Your personal selection : Ballhead


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King Tiger

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May 11, 2004
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In the heart of SengKang
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I am considering getting a good ballhead which can support the load weight of a DSLR camera & telephoto lense/flash; and also good precise movement that would be easy to handle when shifting around.

There are a lot of good balhead in the market and all seems equally good.
This topics have already been discuss before and I have do some search on it, but I hope to get more information from users experience after their usage of ballhead for sometimes.

Somehow, I would like to see individual's point of view; why they choose X brand over Y brand; their selection and requirement for getting what they needs and wants.

Kindly consolidate an updated list here. Thanks for comments and advise.

Brand, Model, Why you choose this product?
0. Manfrotto, 322RC2, Because it is light, move faster or etc........(Example format)
1.
2.
3.
4.
 

Brand, Model, Why you choose this product?
1. Icarus - Manfrotto 322RC2 - Pistol action grip allows super quick adjustments, Able to customize for left and right hand use. Able to convert to a vertical 222RC2. Able to take my Bigma + Flash (see my avatar) ;)
2.
3.
4.
 

King Tiger said:
I am considering getting a good ballhead which can support the load weight of a DSLR camera & telephoto lense/flash; and also good precise movement that would be easy to handle when shifting around.

There are a lot of good balhead in the market and all seems equally good.
This topics have already been discuss before and I have do some search on it, but I hope to get more information from users experience after their usage of ballhead for sometimes.

Somehow, I would like to see individual's point of view; why they choose X brand over Y brand; their selection and requirement for getting what they needs and wants.

Kindly consolidate an updated list here. Thanks for comments and advise.

Brand, Model, Why you choose this product?
0. Manfrotto, 322RC2, Because it is light, move faster or etc........(Example format)
1.AcraTech Ultimate ballhead,becoz it is very unique and support heavy load up to my LF cam .if given the choice again,i will get the Arca Swiss B1.

2.
3.
4.

AcraTech Ultimate ballhead,becoz it is very unique and support heavy load up to my LF cam .
But if given the choice again,i will pay abit more and get the Arca Swiss B1.
AUB design needs some getting used to,especially when shooting vertically,have to turn the panning knob to make way for the leaning angle,abit troublesome but still works well.

my frd AS B1 is very solid :thumbsup: got the progressive movements to prevent the load to slap down suddenly.
 

icarus said:
Brand, Model, Why you choose this product?
1. Icarus - Manfrotto 322RC2 - Pistol action grip allows super quick adjustments, Able to customize for left and right hand use. Able to convert to a vertical 222RC2. Able to take my Bigma + Flash (see my avatar) ;)
2.
3.
4.
sorry..i OT a little bit....what's a bigma and small ma?have you had bad experience for yr manfrotto 322rc2?
 

nikonsiao said:
have you had bad experience for yr manfrotto 322rc2?

Yeab, i tried the 322RC2 on my monopod once... the whole damn thing looks like an ah-pek's walking stick! :bsmilie: Otherwise, the 322RC2 works perfectly on my 055... no creeping at all even with my Bigma.

like the bros here who advised me, just bring ur heaviest lens and body down to the shop and try the ballheads there! :)
 

icarus said:
Yeab, i tried the 322RC2 on my monopod once... the whole damn thing looks like an ah-pek's walking stick! :bsmilie: Otherwise, the 322RC2 works perfectly on my 055... no creeping at all even with my Bigma.

like the bros here who advised me, just bring ur heaviest lens and body down to the shop and try the ballheads there! :)
should have taken friends' advice and buy 1 time good good tripod....now have to hunt.......started of with just D70 + kit lens...
 

nikonsiao said:
should have taken friends' advice and buy 1 time good good tripod....now have to hunt.......started of with just D70 + kit lens...

Are u planning to get any telephoto lenses in future? if no, then get a normal compact tripod will do liao... i am having problems carrying the stupid 055+322rc2 around... cos its quite heavy ... :sweat: :sweat:
 

Can't afford it. But if I had the money, I would buy:

- Really Right Stuff RSS Ballhead BH-55 LR
http://www.reallyrightstuff.com/ballheads/index.html

- Really Right Stuff D70 L plate BD70-L
http://www.reallyrightstuff.com/body_plates/nikon/index.html

- Really Right Stuff 70-200mm VR lens plate LCF-10
http://www.reallyrightstuff.com/lens_plates/nikkor_auto_focus/index.html

It's really pricey.... as I said, only when I can afford it... :lovegrin:
 

icarus said:
Yeab, i tried the 322RC2 on my monopod once... the whole damn thing looks like an ah-pek's walking stick! :bsmilie: Otherwise, the 322RC2 works perfectly on my 055... no creeping at all even with my Bigma.

like the bros here who advised me, just bring ur heaviest lens and body down to the shop and try the ballheads there! :)

strange... my D7D with Vertical grip and just a 17-35 already make the 322rc2 slip liao... by removing the vertical grip would help ease the problem...
 

Since you will be getting a CF tripod, i guess must consider M10 (great value) and the lightweight likes like AUB or B1 liao. Else it's like walking 3 steps front and 2.5 steps back.
 

icarus said:
Are u planning to get any telephoto lenses in future? if no, then get a normal compact tripod will do liao... i am having problems carrying the stupid 055+322rc2 around... cos its quite heavy ... :sweat: :sweat:

already got problem...using the manfrotto 190b but normal head...when i use 70-200 with D70,feels like head going to snap off....scare... :sweat:
 

Consider the Markins M-10 dude.
 

Del_CtrlnoAlt said:
strange... my D7D with Vertical grip and just a 17-35 already make the 322rc2 slip liao... by removing the vertical grip would help ease the problem...

OMG, how heavy is your setup? My heaviest weight is about 3-4kg like that. Have u adjusted the 'friction' thingy on the handle?
 

Markins M-10. I will never need to buy another ballhead again.
 

I use 3 main heads:

Graf Studioball
An improved clone of the original Arca ballhead. Features a full bearing race on the panning axis making it one smooth ballhead. Unlike the eccentric ball Arca B1 the Studioball doesn't suffer lockup problems and after careful testing it carries a heavier load in the real world than almost any other head I've used in the past 25 years. The Graf is not however a head for the faint of heart as it's one large and heavy beastie at nearly 1.8kg.

Burzynski Protec
The toughest head I've ever used, bar none. Zero flexure under extreme load conditions eg:large 8x10 commercial LF system, Nikon F2M with 300/2 Nikkor + TC etc. Not really designed for mounting on conventional tripods as it uses a 100mm "bowl" mount used on professional video tripods, though it can be used on a film tripod. Has limited vertical movement due to the massive and short ball to mounting plate distance. Weight is just over 1kg.

Wemberley Gimbal
My preferred head with superteles over 500mm. Superb performance, though expensive and of limited use unless you run long lenses.
 

Acratech Ultimate ballhead. Decent load capacity, lightweight. Markins M10 is at least 50% heavier that the AUB...
 

Acratech head = 450g
Markin M10 = 510g
Difference = 60g not 50% heavier
Weight bearing (take with a pinch of salt)
Acratech = 12kg
Markin M10 = 40kg
Markins also have Progressive friction control


RossChang said:
Acratech Ultimate ballhead. Decent load capacity, lightweight. Markins M10 is at least 50% heavier that the AUB...
 

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