I have an O'Connor 50D head - I've had it for 25 years, it was made in the 1970's and it will outlast me. Sticks and heads are the type of filmaking equipment that don't get left behind by big tech leaps. Buy the best you can at the start and then buy the absolute best as a replacement. You'll never regret it.

With that thing on his hand he looks like he’s turning into a red camera accessory himself.

12:37 - The build of that tripod, the computing power of the RED, and that mechanical arm of yours ... You have just the right tools to build an iron man suit.

Tripod= 10k Arm Brace = 4.5k Suprising a kid and breaking his bike? Priceless 🤣

Best KZfaqr ever. I don't just learn stuff but I also feel really great after watching you!

So basically you guys went over to break Sam's bike🤦‍♂️

13:32 That transition from time-lapse to real-time was soooo well done my friend.

What do you mean there's no flex. You've been flexing throughout this whole video. Lol

"Whats your message for the world?" "Nothing" Like a boss :D

that's a nice Trek MTB

Videos like this confirm what I've experienced as a professional. The higher you climb the food chain, the less you care about the price of the tools you buy and the more willing you are to spend money to get that extra 1%. I used to scoff at expensive gear as well but that was just because I wasn't at a level where I needed or could appreciate what it had to offer. Great video my man!

I think you should wear your arm brace on jobs when you use that Red rig. Looks more legit

man the transition on the camera build around 13mins was so god damn slick!

Because this is the Apple Tripod Camera Stand, $9,999

You should do a video with an expensive camera (arrri or red) with a cheap lenses vs a cheap camera with a really high end lens..... Pls like so he sees this!!!

Props to you for reaching out and supporting your viewers. I have so much respect for anyone that takes time out for the kids!

Gene's explanation of profession gear sets him apart from any other youtube "filmmaker" out there. Actual real life experience and knowledge being dropped in each video. "Change my mind" lol. Keep up the great work Gene!!!! You're making me want to step up from my Benro FBS7 to the Sachtler. That O'Connor will be the goal in 5 years!

13:22 That seamless transition through the speed ramp was so legit.

"What's your message to the world?" "Nothing." I can relate

As someone who never really used high quality tripods, and never looked into upgrading. You did an amazing job of explaining this so even a noon like myself can understand. Great content

Big fan of yours from the Philippines 🇵🇭

That is why I invested in a Miller tripod head. I have legs that go over 2 meter + a head of 4-14KG and total weight 6KG :) Also It has extreme low mode. And I have a VCT 14 on top. So easy to swap rigs on it :) It cost brand new 3500. I bought it on used market for 800 ( and itw as like brand new)

“What’s your message to the world?” “Nothing” I love that little girl 😂😂😂😂😂

Man, I'm debating spending $150 on a tripod XD

The smoothness is extremely valuable if you are using lenses without stabilization. Most cinema lenses have no stabilzation. Even a lot of full sized broadcast cameras don't have stablization.

I swear, everytime I tune in to Potato Jets reviews, I regret purchases I've already made!

I bought a Magnus Tripod a couple months ago. Its definitely the cheapest fluid head on amazon, but the build quality is impressive. So far its holding up nicely! Id definitely recommend the Magnus tripod if you want a good fluid head on a budget.

Men after watching your vids . I have a conclusion that you are the best youtuber

thanks to you i have improved the video quality of my channel so thanks!

I love the way how Granny shoots a vertical B-roll at around 12:23.:D

With you arm in that thing, sometimes it looks like your arm is a part of the tripod XD

So awesome you went to surprise Sam! 🙌

What if you made a tutorial on tripod shots/movements you use? Idk how much info there would be, but there are so many “5 handheld shots” or “Best gimbal shots” videos out there, but not for tripods🤷‍♂️

Best Potato Jet sound 12:07

Could you make a video comparing the most expensive gimbals to the most expensive steadicams. Like the ones they use on hollywood sets.

Love the channel. And again a nice vid....100mm bowl suggests it is a tripod for heavy loads. But i feel like you are forgetting the most important feature of those "heavy-duty" tripods. The high-end units are all made to feel like a Rolls-Royce and operate perfectly, no matter the brand or load-classification. Even the lower budget tripods mostly feel like a luxury BMW, for instance a mid-class Manfrotto. The difference is that the high-end tripod work everywhere, anywhere, and survive. Take a smooth operating high-end, and a budget tripod, to freezing, snowy countryside. I bet you can't make a proper shot with the budget one because the thing just freezes. Take them to a desert in the scorching sun..... i bet the budget tripod is loose all the way and totaly F'd with sand in the internals. It's mainly the dependability you pay for, not just the smoothness. And my personal experience is; stear clear of Manfrotto. They work fine for a year and then the whole thing just turns to a piece of draggy crap. Seen that happen many times.

