It's bulky, but not overly heavy. It's made from two castings held together with only 3 screws that I can see.
....Agreed that it's bulky and not overly heavy. "only 3 screws" need not be a concern when you don't know the female fixing depths nor the glue used < Gitzo usually have high standards of manufacture.
The panning bar is on the short side for video at only 11 inches. With my camera/lens as tested the angled arm can only be used pointed down, when pointed up it contacts the camera body and is useless.
....Whether I use a Canon D-SLR with battery grip or not, the panning bar has a very full range of adjustments to both length and angle. I so far prefer mine shorter and there is no compromise of control as a result.
As I hoped and expected, using the panning bar at the same time as the levelling base's T-joystick (Gitzo) to find level without faffing around with the tripod (Systematic) leg lengths, saves a lot of time and is very easy even with a heavy lens onboard. The panning bar is invaluable in this respect.
With no friction on the tilt adjustment the vertical swingarm has a slight amount of lateral play.
....No lateral play whatsoever on my unit. The fluid resistance on the tilt simply doesn't need further adjustment - You just run the knob close to locking and use some finesse when you want to lock/unlock. It is extremely stable and remains at whatever angle you let go of it and therefore very usefully holds your precise composition on target subject. This is additionally very helpful if you want either or both hands free such as when focussing manually.
The level of fluid dampening is very different between the pan (light drag) and tilt (moderate drag). I would prefer more dampening on the pan azimuth, others will feel differently; but there is no adjustability.
....I would describe it as different rather than "very different" and such that your subconscious muscle memory very quickly adapts and you simply 'drive' it by feel rather than conscious calculations. Both are what my photographer gimbal-using companion today kept repeating as "silky".
The friction knobs turn way more than is useful... the actual control range for them is about 1/2 turn. That makes it pretty hard to fine tune any additional friction drag if desired, but friction drag seems smooth enough.
....There is no reason to turn the knobs any more than what is required to lock and unlock. If the gimbal has been properly set up for the camera and lens being mounted, you don't need to further tune friction drag and it responds more than adequately to the lightest of touch on the panning arm or camera body.
I get the feeling the friction knobs are meant only as "locking knobs" due to the way they're implemented... especially the panning friction block which is exposed from below and *will* collect grit if you're not careful.
....I think so too - The knobs are intended only as locking knobs. Mounted on a Gitzo Systematic Levelling Base I see no exposure below.
The tilt friction knob came off in my hand... maybe they forgot the loctite? (I was trying to reduce the friction/dampening because it was cold)
....Why did you keeping turning the knob so many turns that it came so loose and came off? It's functionality simply doesn't require you to turn it even one whole revolution.
There's a lot of grease/lubricant used everywhere... not a surprise being it's a grease (fluid cartridge) head. But I'm not at all confident it's sealed well enough to keep grit out of the grease. Definitely need to clean the grease off of the sliding parts/pins of the clamp or it will be full of grit in a hurry.
....No visible grease or excess of on my unit.
Under the panning pivot cap there is a screw that adjusts the panning drag, but it's adjusting against an open roller bearing in a lot of grease... hmm...
....I didn't read anything in the Gitzo instructions to suggest that a user would need to or should delve under the panning pivot cap.
The fluid drag resistances are significantly affected by temperature getting quite stiff near/below freezing (mine was very cold when first delivered). Again, there's no adjustability as such.
....Gitzo's enclosed booklet warns against temperature effects and states a range. I think it was -30C as the coldest? Personally I don't enjoy doing anything in climates colder than -20C and so am ok.
I can hear/feel mechanical drag in the panning azimuth, a kind of light grinding noise/vibration bearings sometimes make... that shouldn't be there in a fluid head.
....Nothing heard or felt in my unit whatsoever like you describe.
Offhand I don't think any of those things makes it a bad gimbal head, but it's not a great head IMO. Given the price, I might consider it over the Wimberley... maybe... the variability due to temperature could be a big problem for some.
....Yes I can see that temperature might be a problem for some.
There are quite few major pluses about this head as far as my own use is concerned but I have a full day tomorrow using it and can report further then.
Mine is definitely not going back.