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Considering a fluid head - A7Riv and Tamron 28-200

Started 7 months ago | Discussions thread
CaliforniaDave Senior Member • Posts: 2,555
Re: Considering a fluid head - A7Riv and Tamron 28-200

I have the Smallrig. It is ok for stills and some video with smaller lenses, but the 200-600 would overwhelm it. It is not a true fluid head, which is also true for the other heads being discussed here. True fluid heads that can smoothly pan and tilt with heavy lenses and cameras are very expensive, and require heavy tripods.

I would use the Smallrig with an A6600 or A1 or A7C and up to the Sony 70-350 APS-C lens, but would not go beyond that. The beautiful telephoto footage in recent BBC nature films is shot with heavy tripods and heads and is very stable, even when panning and tilting. Don’t expect the Smallrig to perform the same, but it is inexpensive and is worth experimenting with for lighter lenses. I find it useful for keeping the scene level as I pan and tilt to follow an object, but the best video will be when I lock the pan/tilt when the object stops drastic movements around. Certainly far better than handholding when shooting video.

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