This is why I subscribe to the channel, not the commercial content.

got an occoner 50 for 420$ including total rebuild :) it is not as refined in the counter balance as the new ones but best i have ever used

Am I the only one who could not stop laughing after his sister said “Nothing.” ?

15:28 man i just broke my screen to feel that thing and it felt really good : )

45K for the armband? Can you at least use it as a prop in the future?

Was cinematographer, DP over 13 years. The answer is price gouging

I can answer this question. It's because of a thing known as the "rip off market". It's a market where things that are relatively simple in design, and made of affordable/cheap materials (not poor quality materials, but cheap materials) and are EASILY AND CHEAPLY mass produced (cheap in contrast to the prices they sell for) are sold for RIDICULOUS prices because of how small of a market it is, OR just because they know they can get away with charging SO much and know that people will defend the price That's the answer and it's infuriating. It basically puts very useful products OUT OF REACH of people like me even though they SHOULD be much cheaper. For example; I can tell you right now, that $10,000 tripod is either a vintage tripod that's expensive because of how rare it is OR it's a tripod that cost maybe $500 to manufacture and has NO business costing so much damn money. A tripod that if I were to need it, could NEVER get because of the ridiculous markup.

Sam: How's your arm? Potato Jet: Broken! SAVAGE

Gene after your arm is healed rig that brace to your camera gear somehow. The hinge seems to be pretty smooth!

Had no idea I’d watch an 18 minute video about tripods today, but now I’m a better person because of it.

I like your hand accessory... please put link in discretion...🤣😂

I love O'connor heads. I can rent them for about $100/day, and it's worth every penny.

Good report, thanks, but a few points to emphasize: Cheap “fluid” tripod heads are a misnomer. They are actually lubricated friction heads. There is a significant design difference philosophy among the manufacturers of professional (read expensive) tripod fluid heads. You started to describe it when you got to the O’Connor that, by the way, is made in California, USA. The German-made Sachtler is designed for the lowest possible weight and to do this it is a stepped adjustment (as you mentioned) design. Both the drag and counterweight are in mechanical repeatable steps but that is also the disadvantage, especially for the counterweight. You can almost never perfectly balance a Sachtler for a given weight (after finding the camera’s perfect static balance by sliding it forward and back) whereas the O’Connor’s counterbalance is infinitely adjustable. The other venerable (meaning historically very old) brand fluid head is the English-made Vinton. Its heavy capacity fluid heads also have infinitely-adjustable counterbalance and drag. All of the brands, (Italian-made) Bogen/Manfrotto, Sachtler, O’Conner, and Vinten are owned by a parent company. Old (meaning about 30 years) O’Connor and Vinten heads can be found on the used market for a fraction of the cost of the current new models and if they have been carefully used and maintained (or recently overhauled by the manufacturer) they are excellent values and can perform as well as the new ones.

As an amateur photographer I didn't think much about tripods. Now I see why they cost so much, thanks for enlightening me. And yes Tripod is the best!!!

Dude I LOVE the fs700!

Thanks Potato Jet. I hate when some clumsy dude walks by and accidentally trips on my tripod. The struggle is real!

I like how your cyborg-exoskeleton-arm seamlessly blends in with the camera setup ;-)

Dope cut at 13:25. "So with that weight limit...." I was wondering how you completed the camera build while you were still talking...I spent at least 5 minutes listening to it...I guess I'm in that early analyze everything stage of newbie filmmakers...SUBSCRIBED..lol

I have the Sachtler Video 18 with carbon legs, it only costs 8.600 USD and and I love it.

1:05 that's far better than a lot of answers I've ever heard. Probably one of the most intelligent words I've heard from a child

wait you shot on an FS700? dude you got to do a history of every camera you've owned

When I saw the title I thought he was finally gonna sell his dog, then I realised it was a video explaining his flex. Btw love ur vids! Keep it up!

Potato jet's left hand is even stabilized, love the arm thing.

Carbon fiber is not only for lightness. It is much stiffer than aluminum reducing the flex from the legs.

