Reader's Comments - Index of - Free

Tripods
Of the ballheads that I've personally used, my favorite for feel and function is the
ARCA Swiss B1. This is the head that almost every serious photographer seems to
end up with and my only source of sorrow is that I blew about $330 on a FOBA
Superball before I found out about it. The ARCA is half the weight of the FOBA,
able to support more weight, and has a very interesting patented feature:
progressive resistance. That means when you've adjusted the tension for a 300/2.8
that is approximately level, the ARCA automatically increases the tensions as the
lens is pointed down a bit (so that the lens doesn't flop down catastrophically).
Whatever you get, if you spend $400 for a head, make sure you protect it from
knocks. I wasn't super careful with my FOBA and it became useless. Sinar Bron
does not stand behind the product and I would have been out of luck except that
Jeff Hirsch at Fotocare in NY (see where to buy) bailed me out.
If you really want to save money
and yet not get something that is
complete junk, try the Bogen
3038 ($150 at B&H) which
comes with an integral hex plate
Q/R. In fact, the quick release
has a really nice locking feature
that I've not seen on other Bogen
products. If you intend to leave
your camera on the tripod and
carry the assemblage around for
awhile, this would tend to inspire
confidence. In any case, the 3038
is about the same size and weight
as the FOBA and is strong
enough to take a 4x5 or
supertele. It is hard to describe
why the overall experience with the 3038 isn't as good as with the FOBA but it
clearly isn't. I think it comes down to smoothness and the use of a lubricant on the
3038, which I've played with but never used extensively.
An interesting design that I haven't tried is the NPC pseudo-ballhead. This has an
innovative design that locks the center of the ball rather than standard method of
pushing the ball into the socket (this changes your composition slightly, somewhat
irritating with a big lens especially). The head is reasonably priced ($225) and
apparently well made, but allegedly is a pan/tilt head that is not really a suitable
substitute for a traditional ballhead design (this is a paraphrase of some vitriolic
comments by ex-users).
http://www.photo.net/equipment/tripods/philg (4 of 53)7/3/2005 2:21:12 AM