus.