Manfrotto Befree Live Video Head

Showing 1 - 3 of 3 reviews

1. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Jared Koss Sr. – July 28, 2025

   For travel it just may work. I got a DVX200 to support – a 6.6 lbs beast of a camcorder, and this setup being for travel, every extra gram is a liability. So MVH400 being so lightweight, while being able to support the load, is a huge win. The head is not as silky smooth as some $600 head weighing over a pound, but it is smooth enough. Regarding others saying it can’t support specified load, well, if the load is off-center, you probably will have a problem. For a DSLR with a large, heavy lens, make sure you attach the head to the lens ring, not to the camera body, to have a chance of reasonable balance. Fixed-lens camcorders usually have their attachment tread close to the center of mass, so you should be good. See attached picture if you are skeptical.

   [...]
2. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Antwon Moen – July 23, 2025

   I saw a youtube video by Hudson Henry where he explained why he uses fluid heads for photography. I was inspired me to get one. I considered the Manfrotto 502AH, but it looked too heavy and too bulky for traveling. I saw Manfrotto introduced the Befree tripod series and was excited that the head was sold separately because I already own a Manfrotto 190CF.Originally, I was planning to get a 3-way head for the flexibility, precision, and ease of changing from landscape to portrait (I like photographing both landscapes and people). Fluid heads pan and tilt smoothly, but cannot reorient from landscape to portrait without some extra hardware. The great thing about the 190 series is that the center column adjusts 90 degrees, so I had a built-in solution. There were two more additions I made: I added a $50 leveler between the tripod and the fluid head, which makes it a total breeze to level to the horizon for perfect panoramic shots, and I added a quick release adapter. The fluid head comes with a slide plate, which I found got in the way of doing manual adjustments of my lens. The QR adapter makes my life so much easier.When it comes to traveling, the arm of the fluid head adjusts down quickly and easily (as seen in photo). Weight-wise, the leveler added more than the fluid head. I’m super happy with the configuration and the enhanced flexibility to track things quickly in the wild (birds, etc.) with fewer adjustments. The quality of the fluid head, the smoothness of its movement, the condition of delivery, all make for high marks for this transaction.

   [...]
3. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Mr. Gianni Lubowitz DDS – July 7, 2025

   First of all, I’m not a professional videographer. I bought this head because I shoot wildlife video as a hobby and all I have is still photo ball heads. Photography ball heads just wasn’t cutting it and would spend a great deal of time finding them in order to get them setup for my needs. So I decided I needed a video head but nothing too exciting or expensive. It needed to be compact and lightweight as well. This was all new territory to me, still is to be honest. Anyhow, I got Amazon and started sifting through their video ball heads. Not knowing what I was looking for, I ran across this Manfrotto MVH400AHUS lightweight video head. I don’t know much about video heads but I have experience with Manfrotto. This is a solid company and knew this had to be a decent product and ordered it! I couldn’t have found a better video ball head for my needs! The MVH400AHUS is the perfect size and weight for starters! Its so much easier to use than my photography ball heads and with zero fighting!Now with all this said, Its not a professional ball head but it would make for a great travel video ball head.

   [...]