Used Davis & Sanford Davis & Sanford Provista Heavy Duty Tripod with F12 Fluid Pan Head & Case

2012-03-04T19:00:00

Good for the price, Very Stable and extends 78"

Vida

2012-02-26T19:00:00

Fluid Head in Pan is a sticky grease. The center post is not round and this causes tight and loose spots during panning. I Video Record a lot and Panning is important. I needed the height so I gambled.

Jim L.

2011-03-05T19:00:00

Very Stable for use with astronomical binoculars,Mine are 25x100 Zhumell binocs and weigh over 10 pounds. The sticky-ness of the pan head I believe can be relieved by perhaps applying silicone or other type of non-greasy lubricant. I will apply it and report back on the results.The sticky-ness is not a significant problem. [...]

Cobranorm

2010-02-25T19:00:00

I have the ProVista tripod with V12 head. The V12 head also tends to stick like others had reported on the F12 head. There are several ways to fix this "stickiness". On the front of the V12 head there's a self-stick V12 label (probably the same for the F12 head). Remove this label and you'll find an adjustable tension screw (big slotted white nylon screw) for the horizontal pan. You can try to dial the tension counter-clockwise to reduce the drag to see if the head now pans smoothly. If that doesn't work (head still tends to stick) then: - unscrew the tension screw, take it out of the hole. The tension screw attaches to an internal locking part to hold the head on the tripod. - Take both the tension screw and the locking part out. - Now you can lift the head off the tripod, clean all the lube/grease off the lower disc (the base that is still mounted to the tripod) - Then use minimum 200-grid sandpaper and smooth the surface of the disc. - Do the same for the mating surface of the head. - Re-coat the sanded surfaces with silicon/lithium grease or your favorite grease. - Re-assemble the head & attach the tension screw with its locking part - Do panning test and clean off and leaking grease - Enjoy your smooth fluid head

JohnL

2010-01-10T19:00:00

a bit heavy, but to get those smooth paning shoots it has to be heavy. It was exactly what I was looking for.

filmswest

2009-09-21T21:00:00

Best use for camcorder video which needs to be set up higher than people's heads. The fluid pan head is not so fluid. It tends to stick when starting to pan. Once panning has motion, then it's smooth but not as smooth as I would like.

JohnL