Terrible job trying to sell the head but great job showing us how it performs. Thanks for the review but I think I'll pass. No point buying a fluid head if it doesn't pan and tilt smoothly. And thanks for the honesty. RU-vid needs more of these type of reviews.
thanks for the video here m8, answered a few of my questions that were proving difficult to answer. and 100% good on you for providing some real-world info on this head, rather than being like everyone else and saying "oh yea it's awesome, best thing i've ever used, be sure to click my affiliate link". you are the exception in this regard, YT is becoming quite horrible nowadays when it comes to the actual truth. think i'm going with the 4104, need *kinda capable head for my run-and-gun kit that lives on monopod. only thing i'm trying to figure out now is how to get a leveling base on there. my monopod has proven to be wonderfully stable standing alone with the little legs that come out at the bottom (like seriously useful) but i'm not always on perfectly level ground, and just a few degrees of correction would be just perfect. one might say "oh, go with the smallrig CH20 head that is pretty much the same as this, but has leveling base built-in" - which at a glance would make sense. BUT there is one oversight that makes it a deal-breaker for me. I've got smallrig cages on all my cameras, and the way the native arca plate is integrated into the cage, when mounted it turns the tilt axis into roll axis movement, and there is no workaround to this. out of principal, i'm not going to mount an arca-plate to another arca-plate lol, but honestly just a weird oversight that none of the reviews mention 🤷♂ long comment sorry, but if you have any recommendations for a petite in-line leveling base, seems like it would be the best of all worlds for this run-and-gun setup i'm trying to put together here. thanks!
Hi Michael, thanks for the review. You´re right, it´s not a fully usable video head, more an alternative for a ball head. We use often additional cameras on stage which are not operated when we film concerts. Setting up the right angle for these cameras is easier with that tiny video head than using a ball head. The handle can be shortened, therefore it doesn´t stick out if you don´t want that. There is an even simpler version of this video head from SMALLRIG for less than 50 €.
@@MichaelSchmidt_UrbnPxl I do quite a bit of surfing videos and photos so don’t really do extra smooth shots. Just need the ability to move quickly to frame the surfers and the waves..l
Thanks for your video! I just received this head and found the tilt to be reasonably passable, but the pan is a miserable fail with way too much friction overall and a stiction point at the beginning which makes a smooth pan nearly impossible. If Small Rig can fix the panning, this would be a real winner in the extremely compact category! But as it stands, I'm pretty sure I'm sending it back.
This review and many many other TOTALLY MISS 2 Awesome Features!!! 1. You can use allan key to adjust primary Pan and Tilt by inserting it into the hole on bottom where you screw onto the tripod. The built in allan key reaches adjustment bolt easily and can go from much looser to much stiffer than it starts!!! 2. I've seen people complaining about locking lever hitting..... the top pan lock, tilt lock, and handle lock all have built in pull out disengage to effortlessly move levers to convenient position kn the fly with 0 tools. Brilliant!!
@@321mogul Thanks for your observation, this is good to know. Small Rig needs to know the features of their own head! I contacted them about the issue before I sent it back and they offered no solution for adjusting the drag. But if the friction adjustment affects both the pan and tilt at the same time, getting the same resistance on both axis equal is probably not likely since they’re not equal as shipped from the factory. (At least the copy I received) After your adjustment, do you find that both axis are equal in resistance or still unequal?
@@bentonpix hi Benton, agreed small rig needs to explain there products better. In answer to your question as I crank it tighter the resistance gets closer and closer together. With it cranked tight like I have it atm for using my gfx 50r with vintage pentax 646a 120 macro it feels pretty balanced. Tho I'm using a telephoto support rail to balance weight of camera and that helps a great deal. Without it the crazy long lens makes the tilt feel much looser. Balanced however it's pretty damn close especially if I dont 100 percent open the tilt lock. I've never received such a complicated oeice of kit that had 0 instructions in box, like not Single word in any language just heres your thing work it out. Their site is no help either. People miss the way the locking levers can be pulled away from head and repositioned on the fly also.
Thanks for the review and the test you did over the large camera rig with big lens. i have been searching over internet to see this kind of review for this Fluid head by smallrig. And i think its not good enough for me.
Thanks Michael for the review. I have Nikon D500 + 200-500mm, totaling 3.150 kg. Do you think the Smallrig 3457 fluid head is sturdy enough to hold it ?
I was wondering to use that video head with a spotting scope for recording animals videos, but now I not sure if it's the right choice. Anyway, thanks for your review!!!
Hi Michael, I've just received this head and overall I'm very happy. BUT when it comes to the mount slide lock, I'm am completely worried that this will not hold the slide in place unless like yourself, I only attach a very light weight lens. I also agree that the panning is not smooth at all I have an R6 MKII and will either use one of my 3 RF lenses - 15 to 35, 24 to 105 or 100 to 500. Even with just my R6 MKII body, I'm finding that the mount slide lock when turned until it touches the body with the "lock" symbol (as tight as it can go), that with a bit of finger pressure, I can still slide the mount either way. So there's no way I'm going to be using this head as I have completely no confidence in keeping my gear safe, how did you find this yourself. Maybe not trying to slide the mount and just going on faith that it would stay put, would of meant that I didn't think about this. When I get/find an allan key small enough to try and remove/adjust the lock lever, maybe it will lock nice and tight, but with all of the levers being so small for my mid size fingers, I'm also finding that my finger and thumb is taking a beating, so I might just bin the head and look for a more friendly adjustment one like the Manfrotto that you had on your tripod to start with.
I’m not convinced by your conclusion. The issue you had seemed to be that of balance rather than exceeding weight limits. I would like to have seen a fully kitted out 3-4 kg cage rig which, on rails, could have been balanced suitably.
