Slick. Never got the fluid head thing, this really helped understand it. Thanks. Been using a RRS ball head & Wimberley gimbal for over 15 years, might be time to update. I like that Manfrotto head.
The first tripod I purchased (1973) was a cheaper model Manfroto and it had a pan and tilt head and I still had that tripod until about 10 yrs, it’s been relegated to a sometimes tripod. So yes I agree with you t and p heads rule.
While I use both of your preferred pan/tilt heads and a nodal rail, I also use ballheads, primarily (but not only) for macro photography outside, when a pan/tilt head would be a pain.
Hi Hudson, a great review of gear as always. My Question is around doing panoramas in the dark. Question #1: Do you find the Acratech easy enough to use in the dark for multi row panos (perhaps needing a little light to see the scale) with other people nearby in the dark or would you consider using an additional item to give you click stops for the degrees required for your lens at the time? Question #2: Does the manfrotto fluid head have markings for you vertical adjustment? Thank you for a great review and look forward to your answer. 🙂
With the latest mirrorless bodies I can see stars and horizons when milkyway shooting, so that's not an issue. I use the grid on the LCD for panos. I shoot every time a grid intersection hits a point in the scene. I never look at the head scale. Ever.
Well I already own several tripods and heads and adopted your Manfroto MVH500 with Kirk bridge and nodal rail a while back back but now I’m looking fro a lighter setup and will probably purchase the Acratech panoramic head and updated nodal rail soon. I’m 5’6”, what tripod do you suggest I get, want an easy one to carry. Thank you and take care.
@@stevenwaldstein2249 I think you'd love the ultralight custom build. That's all Rick David and I carried in Europe last month. I have a lot of regular workshop participants that use those two setups and love them both. Hit us up via email if you have any questions. Www.hudsonhenry.com/tripods & hi@hudsonhenry.com
Hi Hudson. Quick question regarding the no parallax point measures download on your site. Would you expect the measurements for the Z8 to be somewhat similar to those you found for the Z9? I just upgraded to the Z8 from the Z6 and am looking for Z8 no parallax point info. As always, I really enjoy and appreciate your content.
@@stus.1710 again, I haven't needed or used a no parallax measurement in years. I just don't feel the need to consider them now with the current state of lightroom and photoshops merge engines. Center the lens over a level fluid (or pan and tilt) head and go. ;)
@@HudsonHenryPhoto What about when you are using a zoom like a 70-200 or even a smaller 24-70, do you still center the lens as in put the physical center of the lens when extended or contracted over the middle of the tripod? I thought you put the shutter plane over the central axis of rotation? TIA for the help
@mattsiler7418 the actual no parallax point varies dramatically by lens and by zoom position within many lenses. Some are closer to the front element, others near the rear. It used to be critical to measure carefully and I published lists for nikon bodies and lenses. Now the software is so good that it's far, far less critical. I center up the lens physically over the axis of rotation and fire away without concern.
I have the 600TC and predominantly do wildlife, so no landscape as such, other than what is included in and around my subjects. I have a standard Gimbal at the moment (which is heavy and horrible!), I was all ready to switch to the Flexshooter Pro, but now you have me thinking! Considering the 600 is heaver than your 400, can you adjust the fluid head so that when it is free standing with lens attached it doesn't drop into the top of the tripod , instead drooping slowly if that make sense, i am assuming all that is very adjustable?
I have the 600TC with a gimbal head (Weight: 1.2kg / 2.65lb; Max load: 25kg / 55.12lb, with resistance in the tilt direction) and a fluid head (Weight：2kg/ 4.4lb; Max Load：15kg/ 33lb). My understanding is that by design, a gimbal head is for photography especially with long lens for bird in flight, while a fluid head is for videography. A gimbal head has a L-shaped support (which is absent in a fluid head) which could potentially obstruct accessing function buttons/rings on the lens), while a fluid head has a detachable handle (or control arm). A fluid head has drag/friction control knobs in pan and tilt directions for smoothing (important for videography, but absent in a gimbal head) and a counter-balance knob for hand-off free standing. Thus, one could adjust these knobs so that a fluid head functions like any other gimbal heads. When using the camera LCD display with head and body away from the camera, using the control handle on a fluid head to control the movement of the big lens and camera is quite convenient and effortless. Photographer Morten Hilmer (he has a YT channel) seems to use Sachtler fluid head (with a control arm detached). In summary, both heads are great. A fluid head may be heavier than a gimbal head, depending on models/max loads. Some reviewers reported that leaving a fluid head inside a car on a hot day for an extended period can potentially cause the lubricating fluids inside the head to break down or leak, damaging the head. At any rate, it is fun to try both heads or using a monopod.
