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F.S. Vinten Vision 20 Tripod w/ Dolly


Kennman Collins

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'm assuming that head comes with it even though the post just mentions tripod & dolly.  I'm not familiar with the brand and not able to find a manual or much info so would appreciate knowing the specs (weight, capacity, bowl size).

I'd welcome feedback from anyone with experience on the brand or this model's usefulness to my purpose as I'm not familiar with the brand and have limited experience.  I'm currently using a borrowed Bogen 3040 with a 3063 head and I've been looking for something to replace it (before I damage a nice piece of borrowed gear).  This would be for a lightly kitted BMPCC4K for studio & set.  I've seen few attractive choices between cheap/marginal tripods and several k for decent ones.  Might this be worth a serious consideration?  Thanks, Tom

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Vinten is a British company that's made broadcast-oriented camera supports for quite a long time, though in the 1990s the company became Vitec and began acquiring other camera accessory companies throughout the TV and film industry - they now own OConnor, Manfrotto, Sachtler, Teradek, Wooden Camera, Anton Bauer, SmallHD, and Litepanels, to name a few. 

I believe the Vision line was among the first tripod heads to feature a continuously variable counterbalance, rather than having fixed or stepped balance intervals.  The Vision 20 is from a previous generation of heads made in the UK, before Vitec moved their production to Costa Rica, where OConnor, Sachtler, and Manfrotto tripods are also now made.  There are no spare parts for Vinten heads this old.

It's a large, heavy-duty head that would be complete overkill for a Blackmagic Pocket or DSLR sized camera, unless you plan to use a large studio zoom with matching studio support setup.  From the look of it, I'd guess the setup Kennman is selling is 150mm bowl.  The specs I've seen list it supporting up to 30 pounds (though the center of gravity height wasn't stated).  For the price and condition this one appears to be in, it seems like a great deal. 

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5 hours ago, Daniel Klockenkemper said:

Vinten is a British company that's made broadcast-oriented camera supports for quite a long time, though in the 1990s the company became Vitec and began acquiring other camera accessory companies throughout the TV and film industry - they now own OConnor, Manfrotto, Sachtler, Teradek, Wooden Camera, Anton Bauer, SmallHD, and Litepanels, to name a few. 

I believe the Vision line was among the first tripod heads to feature a continuously variable counterbalance, rather than having fixed or stepped balance intervals.  The Vision 20 is from a previous generation of heads made in the UK, before Vitec moved their production to Costa Rica, where OConnor, Sachtler, and Manfrotto tripods are also now made.  There are no spare parts for Vinten heads this old.

It's a large, heavy-duty head that would be complete overkill for a Blackmagic Pocket or DSLR sized camera, unless you plan to use a large studio zoom with matching studio support setup.  From the look of it, I'd guess the setup Kennman is selling is 150mm bowl.  The specs I've seen list it supporting up to 30 pounds (though the center of gravity height wasn't stated).  For the price and condition this one appears to be in, it seems like a great deal. 

Thank you for the great input, Daniel.

To confirm, the head is included in the sale. I will admit I know very little about cinematography and this item. I purchased this in a large bulk purchase for the Arizona Department of Transportation. I purchased the lot for something else I specifically wanted with the intention to sell off the items that I am not in need of.

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On 5/13/2020 at 1:48 PM, Daniel Klockenkemper said:

It's a large, heavy-duty head that would be complete overkill for a Blackmagic Pocket or DSLR sized camera, unless you plan to use a large studio zoom with matching studio support setup.  

From the look of it, I'd guess the setup Kennman is selling is 150mm bowl.

I do have the P4k partially kitted out and am adding to it.  I'd rather have something larger than I need (may rent larger camera) than something marginal.

Would this bowl be adaptable?  Or would they have used some proprietary radius or something?  Any idea if the plate itself would be replaceable with something else?

Thanks for the info you've provided. ?

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Tripod bowl sizes have been standardized for decades now, and the most common ones are 75mm, 100mm, and 150mm.  Generally speaking the larger the bowl the more weight it can support - 75mm systems typically having a maxiumum payload around 15 pounds, 100mm systems going up to 40+ pounds, and 150mm systems up to 70+ pounds.  (Though at the highest weight levels many prefer a flat / Mitchell base, since it can be difficult to clamp down that much weight.)  

Those maximum weights are usually specified for a fairly low center of gravity.  The higher the weight is above the tripod head, the less weight can be counterbalanced - it works just like a lever when you tilt the camera.  

I've attached an example of what I'm talking about when I mean studio build.  The camera is a GH5, in a cage for 15mm lightweight rods, on top of a bridge plate and steel rods to support a Canon 14.5-60mm studio zoom, along with studio matte box, 7" monitor, wireless follow focus, and a V-mount battery & plate.  The whole setup probably weighed nearly 30 pounds.  It's about the most you'd want to build up a small camera.  

For that production, the tripod head I used was an OConnor 1030DS, which has a 100mm bowl and supports a 41 pound payload at a 6 inch center of gravity height.  (Or 54 lbs at 4 inches, or 33 lbs at 8 inches.)  It worked just fine. 

Getting back around to this Vision 20 system, I wouldn't call it marginal at all.  It should easily have room to grow to a larger camera or setup.  But that's also why it might be overkill for your current camera - the head alone probably weighs 15 pounds, and the top of the head is probably 7 or 8 inches square.  

There are a couple figures of speech that come to mind - "horses for courses," i.e. use the right tool for the job; and "buy once, cry once."  A large, well-built tripod like this would work great in a lot of general purpose situations, but for some cases - for example on a high hat, strapped down in the passenger seat of a car - it might be physically too large, and something smaller would be preferable.  On the other hand, well-built quality support equipment can last for decades if properly maintained and not abused - far beyond the life span of our cameras at this point.  And I think there's some wisdom in buying equipment that's proven it will stand the test of time. 

GH5 studio build.jpg

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