Does anyone make a pan/tilt head with an Arca-type QR?

[David R Munson]

...or do I need to make/adapt my own?

Ideally, I'm looking for something compact, low-profile, and sturdy, like the Foba ASMIA, but with an Arca-type QR head. From what I can tell, no such animal exists. There's the NPC Prohead and the Arca Swiss B2, but neither is quite what I'm looking for. If need be, I will find an appropriate head and semi-permanently mount an Arca-type clamp on it with the help of some screws and red Loctite.

Anybody know if such a thing exists?
If not, any suggested heads to adapt to this purpose?

It seems like new pan/tilt heads are becoming fewer and fewer in number, and the remaining choices aren't particularly thrilling to me.

[Greg Lockrey]

In making your own, could you get a Arca type QR clamp and put it on a pan/tilt head?
I know for sure that I can get RRS clamps and put them on any Pan/tilt, but I'm not familiar with Arca type to know for sure. For example, I have a RSS clamp on an old Gitzo pan/tilt. But it seems plausable to me since they are similar.

[David R Munson]

Arca-type QR systems and the RRS clamps are the same system. It would be quite feasible to very securely mount one on a pan/tilt head, which is probably what I'll end up doing. The bigger challenge will likely be finding a head that fits my specifications. I find most pan/tilt heads to be too tall (center of gravity is too high) and with handles that protrude too far from the head (tend to snag, get in the way, impede packing, etc).

[Brian Ellis]

Kirk Enterprises makes Arca style clamps that attach to some tripod heads, I have one on my Bogen 410. You might check their web site and see if they make one for a pan tilt head.

[Greg Lockrey]

Why not go with the ball type head? They are lower profile and pack more neatly. Not to push one brand over another, my RRS has a tension adjustment screw that allows me to loosen the tilt without the camera floppng down until I'm ready to make the adjustment myself. Mine also has the pan on top of the head w/level and a pan at the base. Very smooth action in both places.

[David R Munson]

I have a ballhead and love it for my 35mm and 645, but for the RZ I want finer control over single-axis adjustment. It's dead easy to do so with the pan/tilt head, and more problematic with the ballhead.

[Struan Gray]

I love my Sinar pan-tilt head: low profile, robust, simple, field-strippable with no tools, and very, very stable. Put something like the Novoflex Q-base on it and you'd have a very usable head.

The design automatically compensates for any wear, so the green Norma era heads give nothing away in stability or ease of use to the more modern or new heads.

Plaubel also made a similar pan-tilt head which is available used (although mostly in Europe). I have never worked with one, but Plaubel's engineering was usually up to scratch. If price is an issue they are usually cheaper than the Sinar heads.

[Greg Lockrey]

I just looked over at B&H and there is no pan/tilt with an Arca type clamp. There are plenty pan/tilts with their own clamps. Gitzo, Velbon and Novoflex to name a few. What is your intended price range? I use my RRS on a SV45TE btw. Do you want a two way or three way? I also have one of those Bogen-Manfrotto squeeze type ball head that has the arm coming out to the side that's like a pan/tilt but I don't know if it would be strong enough for your RZ. I think it's rated for 5 lbs.

[Jack Flesher]

Arca CUBE ?

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/re...rca-cube.shtml

[David R Munson]

Well yes, but at something like $1,700 it's not in the cards just yet.