I remember using a Beta-SP camera back in the 90s as a grip, for a PBS station. (Videographers often let us get a couple simple shots on the tripod out in the field.) I think the tripods were Sachler, or maybe the heads. Anyway, those tripods were so good they were almost as good as the studio cameras. You could pretty much point the 50-pound camera up or down, and, being perfectly balanced, you could let go and the camera wouldn't move at all. You just get your shot, hit record button, and woila! The cameras were almost as stable on your shoulder because they were so heavy. Tripods for 150k studio cameras were obviously better, having to support literally hundreds of pounds and having 100% control over tilt/pan tension. Those you most definitely could let go and they wouldn't move at all either. I ought to ask a field videographer I'm still in touch with what kind of tripods we used back then.

I rented FSB 7 for a week. It is indeed super smooth when shoot 200mm with 1.5x clear zoom.

When Potato Jet depresses all of us who are using budget gear!

I thought the arm brace was a RED arm accessory to make holding heavy cameras easier

How's you arm? *Silence* Broken!

You went to a fan's birthday party because his mom asked you nicely? Wow, you are awesome. More KZfaqrs like you please! Subscribed.

suddenly the mac pro display stand became reasonable!

Back when i started PA'ing, we always used the O'connor 2575D and the price of that to this day blows my mind.

My tripod goes really UP

Potato jet just make me sit , and listen to his tripod story , this is like my bedtime story , awesome potato jet ! 🙌🏻

“How much does that tripod cost?” “Yes”

Still a smaller light duty tripod. Try the Cartoni. $19,000 and will do 210 lbs so actually whatever camera setup you want. But thats with like a Fuji Digisupers so 19k is like free at that point 😃.

Normal cast: $200 RED cast: $54,392.99

you should keep that arm support, looks dope with the tripod

When you’re showing off your tripods but your arm looks like a tripod lol

Hey Potato Jet, You ever plan on doing a meeet up/film day with your subscribers? Id love to see how fluid the Oconnor Ultimate 130ds actually is lol. Love all your content!

9:08 the moment when Potato Jet is becoming one with his tripod... see the hand and the tripod... :) Get well Mr. Jet! ;)

. Peak design tripod

Wow man. Great insight and explanation. I like the part about diminishing returns. It's a lot like bicycles!

Gene you guys are a wrecking crew, broken arm and now broken bike! Happy birthday Sam, now walk home cause we wrecked the bike. 10k tripod? How much to fix the bike? lol You should try my Cartoni sticks, talk about luxury ride, even the bubble level has a light.

The guy who is always consistent with all the crazy stuff that turn out to be so cool.... Potato jet all day everyday ##watching from Kenya

This guy is the best person on KZfaq who can make camera work cool

The top 5 nicest things about living in Scandinavia (as I do) are (in no particular order): 1) Surgery is FREE! 2) We have no mad presidents wanting to build walls. (Not yet, anyway). 3) Apart from the occasional hurricane we rarely have extreme weather. 4) People do not carry weapons! 5) People don’t freak out over nudity or confuse it with pornography.

Poor Sam got his bike broken for his birthday lol

"What's your message to the word? "Nothing" Love it.

Thats some really dope biking footage actually

The school bus shit lmfao I’m dead

I've had over 20 Million dollars worth of medical procedures done to me. Not even kidding even have proof to back it up

When my bell rings that Potato Jet has uploaded a new video! I AM THERE!!!

Tutorial on those "image tracking downhill dude" would be awesome!

Costs*

Wow bro! Ur channel has grown!! Been subbed since like 5k!

Hey Potato, my birthday is in August, so feel free to fly down to South Africa to surprise me.

Those tripods are really expensive but at the same, really AWESOME...let me sell my kidney real quick.

7:45 - straight up cyborg look-alike.

Potato: "Sam is making Birthday Sam run. Sam don't be a dick it's his birthday, why you stealing his bike?" ...But never offers him a ride in his cool JEEP! 😅

Best KZfaq reviewer.... Hope I can buy some camera and make cool videos like you.... You're the man

That arm brace looks like part of that $10,000 tripod... Nice.

Have you used camera pedestals? I originally used camera pedestals designed for Broadcast TV cameras with teleprompters back in the day when a set up like that could weigh 500 lbs or more. Had a pedestal for the main camera at my church but when they went to 2 cameras for a tight and wide shot from the same angle they didn't want to buy another pedestal so they went with 2 tripods not as nice as the O'Conner. Anyway I prefer the camera pedestals over a tripod especially now that Sachtler and others have more portable pedestals.

I really needed this video, THANKS!