Fluid Head with Leveling Base

Update: July 11, 2023. Smallrig got in contact with me about this fluid head and sent me a replacement. Wow, yeah the 2nd copy was significantly better and performs as I had hoped. To put it into quantifiable numbers, it took about 260grams of weight to get over the potential energy to pan the head with my sticky one. With my new one, it takes just over 50grams of weight. In use, it's like a night and day difference. Glassing an area is so much better with the replacement. Definitely recommended if you need a compact fluid head. Original review: My first fluid head but long time gear head. As a beginner birder, optics eventually become a thing. And sooner or later, binoculars can't resolve the elusive bird way off in the distance. So you turn to scopes. And scopes mean fluid head, so off came my trusty ballhead on my travel tripod. I am amazed how feature packed this thing is in such a small envelope! Armed with a Kowa 553 (1.8lb/.8kg), we wandered off into the rainforest. I did notice the sticky pan before in practice sessions at home, but it was hard to know if it was a problem that would endure or go away. I figured the fluid/grease would sort itself out. Yeah its a problem. As the angle of view gets tighter, that small judder dramatically messes with your ability to make fine pan adjustment and ultimately viewing the skittish avian fellow vs it flying off. The tilt smoothly accomodates, but the yaw... Judging by other reviews, there are a bunch of sticky pan units out there. Too high viscosity grease being used in the pan mech, a burr, too high preload, who knows. As for the weight rating, it held the mini kowa just fine, though it did droop unless the tilt lock was finessed carefullt. That was unexpected, but im going to assume the norm for a tiny fluid head like this. The counterbalance spring in this little guy is certainly small by design. The level system on mine was a bit gritty. Felt quite usable however. Ultimately in my use case it was set and never used so I cant say much more about it. So I give it 2 stars. Maybe 2.5. Sadly I tossed the box so a return is probably out of the question. :( I don't love it, but it does so many many things right in a wonderfully small package. A fluid pan not being one of them is a rather massive flaw in a fluid head though. I may dismantle the pan mechnism a swap out the grease for something with a lighter viscosity.

New Review: SmallRig sent me a new head. The new head's panning action is very smooth now. No more sticky panning action. Tilt action is also very smooth. This meets perfectly for my use case now. Looks like they had a bad batch of heads with sticky panning. The new ones are much better. Appreciate the service and followup they did. Old Review: Like the compactness. Feels like a quality product. Tilt action is very smooth and fluid. But the panning action is sticky - leading to jerky videos. Slow panning, the head keeps getting sticky. Panning in a faster action, it won't stick. but slow down and the panning gets sticky. Contacted the vendor and said its by design. So I returned it.

SmallRig makes great stuff and this is no exception but it's too small for my needs and it is in no way a "fluid head". The Good: The built in leveling base is a great feature, the machining is as you would expect from SmallRig, the collapsible handle is also a nice touch and for the right person/use case the tiny size is very cool. The Bad: It is too small for my needs. I mounted it to a Manfrotto 190 tripod and the bottom knob could not be turned since it came in direct contact with the top plate of the tripod which is 2.25" in diameter whereas the bottom plate of the head is only 1.5". Since the leveling screw sits as low as the bottom plate, I had to put a big washer in between so that I could loosen and tighten the knob. It is not a fluid head. The machining is good so it is smooth but there is no fluid cartridge or even a friction plate to smooth out your pans. There does seem to be a spring for tilting which helps you return to a neutral position. In the end, this is a nice piece of gear but not a match for my needs. I think I'll just get another Manfrotto MVH500AH as those have always served me well

I have a large 99mm spotting scope, the Kowa TSN-99A, which weighs about 4 lbs. It handles well on my RRS gimbal, but that's an unweildy apparatus to take out for birding. I have some really nice ballheads for still photos, but they are awkward to use with a spotting scope. I wanted a small, light head with a handle to ease aiming the scope. I found several fluid-damped video heads, but they're really expense and the spring counter-balance is not a high value for a spotting scope. If too strong, it could actually compromise the handling for birding. I came across the SmallRig heads. I was originally interested in the CH10, but some reviews mention issues with Acra-style plates other than the one supplied with the head. The CH20 seemed to have a better clamp, but I don't really need the leveling base (I have one built into my tripod legs). I did like that the CH20 has some range of adjustment and seemed more ergonomically designed. I can confirm that the CH20 works well with my RRS plates, including the one mounted on my scope. The counterbalance is a bit weak; while my scope's weight is easily within the rated range of the CH20, the length of the scope canterlevers the weight quite far out from the center of the pivot and easily overcomes the spring-loaded counterbalance in the head. That's not an issue for my use case, but could be an issue if you're shooting video with a long lens and need the counterbalance to work well. Another thing to note about the counterbalance is that its neutral position is somewhat tilted to the front (nose-heavy) on the unit I received. I do not see anyway to calibrate the neutral position of the counterbalance. The telescoping handle is adjustable and easily removed with a thumbscrew. It is mounted on the right, but it is possible to reverse it and turn the head 180-degrees so that the handle is on the left. However, note that because of the bend in the handle, doing so will compromise how far back the head can be tilted. For maximum range of tilt you'll probably want to keep this oriented so that the handle is on the right. Finally, as to handling, the panning is quite smooth and the damping is light. It can be tightened but then the drag is more from friction than fluid damping. It's non-linear and "sticky". As for tilt, with my scope's weight, I cannot detect much if any fluid drag and I have to tighten the locking knob a bit to keep the scope from tilting on it's own. That makes the tilt adjustment a bit sticky. The lack of smoothness doesn't hurt using this head with my scope, but could be an issue if you need smooth video pan/tilt with a heavier setup. I think it would probably be fine shooting video with smaller/lighter mirrorless cameras. While I did not use the leveling base, I did measure the range of motion and it offers +/-10 degrees of adjustment in any direction from center. The locking knob for the leveling base is pretty close to base, so if you mount the head to a tripod with a mounting surface significantly bigger than the base of the head (which is about 36mm in diameter) it can make it a little cramped to manipulate the knob (but not impossible). Finally, for use with still pictures. Probably not a good choice unless you have a lens collar to allow you to rotate the camera to a vertical (portrait) orientation. Also note that the clamp is oriented fore/aft, which is what you want with a long lens (that typicallhy has a foot oriented fore/aft) or a video camera. You can always mount the include camera plate perpendicular to the lens body if you really want. Personally I'm going to stick with my ballheads for still camera work. For me, this head is strictly for use with my spotting scope.

