Vinten Pro 5 - Tilt is stiff

Welcome Kobyr,

 

What camera are you using on that head?

I'm currently using a Canon 550D on the tripod.

I suspect that's your problem. The Vinten 5 needs a minimum of around 10lbs to counterbalance correctly. You need a lighter tripod head or a much heavier camera.

Additionally the "Vinten" (it's a manfrotto really) Pro range are quite rubbish heads really, they simply are not smooth with any camera - even one which is within the weight range.

 

Get a Vinten Blue if you possibly can, it's the best tripod on the market below £1000 (and beats plenty of £1500+ tripods imho) It's actually made by Vinten and uses the perfect balance system to allow a wide range of camera weights. 

 

Adding weight to the camera rig via cheese plates and bolt on doodahs is easy, but you need a better head to get properly smooth moves.

Just to chip in an alternative budget tripod is the mid range from Libec, far superior to the manfrotto/vinten pro range but lower cost than a vinten blue.

Thanks for the feedback.

 

It's not really that the camera is too light, it's just that the tilt is extremely stiff, as if it needs to be oiled, but I've read before that Pro 5 etc shouldn't be oiled.

 

Vinten only seem to give information on their site about the use of the tripod and not really how to troubleshoot such problems.

 

Might email them to ask if they have any suggestions on how to sort it.

If it's like the manfrottos then they are not proper fluid heads and just have some grease on a couple of plastic plates, the grease dry's out and causes them to stick or be stiff.

 

I got rid of my manfrotto as it never worked properly and now use libec H50 and H55 heads with libec sticks.

If it's like the manfrottos then they are not proper fluid heads and just have some grease on a couple of plastic plates, the grease dry's out and causes them to stick or be stiff.

 

I got rid of my manfrotto as it never worked properly and now use libec H50 and H55 heads with libec sticks.

I've got somewhere the Vinten and the Manfrotto versions, and as Gary says, they're actually pretty useless. One broke, and opening it up revealed some concentric grooves and grease, and a spring. I used to use these until I got better kit, and the difference is amazing. The grease prevents wobbles, but with a proper fluid head, you can let go, and the camera stays put, yet put it into motion with a fingertip and then keep it moving without any effort at all. The grease in these head gives an impression of fluidity, but it's quite different from the better heads from Vinten and the Libec Gary likes.

This on e-bay at the moment,  far better than any manfrotto and a bargain price: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Libec-Fluid-Head-Video-Tripod-H50-Head-T57-Single-Stage-75mm-Bowl-Up-10kg-/330711867597?pt=UK_Tripods_Monopods&hash=item4cfff6a0cd

There is another great 'proper' Vinten tripod here on eBay if anyone is still interested in this thread... :) Much better than the Libec etc. :D

 

Not a bad price - but an 8 has pretty strong springs which will be tricky with a light load - the same problem, but perhaps even worse result? I've got the 5LF version which is not much use with a small camera - perfect with a heavy lumpy one - but with a hadicam, it behaves as if there is no camera at all, and just tries to get level!

A Canon 5D, depending on lenses/add ons used will be pretty hefty and Vision's have the facility to change springs to suit the load. I have the vision 3 and depending on the cam in use the spring gets swapped over.  Admittedly the 8 is better for heavier cams, but not sure which other cams, if any, the OP uses. 

A DSLR is never "pretty hefty" by vinten standards.  All the "Perfect Balance" heads (except the Blue) are designed for ENG shoulder mount cameras as the lightest loads they will support. The larger heads are designed for use with EFP kits and box lenses. 

 

None of the proper vinten heads have interchangeable springs (only the lowend vision 3 and vision 5 have interchangeable springs) you have to get the correct head for the weight you'll be supporting. 

 

I have a Vinten Vision 3 Carbon Fiber kit with Vision 3 AS head for my EX1R. It's wonderfuly smooth and accurate and takes various size counterbalance springs... might be able to put my little cams on?

I doubt it. 

 

The panasonic handycam weighs so little that it is fundamentally unsuitable for tripod use. The vision 3 head supports camera in the range of 1.8 - 4.1 kg - the SD900 is 400 grams! 

 

The best bet is to get a 2kg cheese plate made to sit between the tripod and camera - this will make the tripod head balance.