The Leofoto BV-10/BV-10M is a compact fluid video head designed for use with light cameras or optics and has a balanced load rating of 2.5kg and a general load rating of 6kg. The balanced rating is the amount of weight the head can handle while still providing smooth movement dampening at the extreme range of movement. As the balanced rating is exceeded, the fluid dampening will not perform perfectly, especially at extreme tilt angles.
This head features adjustable fluid dampening on the tilt axis and a standard non-fluid panning axis. The BV-10 also has a 1/4" accessory port, includes a 30cm handle and connects to any tripod with a 3/8" mounting stud. This head is available in either arca-swiss (BV-10) or classic Manfrotto video clamp (BV-10M) and includes the corresponding 100mm quick release plate.
The BV-15 features two bright leveling bubbles - one on the clamp and one on a protruding flange at the base of the head.
This head is machined from an aircraft grade 6061-T6 aluminium and incorporates other premium materials such as stainless steel and brass in various components.
Specifications
- Weight - 700g
- Height - 98mm
- Balanced Load Rating - 2.5kg
- General Load Rating - 5kg
- Base Diameter - 60mm
- Connection - 3/8" Brass
- Clamp - Arca-swiss and Manfrotto Video available (BV-10M)
More About Fluid Heads
A fluid head dampens the sudden movements that are unavoidable in human operation to ensure smooth pan/tilt motion in video. They are also very popular for use with spotting scopes, binoculars and telescopes, whether used for birding, stargazing or target shooting. Fluid heads come in an endless variety of shapes and sizes, from R1000 plastic crap, up to R500k heads used in the cinema industry. Features and load capability obviously increase with price, so it is critical to familiarise yourself with Leofoto's range to understand what each model can or cannot do. When it comes to fluid heads, bigger is always better, especially if you might upgrade your camera gear in the future.
- If you want a lightweight head to hike with, you are looking at the wrong type of head. Consider the VH-30 or LH Ballheads.
- Fluid heads do not have roll (they cannot tilt side-to-side) and should always be perfectly level when panning, which is why you should always pair a fluid head with a leveling base like the LB-60N or YB-75LP.
Leofoto Fluid Head Range
- BV-1 – Very small fluid head, meant for very light gear like compact cameras and light spotting scopes or binoculars.
- BV-5 – Small fluid head meant for small video cameras (MFT/crop sensor) or spotting scopes up to 2kg.
- BV-10 – Medium fluid head meant for small cameras (crop sensor - full frame) with mid-size telephoto lenses like 70-200 f/4 or spotting scopes up to 2.5kg.
- BV-15 – Medium fluid head that can handle video rigs of up 3kg e.g. full frame body + medium sized lenses (e.g 70-200mm f/2.8).
- BV-20 – Large fluid head for heavy mirrorless/compact video rigs like Sony A7s3/FX-3/BMPCC 6k or R3/Z9 with telephoto lenses. Balanced load rating up to 5kg (The Leofoto BV-20 is still in the pre-release phase at the time of writing this and the exact specs have not been released yet – Jan 2023)
- BV-30 – Small Cinema Fluid Head that can handle balanced loads of up to 8kg. Ideal for video use with XL wildlife setups like Canon R3/Nikon Z9 + 400mm f/2.8/600mm f/4.
