Manfrotto 438 Compact Leveling Head
The Manfrotto 438 Compact Leveling Head provides fast leveling for tripods. This is ideal for tripods without built-in levels or when you don’t want to adjust each leg individually. It fits between the center column via a 3/8 screw. For tripods with no bowl mount, this provides a bowl solution with the benefit of also having an adjustable center column, or neck. Tripods with bowl style mounts lack the presence of a neck. For those of you who want or need this feature, this leveler is a nice resolution. This leveler has a max payload of 33 lbs, an range adjustment of 10ยบ a bubble level and is only 2″ tall.
Manfrotto
Manfrotto 438 Compact Leveling Tripod Level
There are a few other options for a Tripod Leveling base starting from $80 dollars upwards to more than $300. The Manfrotto is a nice balance between build quality and price at about $92 dollars. Below are a few other options for a Tripod leveling base.
SunwayFoto
SUNWAYFOTO 66mm Tripod Leveling Base DYH-66 Sunway
Acratech
Acratech Leveling Base, Fits All Standard 3/8-16 Tripod Heads
SunwayFoto Leveler with Clamp
SUNWAYFOTO 120mm Tripod Leveling Lever Clamp Arca Compatible Sunway
Olivia, you find some of the coolest and most useful stuff. I have a Davis&Sanford tripod that I use with my Kessler Crane KC-Lite, and love using the bowl mount. Problem is, the tripod is too big to carry around for landscape video without the crane for general shooting.
So, it’s usually a process of adjusting legs on my lighter Manfrotto sticks, cuss words, and more adjusting.
I never knew about this solution, so thanks. Should be a time and frustration saver.
Great timing Olivia!!
Just what I needed, thanks.
Ciao from Italy.
Same here! Was on a shoot last week and could have really used this.
Thanks for helping me find a solution!
Actually I put my 701HDV on top of a regular pan-tilt photo head (Manfrotto 804RC2). It is really more stable that you would expect. Have a look here
that is a fancier tripod “chinese brand” on the left… right?
Yes, it is a Fancier, Pat.
Great to see this. Just what I need. Thanks for the post.
Thanks a lot for this. I just ordered one for myself
Thanks Olivia. Your advice is always useful
Hi Olivia, thanks a lot for your very helpful reviews. I would like to ask if there’s a separate pan base that I could purchase? I happen to have a DIY jib but i want to have a pan motion as well (versatile enough like the Aviator). Currently I’m able to get boring vertical shots only. hehehe. I was wondering if the leveling head can do pan motions. Thanks!
@Jeremiah Are you looking for something like this Feisol PB-70 Panning Base? I have one on the way, planning to review it.