On Tue, 03 Jul 2001 04:25:35 GMT, Not A Speck Of Cereal wrote:

>As bigrocketman3@webtv.net (Steve McDonald) so eloquently put:
>[]
>[] Back in the days when I still used a tripod, a set of Bogen 3001
>[] legs with a couple different lightweight heads from them, was all I
>[] needed for any size of camcorder. I bought one of their full-sized
>[] Cinema models, but it was so bulky and awkward, I almost always used the
>[] minimal-sized 3001.

>Thanks Steve. I've always thought that the 3001 was a good compromise
>between size and stability. But I'm still in a quandary about which
>head to use for a light DV cam for smooth panning and whatnot. I'm
>about > t h i s < close to just getting the 3433 (510) since it has a
>lot going for it (leveling bubble, tension control, etc.), but it is
>over-kill? It cost more than the 3001!

Well, there are a couple of issues, here...
I have yet to see a small/light head that was smooth enough
to be anything but VERY annoying with its jerky action
(with one "almost"-exception: an old Kodak...). The Bogen
3063 (in a good sample [I've seen bad ones]) is the
smallest/lightest decent one I've seen (I have not tried
the new 501...) - but it's action is rather stiff (what
separates it from the VERY expensive "good stuff"...),
making 3001 legs unsuitable (they would "wind up" with
a pan, and tip over with a tilt - the *minimum* legs
would be the 3021, with the 3046 being better [those
dual legs are meant to resist twisting with panning,
and the extra weight keeps the legs on the ground during
a tilt...;-]). If all this seems like overkill, it isn't,
if you want reasonably steady and smooth camera movements.
If you will never pan or tilt during a take, any old
spindly tripod and head will do, so long as it can
hold up the camera and the wind isn't blowing...;-)