I've had an Arca Swiss B1 for several years and it's the cream of the crop, as
far as I'm concerned, well worth the $350 or so....you'll keep it the rest of
your life, if you want. Unless I replace it with something better, someone
will have to pry it out of my cold, dead hands.....it's that good. Oh, and buy
either Kirk or RRS plates, they're fantastic, but not cheap.
If I was buying a new ballhead and weight was an issue, I'd seriously consider
the Acratech (sp?), which is superb. Gitzo also makes a nice small head that I
like (not one of the offset ones, which drove me crazy, but the smaller,
symmetrical one (not the tiny model). There are also other nice small
($75-125) ballheads out there too. Ideally, I'd like one that had an
Arca-Swiss clamp. UPDATE: I just looked on the RRS page and they've got a real
nifty small head the BH-25 that has an AS plate attached. I may just have to
get that one.......
If I was buying a new. all-purpose ballhead, I'd buy the new Really Right Stuff
BH-55 head, which is getting rave reviews. www.reallyrightstuff.com.
Skip
----- Original Message ---------------
Subject: [OM] OT: Tripod Heads
From: Rob Harrison <robhar@xxxxxx>
Date: Mon, 22 Nov 2004 11:44:18 -0800
To: OM List <olympus@xxxxxxxxxx>
>I need a new one. I have a nice little Giotto MH-1001 medium ball head for
>my Reporter series Gitzo, but it¹s just not secure enough for precisely
>framing architecture. I¹ve got a huge Gitzo ?rationale¹ low-profile head,
>meant for large format, but it doesn¹t fit a SLR particularly well.
>(Attachment isn¹t close enough to the edge to allow lens to shift.)
>
>I¹ve been looking at...
>
>a standard Gitzo 3-way:
><http://www.gitzo.com/products/metric/heads/three/rightscreen.php3>
>
>Or, probably more universally useful, compact ball heads:
>
>Markins M10 <http://www.markinsamerica.com/MA3/M10-L.php>
>
>Kirk BH-3: <http://www.kirkphoto.com/ballheadbh3.html>
>
>The Arca-Swiss B1 is a bit large and heavy and (even more) expensive, but
>I¹ve read nothing but glowing reports. It may make sense to go the whole
>hog, since this head will live on an old, large, sturdy and heavy Gitzo
>Studio series set o¹ legs.
>
>Feedback from users of the above, or other suggestions?
>
>Thanks.
>
>Rob in Seattle
>
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