3 Legged Thing AirHed Vision review

The 3 Legged Thing AirHed Vision is the follow-up to the AirHed Trinity and is essentially a step up in build quality, design and intended market, with it aiming itself at the mid- to high-end enthusiast and professional content creator.

Unlike many of 3 Legged Thing’s other products, the actual design of the AirHed Vision seems very subdued, with the all-black design of the product model that I’ve been sent just giving a good professional look and style. Once again, we’re seeing the use of high-end CNC machining to create all the parts and because of this, it instantly has a high-quality feel, and that comes across in use as well, with all of the movements and motions of the pan and tilt being smooth and precise. Likewise, all the locking nuts that lock all of the axes and movements in place are also good and solid, but ultimately extremely precise, giving you instant confidence when using the head, even with larger and more weighty mirrorless cameras.

So if the 3 Legged Thing AirHed Trinity is designed for content creators who are just starting out and looking for something a little bit more than just a mobile phone holder, then the AirHed Vision is for more serious content creators and enthusiast filmmakers looking for a good solid video head that can be used alongside a mirrorless camera, over one of the professional-level video heads which can often be overkill for the size of cameras many of us use.

It’s also been designed to be used with any set of legs that you wish, as long as they’ve got a 3/8-inch thread on top, simply remove the head, replace it with the AirHed Vision, and off you go. For the purpose of this review, as ever with anything 3 Legged Thing, I’ll be digging out the 3 Legged Thing Billy, which isn’t too hard as it’s always by the door ready to go.

The design of the head is relatively simple, but as you start to take a look at it, one thing that you realise is that whilst it is quite lightweight, it’s also got just a little bit more weight than other heads of this size and design. The reason for this is because it’s a step up in the type of user who is expected to use this particular head—and if you are just on the entry level, then there is always the Trinity.

So, first of all, at the base we’ve got the pan, and this is a really beautifully smooth rotation with a small bubble level near the base, which is absolutely essential for video work. As ever, there’s a nice locking knob that can be quickly tightened to secure it in place. Next we have the tilt, and this is the fluid head tilt, which will balance the head back to the horizontal position once you’ve shot your scene. As ever, there is a friction lock on the left-hand side of the head, and this is nice, large and very ergonomic. Over on the right is the handle.

This is a fixed handle, not telescopic, but when it’s positioned on the tripod and you want to lock it down, it does release fully and secures neatly alongside the legs of the tripod.

On top is an Arca-style clamp. This features one of the larger 3 Legged Thing base plates, which enables a  good secure and firm hold of the camera on the head. Again, this is secured in place by a quality knob, and again there’s a bubble level just so that you can keep things levelled out.

Overall, the style of the head is relatively simple, yet it’s nicely refined, and there’s very little here that I don’t like about the use and ergonomics of this compact creator video head. The only thing that I would say is that the rubber grip on the handle, while providing and doing exactly the job it’s designed to do, isn’t my favourite style of design. That’s purely personal preference rather than anything against the functional operation of the grip. What it is that I don’t like about it is that the ribs on the very end of the handle just feel a bit uncomfortable in the hand compared with a smoother or crosshatched style grip that I’d much prefer.

The first thing that you notice about the AirHed Vision is just how compact it is for a video head, and to be honest, with the size of the cameras we now use, the size of the heads I often utilise for shooting video is completely overkill. I still often go out with the same head that I used to use with my old Sony FS7, but now I’m shooting on a Canon EOS R5C, so the size and weight difference is huge. So why I’m still utilising the same old video head is well beyond me.

To be honest, I hadn’t really thought about it until now, because the AirHed Vision is the type of product that has been designed with today’s videographer in mind and reflects the type of kit we’re all now using, over those larger and frankly more professional cameras.

The Vision is nice and compact and will carry up to 5kg in weight, which is more than enough for most mirrorless camera combos. Even when you put your rigging on top and monitors, check out the 3LT Monty review a monitor mount that is well worth a look, this small head still has the quality and robustness to take all of that weight, you just need to be a little more careful with the balance.

For many of us shooting with mirrorless cameras, from the Canon EOS R5C down to something like the Sony A7 IV, the fact that the Vision sports an Arca-Swiss style plate makes things extremely easy. So if you’re using an L-bracket, and obviously 3 Legged Thing make an L-bracket for nearly every camera, you can check out the 3LT Arnie review here, then that Arca-Swiss design will enable you to shoot in both landscape and portrait. All you need is to release the clamp, rotate the camera with its own bracket in place, and pop it back on. It’s very simple, neat, and works exceptionally well, especially if you’re shooting both landscape and portrait orientation footage.

As you’d expect, there’s a full 360° pan, which means you can always keep up with the action, and once again, because it’s all CNC-designed and built, that panning motion is nice and smooth, with a bubble level just to ensure that you get that initial level absolutely spot on and correct. Likewise, when it comes to the tilt, there’s a tilt from -75 to +90°, giving you plenty of scope for creativity.

The AirHed Vision also ships with 3 Legged Thing’s QR Long plate as standard, and you can of course use longer plates such as the 3LT Ultra plates that I reviewed last year. This is longer than the standard plate but just gives that little extra grip to the base of your camera compared with the small square plates that would come as standard from 3 Legged Thing, and it will also take their extended plates equally well.

