BF Hammer
Senior Member
What can I say. My older Sunpak tripod wanted to have a purpose again.
This is a tripod that I had broken 6 years ago, sent in for warranty repair, and was inspired to at least replace the unstable pistol-grip head following that. I since bought a new tripod which I transplanted that replacement head on to. Now I had a clunky 3-segment leg carbon fiber tripod with lever locks and a cheap, shaky head. Well I also keep a small photo-studio tent on a shelf set up full-time. I also find it kind of irksome to have to take down the tripod at the studio to bring in the field. So why not pick up a new head for that Sunpak and just have it as a full-time studio pod? All of the negatives become neutral if I don't carry it around.
I shopped last week for a new head. Decided to go with a video fluid head. It is something I have considered for some years, and I could put on a field tripod if I like it.
On Amazon the small and inexpensive fluid heads looked just too cheap. As in they could be sturdy for holding a smartphone, but not so much with a DSLR. But they come with Arca-Swiss style quick-release clamps, where the larger fluid heads come with the more bulky Manfrotto video quick release systems. I am standardized on Arca-Swiss for a few years now. I settled on the Smallrig DH-01. It is larger with more capacity, and the Manfrotto compatible quick release. I simply mounted an Arca-Swiss clamp to the included quick-release plate and it is ready to hold my cameras and their L-plates.
https://www.smallrig.com/SmallRig-Fluid-Head-DH-01-3985.html
At this point I tried a few shots of a wristwatch in the studio tent. Feels like it will work good for this. And my inner lazy slob likes just leaving this tripod in place.
This is a tripod that I had broken 6 years ago, sent in for warranty repair, and was inspired to at least replace the unstable pistol-grip head following that. I since bought a new tripod which I transplanted that replacement head on to. Now I had a clunky 3-segment leg carbon fiber tripod with lever locks and a cheap, shaky head. Well I also keep a small photo-studio tent on a shelf set up full-time. I also find it kind of irksome to have to take down the tripod at the studio to bring in the field. So why not pick up a new head for that Sunpak and just have it as a full-time studio pod? All of the negatives become neutral if I don't carry it around.
I shopped last week for a new head. Decided to go with a video fluid head. It is something I have considered for some years, and I could put on a field tripod if I like it.
On Amazon the small and inexpensive fluid heads looked just too cheap. As in they could be sturdy for holding a smartphone, but not so much with a DSLR. But they come with Arca-Swiss style quick-release clamps, where the larger fluid heads come with the more bulky Manfrotto video quick release systems. I am standardized on Arca-Swiss for a few years now. I settled on the Smallrig DH-01. It is larger with more capacity, and the Manfrotto compatible quick release. I simply mounted an Arca-Swiss clamp to the included quick-release plate and it is ready to hold my cameras and their L-plates.
https://www.smallrig.com/SmallRig-Fluid-Head-DH-01-3985.html
At this point I tried a few shots of a wristwatch in the studio tent. Feels like it will work good for this. And my inner lazy slob likes just leaving this tripod in place.