@@iowacllin Thanks, do you think the MVH500AH Hudson features here is stable enough for my Z9 / Z600 TC. On his affiliate links he says not to bother getting the heavier one, but a lot of YT wildlife photographers seems to go with the heavier MVH502AH?
I use a Sachtler FSB-6 in my studio and it does everything you describe, but it's much larger and heavier than the fluid head I and many of my followers and workshop participants use daily. The Manfrotto 500AH I use and reccomend will not stop the 600TC from drooping UNLESS you give a simple 1/8 turn of it's huge, easy-to-grasp-by-feel tilt lock knob on the left side of the head. If you do that, it locks down rock solid with zero chance of a flop as you remove you hand from the camera. The head itself will give you gimbal like movements just like I demonstrate with the 400TC, but you need to remember to lock it when you let go. It becomes muscle memory very quickly. It's small, light, unbeliveably versatile and accurate. The FSB-6 is lovely bhpho.to/4hlExNI but weighs nearly 3 times as much, costs more than my entire fluid head tripod build with titaniam claws and would still need to be adapted to Arca Swiss after you purchase it. I love mine, but only in the studio these days. You can see my custom builds at www.hudsonhenry.com/tripods
@@HudsonHenryPhoto Thanks Hudson! I was looking through Morten Hilmers kit list and came across the Sachtler and winced slightly at the price. Through your link in the UK I see I can get the Manfrotto 500AH for £90, which seems almost ridiculous! Think I am going to give it a go at that price and see how I get on. Many thanks..
@@AlanGreenberg-i8p no way. That thing makes no sense at all to me. No vertical dovetail, no QD port...??? RRS is the only practical game in town for this camera. Grip, L bracket and QD. All are essential for me.
Hudson, at 10:39 you tighten the Acratech clamp with the tail end of an Allen wrench. I would suggest that this is quite unnecessary. The Acratech head is machined to very tight tolerances, and that is why the clamp knob has large rubber coated “nubs” that negate the need to use any type of levered tightening device (such as an Allen wrench). I am confounded as to why the put those holes in the knob to begin with as they are totally unnecessary. Finger tight is all you need to hold the clamp to the head securely. Using the Allen wrench to tighten the clamp only ensures that you will again need the wrench to loosen the knob. Try using the head with only finger tight pressure on the knob and I’m sure you will see that using a wrench is totally unnecessary!
@@Jake-zc3fk Incorrect. I've been using these heads for years. Snugging the clamp with an allen wrench using the holes intelligently added for that very purpose by Scott is critical. Without doing that, they will loosen with real world use and create play when you least want it. Period. And yes, I've learned this the hard way. It's essential folks. My hands are strong, but hand tight is not good enough at all. Not by a long shot. It's not a big deal to keep it tight. If you use the nodal rail I include with my custom build when mounting with an L bracket, then you not only get the benefit of balancing the weight of your camera & lens fore and aft, you also get to swap out the nodal rail when using a long lens foot without changing the clamp orientation. I never ever rotate mine.
I have a similar problem with my Manfrotto fluid head. I was trying to shoot the full moon a couple of weeks ago. I was using a Z8 with a Z 100-400 lens w/1.4 TC. The lens foot was mounted on the head. It was my intention to frame my subject, lock the rig into place and use the timer to take the shot. No matter how hard I twisted the locking dial on the fluid head, the camera still kept sliding down, making it very difficult to maintain focus. Any suggestions?
@@Pengranger I'm a bit shocked at that. I've led many workshop groups shooting, wildlife, the full moon and total eclipses with long lenses on workshops complely full of fluid heads and never seen anything like what you describe. The 500AH locks rock solid on its tilt axis with all the big primes. I've never seen one slip when tightened. The moon of course moves through the frame and requires tracking however. Never had an issue with that using the fluid great either. It's rock solid and easy to make micro adjustments in both tilt and pan. You can see the setups and results of our total eclipse workshop in Mazatlan this year here. ruclips.net/video/wDM5BwNCzV4/видео.html I believe there were eight 100-400 S setups on fluid heads for that. Not a single issue with locking down.
Slick. Never got the fluid head thing, this really helped understand it. Thanks. Been using a RRS ball head & Wimberley gimbal for over 15 years, might be time to update. I like that Manfrotto head.
The first tripod I purchased (1973) was a cheaper model Manfroto and it had a pan and tilt head and I still had that tripod until about 10 yrs, it’s been relegated to a sometimes tripod. So yes I agree with you t and p heads rule.
While I use both of your preferred pan/tilt heads and a nodal rail, I also use ballheads, primarily (but not only) for macro photography outside, when a pan/tilt head would be a pain.
