Makins ballhead.


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szekiat

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Jan 19, 2002
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Warning! The following is highly subjective and is not necessarily true of all markins products. It just happened to me so i thought i'd share it.


I'm currently in the UK on holiday. I was shooting in very cold and windy conditions(yes its still officially winter here) yesterday and i realized that my ballhead had froze up. Initially, i thought it might have been becos of the tension setting but it wasn't. It just decided to freeze up. Note that the temp. was not below negative. Prob slightly under 10. After much struggling, i managed to get it to move again but the movement was sluggish and not smooth at all. Some patches it will move fine, others it will just lock up. It was fine once i returned to my room, which thankfully is heated.

Point to note. I have used the ballhead successfully over the past year in singapore. This is my first negative experiece with it. It might just be that i need to grease my head a little. but that said, i'm still surprised and i urge all those who are planning trips to cold countries to make contingency plans like getting a small spare head, or bringing so lube or whatever. Freezing is a common problem on ballheads, i'm just surprised at the temp it froze at. I've had a B1 freeze on me before, but that was in subzero cond. Users of markin ballheads, be warned!!!!
 

huh, really ah? hmm, I just ordered a Markins M10..hopefully it wouldn't suffer the same sort of problem. But isn't it supposed to be self lubricating and self maintaining?

hehe, actually the weather here in London for the past 2 weeks have been quite warm. It's true it has been quite cold more than 2 weeks ago, but the cold spell broke, so relatively speaking, it's now getting warmer (anytime when the temperature hits 2 digits, it's good :D ) But its true it can get quite windy...

Anyway, if you need anyone to show you the sights, can PM me :bsmilie:
 

Hiee....

I was using the M10 three weeks back while in the snow and freezing temp in the Sierras and it worked fine. Well....about the lubrication thingy....the Markins ballhead doesn't need high dense lube. It only needs some cleaning with WD-40.

High dense grease just holds more dust and introduce higher risk of locking one any ball.

Szekiat, i recommend you writing to Markins and let them know this occurance. Who knows if they might be able to give you some explanation - or maybe some remedies.

Regards,
Sulhan
 

sulhan: yes i will. just as soon as i get back home. That said, it could just be a one off thing and i have too much dirt in mine. I do use mine in **** conditions sometimes.

Justarius: I don't think u will have much problems with yours honestly. Mine's fine right now. That said, i hope the weather gets much better even though i'm heading home tomorrow. It was snowing a week ago where i was so go figure? Snow in march? Hello!?!>!!! I will be studying in london from sept onwards though so i'll look forward to taking u up on your offer.
 

szekiat said:
sulhan: yes i will. just as soon as i get back home. That said, it could just be a one off thing and i have too much dirt in mine. I do use mine in **** conditions sometimes.

Too much dirt.. oh great... now let see... user problem?!?
sigh sigh......
:p
 

Thanks for letting us know, szekiat. Think that this ballhead locking up problem is quite common in very low temp. conditions, the Arca Swiss is the most well known one but am not surprised to find out that it happens w/ Markins too, tho as u said in your case it might also be due to dirt. Other than this ballhead lock up condition, I've heard practically almost no other negative comments or complaints on it. Its a great ballhead and I'm thoroughly satisfied with mine. :thumbsup:


Bluestrike said:
Too much dirt.. oh great... now let see... user problem?!?
sigh sigh......
:p
:bsmilie:
 

szekiat: Coming this sept? opps, I'm leaving here for good at the end of this academic year..already spent 4 years here, it's time to go home :D Anyway, I'm sure you will enjoy your time here. If you need any survival tips, such as what to bring, how to get a HP line, where's the best (and cheapest) grub, etc, feel free to PM me ;)

sulhan: What's this WD-40 that you used to clean the ballhead? Some kind of non-residual cleaning agent?
 

There is a possibility you breathed on the ballhead & in cold weather like that, the condensation from your breaths froze up fast. If that was what happened, even the best quality ballheads will lock up.
 

even the grease in some SLRs will freeze up in low temps.

just try to keep your EQ warm before use.
 

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