More Ballhead

[Ole Tjugen]

There's a ball head review in MAGNAchrom - out today.

[big_ben_blue]

I use two beaten up NPC Proheads. Not really ballheads per se, but not pan&tilt head eithers (something in the middle). Extremely sturdy, and built stupid simple. I don't believe they are still made though (fleahbay might be an option).

[vinny]

From another thread:

I bought a b1 with the flip lock in december 2005. Right out of the box, the flip lock would stick when a qr plate was installed. In other words, the camera couldn't be removed without sticking something like a key behind the lock and pulling the little textured pin outwards. I didn't have another head so i had to use the b1 at the time. B&H wouldn't take it back since it was past the 14 day period. I contacted arca swiss and found out they don't fix their own equipment nor wood they send me a replacement. I sent it to the company they use in chicago for a fix and they fixed something else that wasn't wrong instead. They said they had a bunch of heads come back with lock-up problems involving the ball. Good to know. I still have the head and don't usually have flip lock problems unless it's below freezing. It works great even with my 8x10.
Would i buy another arca swiss product. Hell No! Too much $$$ for something too fall apart right out of the box and poor customer service.

vinny

[Ted Harris]

The Magnachrome review was interesting but it left out a lot that I am interested in. Further, I'll quibble with their review of the Novoflex Classic Ball 3. They say no way with a Technikarden and, while that may well be the case, I have been using one with a Toyo AII for nearly a year and it works very very well ... better than my old Acratech and as well as my Foba. Locks up tight and holds tension firmly. No complaints.

[MJSfoto1956]

The Magnachrome [sic] review was interesting but it left out a lot that I am interested in.

like what?

Further, I'll quibble with their review of the Novoflex Classic Ball 3. They say no way with a Technikarden [sic] and, while that may well be the case, I have been using one with a Toyo AII for nearly a year and it works very very well ... better than my old Acratech and as well as my Foba. Locks up tight and holds tension firmly. No complaints.

As stated clearly in the article: your mileage may vary. In the case of a TK45s vs Toyo, the TK is both heavier and due to its higher profile generates a larger moment arm. Our simple test demonstrated that the TK45 could not be held with this ballhead at a 45 degree angle and as such received a "no". I could of course actually use this ballhead out in the field quite effectively with a TK45 as long as I was keeping things centered on the ball. However, given the other choices out there, we felt there were much better ballheads appropriate for large format cameras than this one.