Alongside the Darkness version that I’ve looked at in this review, there will also be the Lava version, which is black with volcanic orange accents, and the Moss, which is metallic green, giving another style and finish to the head.

While I always really do like the Lava colour from 3 Legged Thing, and I use a Lava-coloured Arnie L-Bracket on my Sony A7 IV, I will just highlight that if you are filming anything with a reflective surface, then that bright orange can be a bit of a nightmare, which is why for this video head review I’ve opted to go with the Darkness colour, which I have through experience realised is actually a more practical choice for almost every video situation. Although saying that, I stuck with the bright orange Lava theme for the Arnie on top of the Vision. If you’d like to discover why L-Brackets are such a great idea check out our feature on for the love of L-Brackets.

I’ve been shooting video for over 30 years, going from 8 to 16 to 35mm, onto all the digital formats, through to shooting with mirrorless cameras today. Essentially, shooting video has never been so easy, but the odd thing is that while I’ve upgraded my kit in order to shoot with the latest mirrorless cameras, it’s now been two years without an FS7 or similar shoulder camera. For one reason or another, I’ve mainly stuck with the video tripod and lighting that I’ve used for years.

The issue here is that whilst I like my video tripod and the head I’ve combined it with, it’s now probably well over a decade old. It is large, cumbersome, and really, in the grand scheme of things, well beyond what I need on an average day.

If I’m out shooting video for camera jobs or other smaller projects, then there’s no reason to lug out my old and weighty video tripod to mount a relatively small, lightweight camera. So often these days, I resort to just using the 3 Legged Thing Billy. It’s a nice, lightweight tripod that does what I need it to do when I’m shooting on my own.

However, using a simple ball head for shooting video is never ideal, and however much you try, getting panning or tilt shots is almost impossible—at least decent ones. To have a video tripod with a step up from the Trinity, which is just a little bit too lightweight for everyday use, is where the Vision steps in.

Very quickly mounted to the 3 Legged Thing Billy—which I know is a very lightweight tripod—it all just felt very good and natural. The whole support kit is nice and lightweight and packed to the side of my backpack without adding too much bulk or weight. When I arrived at the location, the fact that I could realistically shoot in both horizontal and vertical format by just flipping the camera round was a huge advantage. Although I often crop into the image to get my portrait footage, it was nice to have the option to flip the camera and shoot it natively.

What really impressed me was the smoothness of the pan and tilt motion. The CNC workmanship really does pay off, and compared with older manufacturing techniques, you just can’t get better than the precision of CNC components. Likewise, the use of high-quality aluminium alloy gives it all a really good, high-quality feel. What I really like is that unlike some other heads, the feeling of precision over the locking and release of all of the knobs was just spot on, and I really liked the ergonomics of all the knobs, each well-designed.

The other thing I liked whilst using it was the fact that the Darkness colour scheme is so minimalistic. While it might not be as aesthetically pleasing as the Lava or even Moss version, it does mean you’ve got fewer issues with reflections. So, when shooting cars, you don’t have to worry too much about orange reflecting off a windscreen, or likewise, if you’re shooting in a high street or inside a building, then you don’t have to worry about bright orange accidentally reflecting off something within the scene.

Another thing I liked was just how minimalistic the head is, yet it packs in all those features you need. So firstly, as mentioned before, all the locking nuts are really nice and precise. Then you’ve got the two bubble levels, which give you plenty of options, firstly for levelling out the legs to make sure they’re square to the ground, then the tilt level on top of the head, which allows you to make sure that once you’ve done a tilt or pan, the camera is back and absolutely spot on level.

As video tripod heads go, this is the smallest and lightest-weight professional-level head that I’ve come across. Okay, it’s not overly cheap at £150, but when you compare this with the price of pro-level heads, it is far cheaper. And although it’s not designed to take the large bulky weight cameras that those larger heads are meant to hold, it is designed to take the latest mirrorless cameras that most of us use. For that purpose, it is absolutely perfect.

Over the years I’ve used many sets of video legs and heads, including a good selection of fluid heads and more traditional fixed video heads. Whilst many are very good, the ones that I usually use these days, when I’m mainly shooting on a mirrorless camera, are just a little bit overkill.

When I tested the 3 Legged Thing Trinity, I was impressed with the size, weight, and quality of the build. Whilst I do use it on occasion, it’s just a little bit too small and lightweight for what I need. However, with the Vision, things take a step up in professional look and quality, and in use, the pan and tilt smoothness really does stand out. It’s just a really nice head to use.

I also really like the fact that it’s so small and compact, and the finish of the design is absolutely spot on. Compared to some of 3 Legged Thing’s other designs, which really go to town on the styling, here they’ve just pared back on the designed sand created something that’s just spot on in almost every way.

My one quibble, as I’ve said earlier in the review, is with that rubber grip handle, and this really is just purely a personal thing. I just don’t like the way that particular grip feels in the hand. It just doesn’t feel as comfortable as some others and would be something that I’d change, something I would be happier to use.

However, personal preference aside, when it comes to the use and function of this video tripod head, there really is very little to fault. And whilst throughout the review I coupled it with other manufacturers’ tripods as well as 3 Legged Thing’s, I will say that the perfect pairing for me came between this and the 3 Legged Thing Billy, which is still one of my all-time favourite tripods. It makes the perfect go-anywhere support that’s minimal on weight and bulk.