Bob can sound terse online, but he is a honest and wise gentleman. He often will suggest products he doesn't market, but when he does sell good gear - like Novaflex and Linhof - he doesn't bang you over the head about it. Most of the questions he answers are from people who bought USED Linhofs that he doesn't see a nickel from.
Of course, if he had a proper website he could save himself a lot of pesky questions... ;-)
I don't know how this compares to others listed but I just love my Bogen 3030. It is a 3-way head but I much prefer that for LF. A ball head is fine with MF and 35mm. The only downside is that it doesn't have a built in level. Since my camera has that it is not a problem for me. I use this head on a Bogen 3021 for my CC400 and it is up to the task. It will easily support your Speed Graphic or any 4X5 field camera that you buy in the future.
i think frank wants you to contract him to do your website bob.
can i get a commision?, i'd settle for a master...
Adrian,
With the number of product lines we have and with the number of years some of our products have been available and in use, like Linhof, Novoflex, Rimowa and Rodenstock we are inundated with questions and call and most are never the same questions.
And simple things like putting up a serial number directory for Linhof or Rodenstock also isn't simple as there is no complete listing from the factorys and once many people know the age they have further questions about the item.
And it is much faster and more thourough to simply answer questions on the phone then type them out. Especially when many answers begat more questions.
I've decided that I'm going with the Acratech. If it doesn't work for my 4x5, it will still be a good choice for 35mm and MF and I can look at the other suggestions for 4x5.
Bob, I did want you to know that I called Showcase Photo and Photo Barn as you suggested. Showcase said the only ball head that they had in stock was the 322RC Bogen, which would not work for 4x5. At Photo Barn, the saleslady was not very interested in helping me over the phone. She said that they had a Gitzo magnesium head in stock. She said it weighed over 2 lbs. I asked if she had anything lighter and she told me just to go look online, decide what I want and then call her and she would look to see if they carried it. She said otherwise she would have to manually go look at their stock and see the specifications. She gave the impression that she didn't want to be bothered.
The problem seems to be that either brick and mortar stores either don't have stock or that they feel so burned by people asking them for advice and then ordering online (which I do not think is fair to the store), that they blow off potential customers who would pay extra to buy from a person that they could ask questions of and from whom they could receive thoughtful answers. It seems like the lackluster customer service will ensure the decline of the traditional store.
Thank you all again for your generosity in sharing your opinions.
i'd be interested to hear how you get on anne. i have the 410 geared head which i like for 4x5 but with the glitch i commented on previously, so i'd love to hear how the ball head tracks horizontally, with what degree of stability, and if the camera falls dramatically if you don't tighten it enough!
ie, if it is suitable for lf.
"so i'd love to hear how the ball head tracks horizontally, with what degree of stability, and if the camera falls dramatically if you don't tighten it enough!
ie, if it is suitable for lf."
Of course it's suitable for LF - many of us use ballheads including the Arca B1 and the Acratech. I've used both just fine for 8x10, as do several other photographers I know, and much prefer them.
For urban landscapes for example, my current 8x10 set-up (especially with the Acratech head) + lighweight carbon fibre tripod and 5 mido holders weighs bearly more than my old Deardorff.
For this kind of photographyy, carrying the camera over you shoulder for lengthy periods of time + ease and speed of setup and use is paramount.
One tripod head isn't suitable for all types of LF photography. So it's rather hard to say" is it suitable for LF photography" - rather, is it suitable for your type of photography.
BTW - both my old Acratech and my Arca B1 lock solid and have no problems tracking horizontally. And just about any tripod - ball or pan and tilt will flop dramatically if not tightened up with a heavy camera on. In fact the one time I almost did seriuous damage to my fingers from "camera flop" was with a Deardorff on a big heavy Ries tripod and head setup that wasn't tightened down - imo one of the most anoying, heavy and cumbersome of tripod setups unless you are using 11x14 and bigger.
You'd be amazed how small the demand is for pictures of trees... - Fred Astaire to Audrey Hepburn
www.photo-muse.blogspot.com blog
And it is much faster and more thourough to simply answer questions on the phone then type them out. Especially when many answers begat more questions.
Yeah, this whole world wide web thing is just a passing fad. Why would anyone spend time surfing the web in the evening when they could wait until the next day and make a phone call. This whole information available 24/7 is way over rated. Never mind that some people live in different time zones, work long hours, or have other commitments that prevent them from making a phone call when the "home office and keeper of all information" happens to be open. We all know customers would much rather do business when it's convenient for the manufacturers, sellers and distributors, than for the customers themselves. Besides, if you call the next day and request a brochure, it will only take a couple days to arrive in the mail. We've become a world of spoiled consumers. Our parents and grandparents got along just fine without the world wide web. Why can't we?
There's a reason this, and other online forums, are full of questions about certain brands of equipment - their manufacturers and distributors refuse to put up a decent web site.
Kerry
But I really like the Japanese Pinchinko music on the ToHo website, so maybe Bob could put a little Wagner on the HP site to reinforce that Prussian brand image ;-)
wagner would be nice but to really reinforce the message how about a gothic thrash metal introduction plenty of "flash" programming, linhofs flying in and out, opening and closing, getting the shot...
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