Manfrotto MVH500AH, Lightweight Fluid Video Head with Flat Base, Sliding Plate for Rapid Camera Connection, Supports Multiple Tripods

I am an amateur, but serious, home video maker and required a reasonably, professional fairly light weight stable and smooth panning tripod particularly when using a multiplier zoom lens on my Full HD Canon Legria HF M506 camera.The product description says "boxed weight 2.60kg whereas it is actually 3.64kg on my electronic luggage scales. It is approx. 80cm x 16cm packed in its case making it a bit cumbersome to carry around all day and climb mountains but still reasonably light to carry for specific projects. It is much lighter than many tripods of this quality.The fluid cartridges on pan and tilt provide just enough resistance to ensure ultra smooth constant speed pan and tilt. You can lock it in position on both axis. The slide plate allows you to adjust the camera tilt balance so when I fit my heavy zoom lens on the front I can counterbalance by sliding the plate & camera back. Even if you forget to lock the slide plate it will NOT accidentally fall out when the camera is tilted. READ the instructions to ensure the slide plate is in the correct orientation (arrow pointing to the lens) when fitting to plate to the camera and to the head.As mentioned by other reviewers the bubble level is only 1cm diameter and awkwardly located below the slide plate/camera. It helps to tilt the plate fully forward & down so you can see from above that the bubble is over the centre dot. You need 3 hands; one to hold the head level, and one to lock the ball joint and one to hold a small torch to see the bubble!The only plastic pieces are the tripod leg locking mechanisms joint, feet pads and the ball joint socket, but they are substantial and I do not see any long term problems. Note that the 'ball' itself is metal (not plastic as stated by some reviewers).In conclusion, I have had cheap tripods but they are only good for SLR's. For video you should not stint on quality. It may seem expensive at £300 (+extra for postage) but it is much cheaper than many professional quality tripods and is worth every penny. I do not regret buying this excellent tripod which has substantially improved the quality of my filming particularly on zoom when tracking a skier or sailing boat, or just panning a landscape.In the few months since using it I can say it definitely adds a professional quality makes a difference to the movie quality by taking out the wobble common to amateur movies taken by hand and enables steady panning.

A superb product. Beautifully finished and very smooth.

Buenisima calidad,muy suave.

La rotule est tout simplement parfaite, je met une caméra de 2.5Kg dessus sans problèmes. Le frein est très efficace, rapide à mettre en action. Le fait de pouvoir monter ou descendre la rotule était vraiment l'élément manquant sur d'autres trépieds du genre.

Esta rótula es una maravilla. El movimiento es fluido y preciso, lo que la hace ideal para vídeo y fotografía. Es robusta, bien construida y soporta perfectamente equipos pesados sin problemas.El sistema de bloqueo y ajuste es cómodo y seguro, y el diseño en negro y rojo le da un toque elegante. Manfrotto nunca falla en calidad, y esta rótula no es la excepción.