Do i need a leveling base and if so, which ones are good?

[Mirrorkisser]

I know many people here like the acratech leveling base, which Andrew recommended in his quest for a good and cheap tripod.

So far i have been doing ok with just always leveling the legs of my tripod, although that sometimes takes longer than i wish.

Are there any other good arguments for a leveling base?

And which other options are there besides acratech which also do not cost more? Acratech is unfortunately kinda hard to find in germany. I found some manfrotto and novoflex stuff, but that did not look to convincing.

Cheers for any help!

[kirk]

My old Cartoni has a built-in 75mm ball leveler, and I wouldn't go back to my former tripod with no leveling... period!

[marcuswolschon]

I'm using a Manfrotto photo-tripod with an alternative center rod that adds a leveling half-sphere.
For DSLR-filming it's not as heavy and bulky as a video tripod, I still have that extendable center rod only photo-tripods have and I can mount the center rod horizontally to shoot straight down from bridges and such.

[Mirrorkisser]

Well i will try the novoflex magic balance. Looks alright. Acratech including shipping to germany was too expensive for me....

[Mirrorkisser]

http://www.novoflex.com/de/produkte/stativ--und-haltesysteme/kugelneiger/magicbalance/

thats it. tried it for one day and already loving it. Good quality and functionality.

[XXX]

I was also looking at the novoflex, but went for this: http://www.flm-gmbh.de/product_show4a19.html
The novflex doesn´t have a waterlevel and the FLM also supports a higher load, which was important for me for slider shots...
Also cheaper, but the Novoflex looks better, that´s for sure ;)

[Andrew Reid]

I use the Acratech levelling base.

A blogged about it a while ago.

http://www.eoshd.com/content/6770/the-quest-for-a-small-light-levelling-video-tripod-and-head-result

[Mirrorkisser]

Well i got the waterbase at my videohead, so its ok for me without. The FLM looks nice. Benro also made something that looks exactly like the Novoflex and holds 30kgs. http://studio.etriox.de/Benro-Nivellierplattform-LBA1 (except its made in china; its incredible, the chinese just copy everything and force many original developer into bancruptcy. I wonder what they will copy when they ruined all the other companys and havent learned innovation themselves, but thats another sidekick, sorry)

So i am sure the Novoflex can do that too. I got it for 119 €, would not have paid the 150 they ask at many other places for it.

After using it for almost a week now i have to say, i am pretty happy about it.

The Acratech was not available in Germany except for one shop where it cost a fortune.