Tripod head for 4x5 -- recommendations?

[joolsb]

Yes the 410 is almost perfect...its fairly compact, fairly light (1.22kg) and gives you total geared control in all the three important directions...but could be better built.
In fact I'm very surprised no other manufacturer makes something similar.

Arca Swiss do make something very similar. It's called the C1 'Cube', it's a miracle of precision engineering and weighs less than a kilo.

You really don't want to know how much it costs, though....

[Kirk Gittings]

marc, yes that is the advancement primarily over earlier Bogen ball heads.

Let me amend my earlier post about the 329 head. It is a great general purpose head, but since I use two tripods, one larger and primarily for commercial close to the car vs. a light weight tripod, there were choices with the same RC4 plate which suited those tasks better.

[Bill_1856]

Kirk, my original post was about the 468MG head. Would you comment on it, please. Any drawbacks?

[Kirk Gittings]

Kirk, I agree with you the 329 is not the best choice for architectural use. But I don't think there is such a thing as a perfect head either. Some like ballheads, some don't, because they all serve a different purpose. If you want to stitch, the ballhead is less suitable. You have to look at your own needs, it may be perfect for one person, and not another. I still think the 329 is a great option except for architecture (if still available). It will handle anything up to 8x10, and isn't very big for the bag.

Did I not say that "It is a great general purpose head"?

[Kirk Gittings]

Kirk, my original post was about the 468MG head. Would you comment on it, please. Any drawbacks?

Besides all that I have already said already about the 468MGRC4 ( I can't recommend the RC2 plate version), I don't know what to say. Drawbacks are those of ballheads in general.