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• 3.75 stars

• August 07, 2011
• By: Wild Isle

After two weeks of heavy use I have a few comments about this head - It's solid as you'd expect from Manfrotto, built like a tank. - the adjustments are fairly intuitive and well placed for good ergonomics - I don't really find that the friction controls add much in the way of fine tuning, maybe I have to use them more but I find the action of the pan and tilt to be smooth enough for most uses without fiddling with the friction. - the head has a movie/photo mode lever that is supposed to snap into place when you move it from one to the other. Mine snap locks when I move up from photo to movie but not the other way - one of the videos shows it locking both ways so mine's faulty - The plate sticks when sliding it onto the head and it takes too much fussing with the locking knob and release button to get it into place almost every time. - there's a little clip supplied to attach the pan bar to when not in use. The rubber band to keep it attached to the tripod leg broke within a couple of days. A covered spring-wire would be better or even a hose clamp style gizmo. If I hadn't needed it so badly for a job I would of sent it back for a replacement, assuming the plate issue is unique to my unit which is my main gripe. But overall I'm happy with it and it does the job but given the above faults/shortcomings, it's definitely exactly the right tool for me and I look forward to many years of video/still shooting with it.

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