Reader's Comments - Index of - Free

Tripods
Bogen showed me with a one day turnaround. If this is standard service for Bogen,
I'm a customer for life.
-- David Chang, May 5, 1999
Most of the time I agree totally with what Phil has to say on photo.net, but this
page's section on ballheads leaves me shaking my head. Phil says that unless you're
planning on doing architecture, you'll find a ballhead more convienient. Fair
enough. But then he goes on to say nothing kind, really, about any ballheads other
than the Arca Swiss B1 or FOBA Superball. Certainly, no head under $200 gets a
favorable review. What I take from that is that ballheads are the kind of technology
that only work well at the very top of the range, and are very poor otherwise. From
the cheaper ballheads I've played with in stores, this would seem to be the case. A
very nice panhead, on the other hand, can be had for a lot less than the B1 ballhead.
If you've got a lot of money, then, sure, get the Arca Swiss or FOBA ballhead. If
you don't, you'd probably like to spend some of that $400 on/towards a nice lens.
Get a panhead. If you get one that is smooth and has an long handle, you can follow
animals or what have you quite smoothly.
There's my nickel's worth.
-- Alex Hemsath, May 25, 1999
Someone a while back mentioned his frustration at not having a QR system to use
with a pan-tilt head. I just finished photographing 200+ quilts at NYQuilts with a
RRS clamp mounted to my Gitzo 3-way head and it works like a charm. I replaced
the 1/4" thumb screw with the 3/8" version and replaced the knurled wheel with a
9/16" nut, so I could tighten it with a wrench. It's very solid, and as much as I like
the Arca-Swiss B1, for some applications, the 3-way head just makes life easier.
-- Ron Goodman, May 30, 1999
If you want to shoot from low angles with a Bogen 3021 (or most other Bogens, I
guess), just remove the cap/stopper from the end of the center post, pull out the
center post and put it back in upside down, so the head is down underneath/between
the legs. You can then get the top of the camera all the way down to ground level.
For TLR's, you can get the taking lens even lower by swinging the head around so
the camera is sideways.
-- Paul Rubin, June 1, 1999
A thought for those who are looking for recommendations for a reasonably priced
tripod legset. The Manfrotto/Bogen 055Nat/3221G is a good deal, particularly if
http://www.photo.net/equipment/tripods/philg (21 of 53)7/3/2005 2:21:13 AM