Outside Hollywood has a pretty thorough review of the Bogen/Manfrotto 515MVB tripod sticks and 519 fluid head. Good quality sticks and heads are such an essential part of production, but it’s hard to find good reviews on them. Perhaps it’s just not sexy enough? At any rate, it’s great to see some coverage on the topic.

“The head weighs in at 6.4 pounds, and the tripod at 7.5. Fourteen pounds is a very easy load, and we’ve already added a homemade shoulder strap to make it easier to tote…It’s a very good package, splitting the difference between lightness and strength, portability and stability, and making the most of new technology and old techniques. Of course, for all the new materials, modern tripods still have three legs, and modern heads still contain lubricating fluid for smoothing tilts and pans. Some things never change.”

If you run across any other good tripod/head reviews, feel free to link them in the comments below.