newVideoPlayer("manfrotto_final_gawker.flv", 475, 376); Ever wonder how tripods are made? Enjoy seeing large robots cut, bend and flatten tubes of metal as they careen down an assembly line? Kick back and watch as we take you on a guided tour of the Manfrotto Tripod factory in Bassano del Grappa, Italy. It’s a four-minute segment, so if you have to use the restroom, go ahead and do it now. – Curtis Walker
Disclosure: Freelancer Curtis Walker’s tour was part of a junket paid for by Manfrotto. Gizmodo staff members are disgusted by the very notion of paid trips from companies; But frankly, the video was entertaining. This is in no way a paid advertisement for Manfrotto.
If you're a video shooter who uses a tripod. then you know how important a fluid head can be. It makes all the difference in the world in the smoothness of your pans and tilts. Here's an improvement on the art of fluid heads from Manfrotto, the 503HDV introduced here at NAB. It brings a number of new features to the already-sweet 503. For one, the fluid drag knob was moved to the left side and combined with the release mechanism.
Other welcome improvements are the backlight for the level bubble, a replaceable lock-rosette, and a four-step counterbalancing mechanism. They've refined the profile of the unit as well, so that it has the sleeker lines of the 501 heads. No pricing was available yet, but the 503HDV's predecessor, the 503, is $274.
Get yourself a good fluid head like this one, vid-shooters, and your camera moves will be smooth as a baby's butt. – Charlie White and Curtis Walker
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