I’ve been recording my son’s soccer games with my small mirrorless camera & kit lens for over a year now and I have nothing but terrible, shaky video to show off. I needed something to help me take smooth and steady video. This video head is exactly what I have been looking for. I’m able to pan left and right, tilt up and down…more importantly I need to be able to tilt AND pan at the same time while trying to follow all of the fast action of the soccer field. The movement feels so smooth. It works perfectly with my existing tripod and cage. I used to lug around a big bag of heavy camera equipment but now everything I choose to carry around with me needs to be light and compact but still made of quality material which this fluid head is and more.

I've purchased numerous SmallRig camera accessories over the years and have always been impressed with the quality of their products. This video head was no exception. For such a compact head, it is both sturdy and buttery smooth. I bought it specifically for use with a DJI Osmo Pocket 3 for some corporate testimonial and demonstration video shoots. The OP3 is an extremely light weight camera, so I can't vouch for how well this video head handles heavier camera setups, but for my purposes it is exceptional. Like most SmallRig products, it is very well made, with a solid build and very smooth movement. The leveling bubble is an added plus. I attached this head to a SmallRig 68" aluminum Camera Tripod, and together they are lightweight but very sturdy. I liked the quality of the video head and tripod with my OP3 so much that I bought a second system.

I bought this because I am building a rolling light stand camera rig to use instead of a tripod in my home office studio. The size of this is perfect, it usually is used with my Sony A7C in a SmallRig cage. Because it supports Arca Swiss I can use it with my PGYTech quick release mounts, so it is convenient that it works with a system I already use. Feels like a high quality head, smooth movement as you’d expect in a fluid head, and the leveling base is great. I haven’t used a lot of fluid heads, but everything about this one feels like quality.

[2nd updated review] Unlike most of the SmallRig products I’ve owned, this product is low quality. After just two or three uses, the knob that holds the quick release plate in place is frozen and non-functional. This means the camera cannot be secured to the tripod head. The seller offered no refund or replacement, but instead sent a useless email response saying not to turn the knob too much. DO NOT waste your money on this item - buy a Manfrotto Befree Live video tripod head. It is approximately the same size/weight/load capacity. It’s slightly more expensive, but it will actually work. The SmallRig is a $60 paperweight. The Manfrotto is a $90 WORKING tripod head. =============== [Updated review]The seller sent this useless response to my previous review explaining that the product is defective. “ For the problem you encountered, you can try not to twist the locking knob to the bottom or to the loosest when the quick release plate is not installed, which may cause the threads to jam…” =============== Unfortunately, this doesn’t help me as the knob on a tripod is meant to be turned repeatedly. That’s a design flaw, not user error. Do NOT buy this product. [Previous review]The screw that tightens the plate to the top of the tripod head is frozen sometimes or very hard to turn. This makes the product virtually useless as any photographer or videographer would need to constantly take the camera on and off the mount for regular usage. Of course, it lasted long enough for the return window to be closed.

Works well with the small rig mini tripod after removing the original head.

Piccola testa ben fatta in ogni particolare, robusta e leggera.. però resa perché troppo piccola per il monopiede Manftotto MVMXPROA4

Nice and compact but the pan is not fluid at all with my mirrorless and a pro prime. I could hear a metallic sound. Tilt was fine. I think its better suited to smaller rigs and for those on a budget. Also it doesn't fit the RS 3 / RS 2 mountaing plate for DJI gimbals at all, but did fit my arca swiss.

Tiny and Solid. just 2 things: 1 - the knobs Feels Less-Solid, I feel like I need to double check everytime I tighten it 2 - there is screeching-sound when using the ball for leveling

Petite tête vidéo fluide bien finie et assez légère. Petit plus: la clé hexagonale insérée sous le support plateau (magnétique, donc peu de risque de la perdre). Semble bien convenir à du matériel léger, doute certain quant à la limite de 4 kg (mais pas testé avec une charge de 3-4 kg!).