@@misha4422 fair enough. I think macro might be the only real ball head advantage in existence.
Great timing for this video Hudson! Just received your fluid head custom tripod in the mail this week. Can’t wait to start using it :)
Hi Hudson, a great review of gear as always. My Question is around doing panoramas in the dark. Question #1: Do you find the Acratech easy enough to use in the dark for multi row panos (perhaps needing a little light to see the scale) with other people nearby in the dark or would you consider using an additional item to give you click stops for the degrees required for your lens at the time? Question #2: Does the manfrotto fluid head have markings for you vertical adjustment? Thank you for a great review and look forward to your answer. 🙂
With the latest mirrorless bodies I can see stars and horizons when milkyway shooting, so that's not an issue. I use the grid on the LCD for panos. I shoot every time a grid intersection hits a point in the scene. I never look at the head scale. Ever.
Well I already own several tripods and heads and adopted your Manfroto MVH500 with Kirk bridge and nodal rail a while back back but now I’m looking fro a lighter setup and will probably purchase the Acratech panoramic head and updated nodal rail soon. I’m 5’6”, what tripod do you suggest I get, want an easy one to carry. Thank you and take care.
@@stevenwaldstein2249 I think you'd love the ultralight custom build. That's all Rick David and I carried in Europe last month. I have a lot of regular workshop participants that use those two setups and love them both. Hit us up via email if you have any questions. Www.hudsonhenry.com/tripods & hi@hudsonhenry.com
Ordered your Ultralight LeoFoto LS-284 CEX and got it last week. Love its size and weight, Thank you.
Hi Hudson. Quick question regarding the no parallax point measures download on your site. Would you expect the measurements for the Z8 to be somewhat similar to those you found for the Z9? I just upgraded to the Z8 from the Z6 and am looking for Z8 no parallax point info. As always, I really enjoy and appreciate your content.
@@stus.1710 again, I haven't needed or used a no parallax measurement in years. I just don't feel the need to consider them now with the current state of lightroom and photoshops merge engines. Center the lens over a level fluid (or pan and tilt) head and go. ;)
@@HudsonHenryPhoto What about when you are using a zoom like a 70-200 or even a smaller 24-70, do you still center the lens as in put the physical center of the lens when extended or contracted over the middle of the tripod? I thought you put the shutter plane over the central axis of rotation? TIA for the help
@mattsiler7418 the actual no parallax point varies dramatically by lens and by zoom position within many lenses. Some are closer to the front element, others near the rear. It used to be critical to measure carefully and I published lists for nikon bodies and lenses. Now the software is so good that it's far, far less critical. I center up the lens physically over the axis of rotation and fire away without concern.
Great info as usual Hudson! May I ask why you have red and blue tape on the top of two legs on each tripod?
@@Jake-zc3fk to differentiate it from all the others in the back of my sprinter during workshops. ;)
Can you use the fluid head with a star tracker like the MSM Nomad?
@@paiged186 it's perfect underneath. See this video: ruclips.net/video/umYnWDLXrUM/видео.html
I have the 600TC and predominantly do wildlife, so no landscape as such, other than what is included in and around my subjects. I have a standard Gimbal at the moment (which is heavy and horrible!), I was all ready to switch to the Flexshooter Pro, but now you have me thinking! Considering the 600 is heaver than your 400, can you adjust the fluid head so that when it is free standing with lens attached it doesn't drop into the top of the tripod , instead drooping slowly if that make sense, i am assuming all that is very adjustable?
I have the 600TC with a gimbal head (Weight: 1.2kg / 2.65lb; Max load: 25kg / 55.12lb, with resistance in the tilt direction) and a fluid head (Weight：2kg/ 4.4lb; Max Load：15kg/ 33lb). My understanding is that by design, a gimbal head is for photography especially with long lens for bird in flight, while a fluid head is for videography. A gimbal head has a L-shaped support (which is absent in a fluid head) which could potentially obstruct accessing function buttons/rings on the lens), while a fluid head has a detachable handle (or control arm). A fluid head has drag/friction control knobs in pan and tilt directions for smoothing (important for videography, but absent in a gimbal head) and a counter-balance knob for hand-off free standing. Thus, one could adjust these knobs so that a fluid head functions like any other gimbal heads. When using the camera LCD display with head and body away from the camera, using the control handle on a fluid head to control the movement of the big lens and camera is quite convenient and effortless. Photographer Morten Hilmer (he has a YT channel) seems to use Sachtler fluid head (with a control arm detached). In summary, both heads are great. A fluid head may be heavier than a gimbal head, depending on models/max loads. Some reviewers reported that leaving a fluid head inside a car on a hot day for an extended period can potentially cause the lubricating fluids inside the head to break down or leak, damaging the head. At any rate, it is fun to try both heads or using a monopod.
