puppymic

I want to buy a video head for my spotting scope STS-80HD, I use gitzo 1540 tripod & Canon 30D camera, would anyone please give me a suggestion which of the following video head should be chose?

1. Manfrotto 501
2. Manfrotto 503
3. Gitzo 2180
4. Gitzo 2380

it would be ideal if the video head & tripod combination could also support a Canon 328 len.

Many Thanks  

puppymic

Bob,

Thank you for your kind advice  

As you said, the weight of tripods is important (it is already very heavy for me to carry a spotting scope, eyepiece, adaptor, a DSLR camera and a tripod), and therefore I would like to choose a light weight tripod head.

1. Manfrotto 501 - 1.6kgs - max 6kgs
2. Manfrotto 503 - 1.95kgs - max 8 kgs
3. Gitzo 2180 - 0.6kgs - max 4kgs
4. Gitzo 2380 - 1.4kgs - max 5kgs

I prefer to choose the Gitzo G2180, the weight is only 0.6 kgs with a maximum loading upto 4kgs. (my camera setup should be around 5.5 - 6 kgs), but I want to collect some existing users' opinion before I buy the tripod head.

Mandy

puppymic

Chak Gor

Sometime I will bring the 30D and TLS-800 to connect the spotting scope, but I will not bring 2 systems (long len and spotting scope) together because I really can't take them both  

I will search more information and try to test the fluid heads before I make the final decision. Temporary I will use the Velbon ball head, it could fix the scope very tight.

thank you very much.

Mandy