Please let us know how you like it!
OK First Half Day test.
The legs
are pretty much as expected - not the most solid because you can kick them inwards
They are moveable fast because you can kick them inwards
They are light and the leg adjustments are as good as could be expected for the design
I would say they are therefore fit to purpose when the purpose is speed of movment exchanged for ultimate stability
Like all video legs (that I can find) however they have the distict disadvantage that it is at least three arkward movments to change the height because no centre columb
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The head
is heavy and quite deep meaning that the lens sits at least 35cm above the top of the legs with (with EX1 and Letus) meaning bulk is quite massive and ulikely to re-mout onto my stills pod
The actions on the head seem smooth and clearly defined over the 5 levels of friction - panning is smooth even starting and stopping - I can see this will be invaluable as different speeds of panning are required dependent on the mood of the footage and the focal lenght of the lens - longer =slower often
I now realise that the slow architecutral pans I have been attempting are the hardest possible - it seems uneven pans are more visually acceptable when one is follow a moving target like a person
Using an elastic band really helps
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The whole tripod issue has really been stressing me out as I find tripods a serious encumberance to the composition of nice images quickly (both still and video)
Why have I been so worried about the dis-ease of changing the camera height - you can just swivel the head up or down - easy but somehow wrong
I realised this is a lot to do with wanting to keep the lens in a vertical plane which keeps paralax correct - uncorrectable in the moving image and most distracting when panning - once one has fixed the lens in the vertical ones changes to composition are then driven often by a requirement to change height - a real PITA
AHA ! - I then dug into the old box of toys and pulled out an old 28PC lens (I dont really bother with the PC lens on my D3 - just sort it in PhotoShop - so easy and fast)
Now this is a killer combo
I think a PC lens makes up for many of the compromises one makes when one stabilises ones camera using a system whose for which height adjusments difficult
That lens will therefore make the whole system work for me as an acceptable set of compromises
S