Manfrotto Pan Bar for 500HLV Video Head

Perfect match for the Viltrox VX-18M heavy duty fluid tripod head, and probably most other generic fluid-head tripods in this price range.Here are the tech specs, which I couldn’t find anywhere, and would’ve been helpful to confirm compatibility with my tripod head: The toothed circular part measures approx. 23mm (29/32 in.) in diameter, and has 25 teeth/ridges. The lever bolt (part you twist to tighten the clamp) is M6 thread, approx. 28mm (1-3/32 in.) long. The clamp holds a pan bar/handle approx. 13mm (1/2 in.) in diameter.

I actually bought this as a replacement for use on a different tripod and it still works great. Nice and sturdy and the grip is comfortable in your hand.

Did not work for the 501hdv

I actually bought this to replace a broken pan bar on another brand of tripod. I took a chance on the rosette matching, and I was glad to find that it did. (It has 25 teeth, in case anyone else is wondering.) I like the price of this pan bar, as spare part prices for high-end tripods can be absolutely absurd sometimes. The thing I don't like is that this pan bar is very light, more so than the cheapo Chinese brand it's replacing. On a heavy-duty fluid drag video head, you need a pan bar with some heft to provide solid movement. This bar works, but it's so light that I feel like the movements aren't as smooth as they would otherwise be. The rubber grip is also kind of narrow and plasticky. So yes, this works in a pinch, but it could be beefier.

Thank you to at Paul Darwin for his review. Based on his feedback that the teeth were too small I purchased this for a different manfrotto head with smaller teeth. I purchased an MHXPRO-2W without a handle or geared teeth and took a gamble on this one. Worked great aside from the bolt being shorter than needed for that head. I went down to Home Depot and got an M6 thread bolt around 40-45mm long and it fits perfectly now.

Brittle and doesn't line up with the indent on my stand, could just be a problem with my stand, but doesn't excuse how brittle the teeth are, they seemed to grind away almost immediately without much use and didn't clamp on, they just slid around and got weathered down, seems to be cheaply made

What can I say? It's Manfrotto quality on a Manfrotto product. Always excellent.

Doesn’t fit the 502 head that’s more common, be careful to pick the right one!