Today we are looking at the latest heavy-duty video tripod by Ulanzi – the Ulanzi VideoFast and its interesting kit fluid head to see just how well they function in the real world.
Concept
Entry-level tripod and fluid head combination kits rarely come with drag or resistance settings at an entry-level price, or at least that used to be the case. The last few years have seen the emergence of a new price point for fluid head and carbon fiber leg combo kits providing many of the same professional features found on traditional cinema brands like Sachtler, but for users who need to work on location with mirrorless as well as small cinema camera setups. In the past, to get a fluid head that had three or more resistance levels you had to lay out over a thousand dollars. These days there are whole kits under $600 such as the Smallrig Freeblazer and the Ulanzi Video Fast, but the Freeblazer only offers multiple levels of drag for panning, while the Video Fast has six levels for both panning and tilt.
In the Box
The fabric of the carrying case is made of a durable material with a nice texture, and it is easily wiped clean with a damp cloth. It has velcro straps inside to completely secure the tripod, though I found this unnecessary in my case, and there’s a large zippered pouch with two provided Allen keys to adjust the tripod.
Build and Design
One of the provided Allen keys is for the screw and gear assembly just above where the spreader attaches, behind the clasp which locks and unlocks the legs. At first, I assumed this would let me adjust the tension on the clasps, as they are quite stiff, but it turned out this actually adjusted the tension that held the legs in a given position. Presumably, it would allow fine adjustment to the leg tension to correspond to the weight of the camera setup.
I would rather have control over the clasp tension, and either have leg tension tied to that same adjustment or just have it at one, reliable setting that cannot be changed. When I removed the screw and turned the gear a little bit and then tried out the legs again, they collapsed almost immediately, holding only a small amount of weight. Perhaps this can at least be calibrated better and have visual markings, and in the next version, we may have control over the clasp tension as well.
Here are some important specs on the tripod:
- Folded length (with head and plate) – 34.8″ (88cm).
- Lowest height with head and plate – 29″ (73cm).
- Max height with head and plate – 64.5″ (163.8cm).
- Max load tripod – 55 lbs (25 kg).
- Max load head – 22 lbs (10 kg).
- Kit weight – 10.5 lbs (head – 4.85 lbs / 5.65 lbs – 4.7 kg for the full kit and 2.2 kg for the head and 2.5 for the legs).
the kit head of the VideoFast
Features
The camera plate is Manfrotto compatible, so it’s possible to achieve a more balanced mount to facilitate fluid head movement, and the plate itself has two pins near either end to prevent the camera from sliding too far on the head if it is not fully locked down. In addition to this backup safety feature, the clamp, which locks the camera down to the head provides good tension even when not fully locked down. This is one place where this fluid head outperformed my own Camgear Elite 8, which uses a relatively smaller plate that is either fully locked down or not, with no in-between zone to save me if I make a mistake.
The handle attaches via an exchangeable rosette that can be placed on either side and fully rotated, and the pan and tilt lock-down twist knobs are located on the same side. It’s technically the left side, but left-handed people can set up this tripod backward so those knobs are on the right and the only thing which won’t be easily accessible or visible will be the bubble level. Opposite the bubble level is a quarter-inch 20-hole with Arri locator pins. And there are three more of these at the bottom of the head, between each leg. There’s an included handle with a twist-knob screw to attach it in any of these positions, and the handle has a nato rail with six more quarter-inch 20 holes with Arri locator pins.
Counterbalance knob
The tilt function has 0 and 1- 6 levels, with 0 having no resistance and 1-6 having progressively more. The pan mechanism is set up similarly. The highest level in both mechanisms does not provide the amount of drag I thought it would, and the differences between the levels are subtle, possibly too subtle, as I would have liked the highest degree to be about twice as strong, ideally.
The mid-level spreader was easy enough to use, and it made closing the tripod a breeze, but it did seem a bit more flexible than I expected it to be in the fully extended and locked-out position. That said, I couldn’t detect any issues when my camera was mounted or afterward, visually, in my footage.
The tripod’s feet are a common design now, where the feet are held onto the bottom of the legs with strong synthetic rubber-like bands holding a flexible ball joint in place. These can be removed to use the double spikes, which are definitely better than single spikes. Removing these is a bit cumbersome, but it might not be realistic to expect a more sophisticated design at this price point.
In use in the field
Conclusion
The Ulanzi video fast tripod offers a set of features for light to medium-weight setups that pretty much has no competition, yet. For decades really, fluid heads with multiple levels of resistance could only be found in expensive fluid heads most often used in the cinema or television production. Now, professionals on a budget can also use these features, and that’s good for everyone.
The Ulanzi VideoFast Heavy-Duty Tripod
Pricing
For now, the Ulanzi Video Fast is our go-to heavy video tripod+fluid head kit for under $600. The Ulanzi Video Fast Kit Carbon version can be purchased for under $600 on the official Ulanzi website or on Amazon.
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