Video Head with Leveling Base, Quick Release Plate for Arca Swiss and Adjustable Handle, Tripod Pan Tilt Head Fluid Head for Compact Cameras DSLR Cameras, Load up to 8.8lb/4kg

Update: July 11, 2023. Smallrig got in contact with me about this fluid head and sent me a replacement. Wow, yeah the 2nd copy was significantly better and performs as I had hoped. To put it into quantifiable numbers, it took about 260grams of weight to get over the potential energy to pan the head with my sticky one. With my new one, it takes just over 50grams of weight. In use, it's like a night and day difference. Glassing an area is so much better with the replacement. Definitely recommended if you need a compact fluid head. Original review: My first fluid head but long time gear head. As a beginner birder, optics eventually become a thing. And sooner or later, binoculars can't resolve the elusive bird way off in the distance. So you turn to scopes. And scopes mean fluid head, so off came my trusty ballhead on my travel tripod. I am amazed how feature packed this thing is in such a small envelope! Armed with a Kowa 553 (1.8lb/.8kg), we wandered off into the rainforest. I did notice the sticky pan before in practice sessions at home, but it was hard to know if it was a problem that would endure or go away. I figured the fluid/grease would sort itself out. Yeah its a problem. As the angle of view gets tighter, that small judder dramatically messes with your ability to make fine pan adjustment and ultimately viewing the skittish avian fellow vs it flying off. The tilt smoothly accomodates, but the yaw... Judging by other reviews, there are a bunch of sticky pan units out there. Too high viscosity grease being used in the pan mech, a burr, too high preload, who knows. As for the weight rating, it held the mini kowa just fine, though it did droop unless the tilt lock was finessed carefullt. That was unexpected, but im going to assume the norm for a tiny fluid head like this. The counterbalance spring in this little guy is certainly small by design. The level system on mine was a bit gritty. Felt quite usable however. Ultimately in my use case it was set and never used so I cant say much more about it. So I give it 2 stars. Maybe 2.5. Sadly I tossed the box so a return is probably out of the question. :( I don't love it, but it does so many many things right in a wonderfully small package. A fluid pan not being one of them is a rather massive flaw in a fluid head though. I may dismantle the pan mechnism a swap out the grease for something with a lighter viscosity.

New Review: SmallRig sent me a new head. The new head's panning action is very smooth now. No more sticky panning action. Tilt action is also very smooth. This meets perfectly for my use case now. Looks like they had a bad batch of heads with sticky panning. The new ones are much better. Appreciate the service and followup they did. Old Review: Like the compactness. Feels like a quality product. Tilt action is very smooth and fluid. But the panning action is sticky - leading to jerky videos. Slow panning, the head keeps getting sticky. Panning in a faster action, it won't stick. but slow down and the panning gets sticky. Contacted the vendor and said its by design. So I returned it.

I'm going to review this even though I never used it. My camera has an l-bracket and I always leave it on for tripod shooting. This requires an ARCA mount that can be oriented east-west, and the mount on this head is only able to be oriented north-south. Thus, for me, the head wasn't useable. I'm writing the review because I want to praise the workmanship and quality of the head. It really seems well made and very precise. I would have enjoyed using it. So, if you only shoot horizontal and can mount your Arca plate in a north-south orientation, this is a gem. If you need to use an l-bracket and require an east-west orientation (that is, if you want to shoot in a portrait orientation), I don't think this will work for you. The leveling base has a pretty limited tilt. I didn't measure it but it seemed to only swing 5 degrees or so, maybe 10 degrees but I doubt it. You'll still have to get your tripod pretty close to level using the legs. The bubble level was easy to see and would have made that last few degrees quite easy to obtain. I really liked the feel of this little guy. I'm writing the review to help the company avoid returns, but if you can use it, it's a beauty.

I’ve been recording my son’s soccer games with my small mirrorless camera & kit lens for over a year now and I have nothing but terrible, shaky video to show off. I needed something to help me take smooth and steady video. This video head is exactly what I have been looking for. I’m able to pan left and right, tilt up and down…more importantly I need to be able to tilt AND pan at the same time while trying to follow all of the fast action of the soccer field. The movement feels so smooth. It works perfectly with my existing tripod and cage. I used to lug around a big bag of heavy camera equipment but now everything I choose to carry around with me needs to be light and compact but still made of quality material which this fluid head is and more.

Perfetto

Piccola testa ben fatta in ogni particolare, robusta e leggera.. però resa perché troppo piccola per il monopiede Manftotto MVMXPROA4

Tête très fluide, légère et de bonne facture ! Je recommande fortement pour les débutants, et pour les professionnels débutants, qui ont de petits budgets. Le rapport qualité prix est excellent.

Es el cabezal perfecto que estaba buscando para mi monopié, para que no ocupara mucho espacio. Es de aluminio, y en general se ve de buena calidad. El giro panorámico es bastante fluido. No obstante el cabeceo no es tan fluido, parece más bien que tiene un muelle que hace de resistencia y mientras más baja más resistencia tiene, pero no es que sea fluido, a mi juicio no hay un líquido que permita que el movimiento sea suave, más bien es un muelle que se tensa a madida que lo subes o lo bajas. Esto para nada le quita ninguna calidad al producto, es más o menos lo que buscaba, y sobre todo que es muy muy pequeño.

Perfect for lightweight scope