Question on KangRinpoche Ballhead

[erwinx]

I'm trying to replace my Acratech and was hoping to try the Markins M20 but CP is no longer bringing them in. Instead, they are bringing in the KangRinpoche. The price is nice but the big problem I have with them is the level of friction in the panning base.

It may be kind of obvious, but the sales assistant didn't know the answer. Is there a control anywhere on the ballhead that allows you to adjust the tension so that i can pan freely without any friction?

 

[Larry]

not sure about the KangRinpoche brand, but Eastgear is bringing in Markins if i not wrong. you might wanna check with them if you still keen on the M20.

 

[benny]

It may be kind of obvious, but the sales assistant didn't know the answer. Is there a control anywhere on the ballhead that allows you to adjust the tension so that i can pan freely without any friction?

Yes. You can lock the ball head. And release the friction knob for panning. So you only get horizonal freedom of movement. It works exactly like the Arca Swiss Monoball B1.

What is wrong with your Arcatech ball head? Don't you want it anymore?

Cheers,

 

[erwinx]

Yes. You can lock the ball head. And release the friction knob for panning. So you only get horizonal freedom of movement. It works exactly like the Arca Swiss Monoball B1.

What is wrong with your Arcatech ball head? Don't you want it anymore?

Cheers,

it's been damaged for sometime now. I am not able to lock the panning head (similar complaint in the photo.net review), also, I can't lock the ballhead fully. Still, in this state, i brought it to India last year and recently to Frasers and sort of managed with it...

Even when it's working correctly, the neck of the ballhead is too thin and flexes when the ballhead is fully locked down (clearly visible through viewfinder). To prevent ballhead 'neck' flex, i want to get a ballhead with a thicker and shorter 'neck'.

Benny, can you explain a bit how to release the friction knob (which knob is the friction knob?) so that i can pan freely... so i can go back to CP to try? I asked the sales assistant (not Steven who wasn't available and who probably knows but he might not be there) - how come the panning so much friction, how to loosen, and she didn't know how to do it.

 

[denniskee]

may be manfrotto 268? gives you what you want, thick & short neck.

 

[benny]

Benny, can you explain a bit how to release the friction knob (which knob is the friction knob?) so that i can pan freely... so i can go back to CP to try? I asked the sales assistant (not Steven who wasn't available and who probably knows but he might not be there) - how come the panning so much friction, how to loosen, and she didn't know how to do it.

The small little knob in the centre of the picture is the friction control knob for panning. You lock the setup with the larger knob and loosen the small knob for panning. If you don't have equipment mounted on it, it's actually not smooth. Once mounted with gear, you can feel the difference. Best to bring your gear to test it out.

Make sure you get those with the A designation at the end (e.g. NB-1A). These are teflon coated and are very very smooth.

Hope that helps.

Cheers,

p.s. I just bought an Arcatech and didn't know about this flex problem. Care to share more on it? Or can I call you to find out more?

 

[erwinx]

Dennis, thanks for the suggestion on Manfrotto, but i am using the arca-swiss style plates which i think are incompatible with Manfrotto

Benny, it is not a serious problem and noticeable only on long teles. It is not a defect but really the laws of physics... the Acratech has a relatively long and thin neck and is built with lightness/portability in mind... if force is applied (regular force, eg, one hand resting on a tele lens and pressing it down)
when the ballhead is fully locked down, the neck will flex.

Thanks for the info on the friction knob, may try it again with equipment. When i tried it without equipment mounted i found the panning not smooth and too much friction like you mentioned. Also concerned that if i try to pan it too fast, given the friction, i might just end up unscrewing the ballhead from the tripod...

 

[freelancer]

When i tried it without equipment mounted i found the panning not smooth and too much friction like you mentioned. Also concerned that if i try to pan it too fast, given the friction, i might just end up unscrewing the ballhead from the tripod...

From my experiences, the weight of the camera + lens makes a difference when you pan. Panning movement is acceptable but not as smooth as the ballhead when you set the tension right. I don't think the panning feature is as good or the same as a dedicated panning base attachment

 

[+evenstar]

Dennis, thanks for the suggestion on Manfrotto, but i am using the arca-swiss style plates which i think are incompatible with Manfrotto

Benny, it is not a serious problem and noticeable only on long teles. It is not a defect but really the laws of physics... the Acratech has a relatively long and thin neck and is built with lightness/portability in mind... if force is applied (regular force, eg, one hand resting on a tele lens and pressing it down)
when the ballhead is fully locked down, the neck will flex.

Thanks for the info on the friction knob, may try it again with equipment. When i tried it without equipment mounted i found the panning not smooth and too much friction like you mentioned. Also concerned that if i try to pan it too fast, given the friction, i might just end up unscrewing the ballhead from the tripod...

Yes, I find the panning tension a bit overtight on my NB-1, but panning is okay for my super-tele lens...not sure how to solve this problem also.. :dunno:

 

[erwinx]

Update: thanks to the MO, i got the NB-1. I found that the NB-1 pans a little better than the NB-2A. With sidekick mounted it feels much better and should be good enough for most birds in flight.

Because of the huge ball and a short thick neck, the flex is considerably less than the Acratech which is important to me since the flex of the Acratech annoyed me. Of course the big advantage of Acratech over NB-1 is weight and maneuverability

As for Markins, I went to Eastgear before going to CP and they confirmed that they do not bring in M20, not even on special order. They only bring in the M10.