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Manfrotto’s 504X fluid video head looks like the 504HD and a Nitrotech had a baby

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Manfrotto’s 504HD fluid video head has been extremely popular since it was released about a decade ago. It’s a solid but smooth head that supports an impressive 16.5lb load. Now it’s seen an update as Manfrotto launches the new 504X fluid video head with a very Nitrotech-inspired design with some significant improvements.

The load capacity has been increased to 26.5lbs, and as well as an overall change in aesthetic design, it’s changed a little in function, too. Instead of having a built-in 75mm ball base like the 504HD, it now features a flat base with a 3/8-16″ threaded socket offering a much wider range of compatibility with different tripods. but it keeps some of the things users loved about the 504HD, too.

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Manfrotto has entered the memory card market with new rugged SD, microSD and CompactFlash cards

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Well, this is a surprise. Manfrotto has entered the world of memory cards. And they’ve done it with UHS-II V90 SD cards, V30 microSD cards, and UDMA7 CompactFlash. They’re called Pro RUGGED memory cards, and Manfrotto says that they are “the toughest memory cards on the market” for professionals.

Although unexpected, the launch of SD and microSD cards makes some sense, but the CompactFlash is an odd choice when everybody else seems to be piling onto the CFexpress bandwagon right now.

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2019 DIYP Holiday Gift Guide – Tripods, Sliders and Gimbals

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So far in this year’s DIYP gift guides, we’ve covered cameras, lenses, lights and bags. But whether you shoot stills or video, at some point you’ll likely need something to mount your camera to. So here are some of the new ones that have come out over the last year or so and the ones that we use the most.

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2019 DIYP Holiday Gift Guide – Camera Bags

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Now that you’ve got your camera, lenses and lights, you’ll need something to store them in, and that’s where bags come in. Bags are one of those items that many photographers collect. There’s no such thing as the perfect bag, just bags that are perfect for specific uses. Here I’m going to show you some of my favourites from the last year along with a few that have been consistently useful and reliable for us at DIYP.

Remember that there are sales on right now, so some of the links show much lower prices than those listed here. Be sure to check all of them.

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The Manfrotto Advanced2 Hybrid Backpack is the best photography travel bag I’ve ever used

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I’ve spoken about camera bags before. They’re one of those things that photographers just seem to collect. Each has its purpose, but ultimately, many of them fail to live up to expectations and just end up becoming gear storage to keep the dust off your kit when it’s not in use. I’ve owned far too many bags for years, so new ones rarely get me excited anymore.

Recently, though, I’ve been using the new Manfrotto Advanced2 Hybrid Backpack, and it’s very quickly become my favourite travel photography bag and one that I use all the time.

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Manfrotto announces the water-resistant Lykos 2.0 bicolour on-camera LED light

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While billed as an on-camera LED light for video, the new Manfrotto Lykos 2.0 is a pretty powerful 2-in-1 LED light panel that can also be quite handy for photography, too. And, of course, you can take it off your camera if you wish.

It’s a bicolour LED ranging from tungsten to daylight and it’s water-resistant, but not waterproof, meaning you can use it outdoors even in not-so-great weather. Its array of LEDs feature built-in lenses, to optimise efficiency, and it can be controlled from your Android or iOS smartphone, too.

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Three Grip tricks you wish you’d known before

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Grip is a completely undermined part of what we do as photographers and videographers. My cinema peers know what I’m talking about when I say that grips are absolute geniuses in their craft. I have seen people do amazing things with seemingly nothing, and after years of working next to some pretty professional people, I’ve accumulated a lot of appreciation for the work they do and the solutions they provide.

Manfrotto has an excellent line of grip accessories, everything from magic arms, to nano clamps, pumps, and a bunch more stuff! The problem is that it’s hard to recognize that a piece of equipment labeled as one thing, can actually be used for another. In the video, I discuss three nitty-gritty tactics I use outside of the comfort zone of a product description. And that’s really what I advocate when I try to get people excited about grip. You don’t necessarily have to be solving a problem, you can just be enhancing your workflow or creating options!

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Manfrotto’s new “Fast” series tripods are optimised for setup speed

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At IBC 2019, we stopped by the Manfrotto stand to check out their new “Fast” series video tripods. There are two products in the new line. There’s the 635 Fast Single Leg and the 645 Fast Twin Leg. The latter looks more like your traditional video tripod, while the Fast Single resembles a photo tripod, but with a bowl head at the top for a video head. Both offer setup speed and low weight for their size as their big advantages.

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Fixing the base of the Manfrotto RC2 tripod quick release system with 3D printing

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The Manfrotto RC2 quick release system is one of the most popular in the world for photographers. Its only real competition for tripod mounting supremacy is the Arca-Swiss system. But while very useful, the Manfrotto RC2 base (otherwise known as the Manfrotto 323) onto which your plate mounts has a fatal flaw. The underside of it is not flat.

So, if you want to mount it to a cage, or stack it on top of a plate for a different tripod system, you may face something of a challenge. Fortunately, one enterprising user by the name of Eric Hasso over on Thingiverse designed a solution that can be 3D printed. The folks at LensVid are quite partial to the Manfrotto 323, so they decided to check it out.

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