Manfrotto Tripod Head Help

[begintotog]

I recently purchased a Manfrotto BeFree carbon travel tripod from eBay which came with the fluid video head (MV400AH).

I fixated on the good price I got for the tripod without giving much consideration to the head and didn’t appreciate that Manfrotto use their own mounts.

I want to use this largely for still photography but wanted the panning feature for wildlife. What I didn’t appreciate was how long and heavy the plate is (501PL) and that there is nowhere to anchor my PD strap.

Are there any shorter plates that fit the head on the market with strap mounts? I’d like to avoid buying a new head if possible.

I’ve seen SmallRig do a plate with anchors but it’s the same size but has mixed reviews and I’ve seen that Haoge do an adaptor for the Manfrotto plate to arca swiss so I could get the PD dual plate. However that seems a bit excessive (and expensive) and I’d rather avoid the adapter - might as well get a new head!

 

[DMKAlex]

That head is fully capable of pan and tilt.

You can get a shorter version of the 501 QR. Here's one on eBay

 

[john isaacs]

If you were looking at the Haoge CP-MA90 Quick Release QR Clamp Adapter Convertor

https://haogefoto.com/products/haog...pod-fluid-video-head-to-arca-swiss-compatible

I think that is your best option. You can simply attach the PD plate to your camera, and mount it in the QR clamp on the adapter.

That's how I mount any regular camera on a video head; I attach an arca clamp to the plate for the video head. All of my cameras have Arca base plates, as do any of my lenses with tripod feet. This adapter won't work with long lenses, however, because the clamp can't be rotated. In that case, you can attach the lens to a video head plate, or use an arca clamp mounted to a video head plate.