The Filmmaking Tripod to Beat in 2025.
Sachler Flowtech75 and Sirui SVH15
The best head for the Sachler Flowtech might not be the Activ6.
After my failed acquisition of the Tribex, I knew that having a good tripod head was crucial. Although the Activ6 head is optimized for the Flowtech, there are some aspects that are not even as good as the Sirui SVH15 despite being 5 times more expensive. If you’re looking for enough value to justify a Sachler purchase, this might be it.
Sachler Flowtech75
I think you can honestly get away with a good head and a mediocre set of sticks, but I was able to get an incredible deal on the Flowtech legs so I went for it. The legs are carbon fiber, though still much better feeling than the Blackmagic pocket cameras. They can definitely get scratched and dented, so you have to carefully maintain them if you want to preserve their condition. They are the perfect balance of lightweight and sturdy and should be up to the task for the heaviest rigs. What’s great about the sticks is that they are very compact especially with the magnets, which keep the legs together when traveling and is more appreciated than you’d initially imagine. The feet are also super flexible held together by rubber, but are still reliably sturdy. They’re so easy to take off and put on and allow weird angles and positioning. The best feet of any tripod, Tarantino would be proud.
Handle is super comfortable and necessary for adjusting height and transporting the tripod. The legs are everything you could dream of.
The problem with this combo is that there’s a blue button on the handle that makes contact with the inner legs so you have to be careful when twisting it. You basically have to make the bowl leveled up straight.
What I’m not a big fan of is lowering the tripod, which has a lot of friction going down. This is true with any tripod, but because of the brakes and wider surface area of each leg, it seems as though it will wear away at the durability more quickly in the long term. My copy is used, so the legs seem more rattly than usual, time will tell. You kind of have to either shimmy the legs around to go down and grind away at the legs or do things the proper way: close the legs and make them vertical before descending, which I doubt I’ll have the patience for. There’s also a method to lift up to go down, which I think could work. Another aspect is that a mid level spreader is nearly necessary for this tripod because the legs annoyingly slip more than you’d like just moving about. This adds about 1 pound to the weight of the legs and is an accessory I didn’t want to pay for, but it does save you from readjusting the legs when positioning the camera. Although I’m probably a bigger weakling than you, if you have a heavier rig it can be cumbersome to adjust the height the moment you unlock the legs because you have to support the weight before leveling and locking 3 legs. You’re supporting the weight with one arm while locking and adjusting the legs with the other and it takes considerable strength to do this without allowing the original position to shift. This means you probably have to adjust the bowl every time. In comparison with the Tribex, I much prefer only adjusting the legs to level the tripod in terms of speed and ease.
The only other accessory I think you need is a handle grip, which makes lifting and transporting the tripod so much more manageable. There are a few versions, I think the one with an outer lock is better than the one I have, which requires an L wrench to take off, which is annoying when you want the tripod to be flat to the ground.
Sirui SVH15 Fluid Head
This head has many things going for it over the Activ6. It has a heavier payload compared with only 8kg on the Activ6, a more convenient latch as opposed to the lever you have to twist to lock the plate on the Activ6 and most importantly it’s much cheaper. I’d even go as far as to say it’s more professional with all its metal. You can also detach the head to access a flat 3/8 mounting point so you can attach it to a slider. The activ6 requires another accessory as it doesn’t have this native functionality. If I had abundant cash I might go for the Activ6 because it’s lightweight and has a more convenient pull-up lever to adjust to bowl. The counterbalance on the Activ6 is also superior with 15 stops and has more niceties and quality of life improvements like side bubbles with LEDs. However, it’s kind of a pain to set up the head for the first time.
I don’t know if it’s truly a fluid head, but I don’t care. It’s smooth as butter and as professional as you could possibly need.
Simply press the plate on the secure. No need to slide it in. Press this button to release.
Twist to adjust dampening. The locks are easy to manipulate as well.
What’s bad about the head is that it’s heavier by about 2 pounds. The counter balance is not as impressive in comparison to the fluid head, which functions extremely smoothly. The bubble is not super reliable if you’re OCD precise like I am when it comes to leveling and a side bubble would have been very welcome. If you want to do whip pans, the head unfortunately always has some dampening so you can’t make it spin. But the two handles surprised me. I thought I would just use one, but it makes the experience more pleasurable, like riding a reindeer. Ho ho ho!
7 levels of counter balance. Honestly didn’t feel enough for my 4-5kg rig.
Inconsistent results with this bubble, will have to test more.
2nd bubble. I think it should be on the same side as the other bubble.
Final thoughts
All in all, I got this combo for about 900 USD for a used Flowtech and 350 USD for the fluid head. Bear in mind I bought in the Chinese market, which is much cheaper. I think this price is much more palatable than the 5000 USD prices for the full Sachler combo. It’s still pretty heavy but not impossible to get used to. If you’re used to the weight of Otus style lenses, you should be fine with this. In any case it’s the lightest secure filmmaking tripod out there. Gone are the nerves of putting $5000+ on a tripod. As usual, no affiliation with any party and no affiliate links. Just my honest thoughts that I believe could help the next filmmaking purchase.
Recommendations
The best head for the Sachler Flowtech might not be the Activ6.