@@iowacllin Thanks, do you think the MVH500AH Hudson features here is stable enough for my Z9 / Z600 TC. On his affiliate links he says not to bother getting the heavier one, but a lot of YT wildlife photographers seems to go with the heavier MVH502AH?
I use a Sachtler FSB-6 in my studio and it does everything you describe, but it's much larger and heavier than the fluid head I and many of my followers and workshop participants use daily. The Manfrotto 500AH I use and reccomend will not stop the 600TC from drooping UNLESS you give a simple 1/8 turn of it's huge, easy-to-grasp-by-feel tilt lock knob on the left side of the head. If you do that, it locks down rock solid with zero chance of a flop as you remove you hand from the camera. The head itself will give you gimbal like movements just like I demonstrate with the 400TC, but you need to remember to lock it when you let go. It becomes muscle memory very quickly. It's small, light, unbeliveably versatile and accurate. The FSB-6 is lovely bhpho.to/4hlExNI but weighs nearly 3 times as much, costs more than my entire fluid head tripod build with titaniam claws and would still need to be adapted to Arca Swiss after you purchase it. I love mine, but only in the studio these days. You can see my custom builds at www.hudsonhenry.com/tripods
@@HudsonHenryPhoto Thanks Hudson! I was looking through Morten Hilmers kit list and came across the Sachtler and winced slightly at the price. Through your link in the UK I see I can get the Manfrotto 500AH for £90, which seems almost ridiculous! Think I am going to give it a go at that price and see how I get on. Many thanks..
Got the head through your link, cheers! @HudsonHenryPhoto
Is that a Helium HE3 grip for your Q3?
@@AlanGreenberg-i8p no way. That thing makes no sense at all to me. No vertical dovetail, no QD port...??? RRS is the only practical game in town for this camera. Grip, L bracket and QD. All are essential for me.
@@HudsonHenryPhoto Gotcha. Just asking and sharing new products.
Hudson, at 10:39 you tighten the Acratech clamp with the tail end of an Allen wrench. I would suggest that this is quite unnecessary. The Acratech head is machined to very tight tolerances, and that is why the clamp knob has large rubber coated “nubs” that negate the need to use any type of levered tightening device (such as an Allen wrench). I am confounded as to why the put those holes in the knob to begin with as they are totally unnecessary. Finger tight is all you need to hold the clamp to the head securely. Using the Allen wrench to tighten the clamp only ensures that you will again need the wrench to loosen the knob. Try using the head with only finger tight pressure on the knob and I’m sure you will see that using a wrench is totally unnecessary!
@@Jake-zc3fk Incorrect. I've been using these heads for years. Snugging the clamp with an allen wrench using the holes intelligently added for that very purpose by Scott is critical. Without doing that, they will loosen with real world use and create play when you least want it. Period. And yes, I've learned this the hard way. It's essential folks. My hands are strong, but hand tight is not good enough at all. Not by a long shot.
It's not a big deal to keep it tight. If you use the nodal rail I include with my custom build when mounting with an L bracket, then you not only get the benefit of balancing the weight of your camera & lens fore and aft, you also get to swap out the nodal rail when using a long lens foot without changing the clamp orientation. I never ever rotate mine.
I have the fluid head. I find it moves very slightly after I reach the point I want to get to. Any way of stopping this? Thanks.
Moves how? With what type of system on it? It should lock rock solid without overtightening the stops at all.
I have a similar problem with my Manfrotto fluid head. I was trying to shoot the full moon a couple of weeks ago. I was using a Z8 with a Z 100-400 lens w/1.4 TC. The lens foot was mounted on the head. It was my intention to frame my subject, lock the rig into place and use the timer to take the shot. No matter how hard I twisted the locking dial on the fluid head, the camera still kept sliding down, making it very difficult to maintain focus. Any suggestions?
@@Pengranger I'm a bit shocked at that. I've led many workshop groups shooting, wildlife, the full moon and total eclipses with long lenses on workshops complely full of fluid heads and never seen anything like what you describe. The 500AH locks rock solid on its tilt axis with all the big primes. I've never seen one slip when tightened. The moon of course moves through the frame and requires tracking however. Never had an issue with that using the fluid great either. It's rock solid and easy to make micro adjustments in both tilt and pan. You can see the setups and results of our total eclipse workshop in Mazatlan this year here.
ruclips.net/video/wDM5BwNCzV4/видео.html
I believe there were eight 100-400 S setups on fluid heads for that. Not a single issue with locking down.