The Bogen 3275 (410) geared head is not rigid enough for even light monorail use.
The Bogen 3275 (410) geared head is not rigid enough for even light monorail use.
Hello Peter: Ballheads <b>can be very precise
if they move smoothly yet firmly. (IMO Smoothness and firmness are key to precise positioning. Few ballheads work that way. The smoothest ballheads I know are Foba and Arca monoball both made in switzerland and in both you can adjust the firmness according to the size/weight of your camera. Kirk has an excellent reputation too though I have no experience with it.
I avoid the Arca because it can lock up and when it does that may be the end of your photography for that day. The Arca doctor in this forum has remedies for that but if you avoid the problem you will not need the remedies.
Foba makes a truly beautiful and functional product which is badly promoted and better priced than Arca. It does not lock up. With the biggest Foba and Arca you carry about 1.5 Kgs, their medium heads weigh about half that. Bogen ball heads, everyone I tried seemed very rough and jerky. They are coarse looking things that look and work as if they were made at a horsehoe foundry of the last century. The several Gitzo and the new Linhof balls I have tried are nicely made but move jerkily also.
Try before you buy. When your camera will be mounted, you will move the camera with the ball partially tightened or the friction control tightened enough to prevent your camera flopping over. To test the head, adjust it first as you would if you had the camera mounted and see if it jerks as you try moving the ball (camera). If it does, you will find it difficult to position the camera precisely. Another quirk of heads can be that of shifting position when given the final tightening. You can test for that with a long lens on.
The next step up in control are pan/tilt heads. A good one for LF will probably weigh as much as the large Foba or Arca.
Finally you have the geared heads, which are smooth but heavy and are suitable only for local work but not for anything else because of weight. Those are more likely to be used with TV cameras. For photo field work those seem to me redundant.
"I avoid the Arca because it can lock up and when it does that may be the end of your photography for that day."</B> pardon my french, but that is just pure horsesh*t.
If you do manage to lock up a B1 Mononball it takes all of about one minute to remedy the user induced problem.
While the Foba Superball is a terrific head, it is also twice the size and weight of the B1 Monoball and because it has a spherical ball and not the eliptical ball design used in the Monoball you do not have as fine of control which is essential for using a view camera user when leveling the camera base. iknow because I have used both.
Now if you don't mind levelingthe camera just fore to aft then the best large format head I've ever used is the Sinar Pan Tilt head.
The Manfrotto 400 is a great geared head, I have a 600mm lens, Sinar p, 2x convertor and Hasselblad 555ELD on mine now.
With the 10kg Manfrotto 161 tripod, it weighs 22kg. I do pre-release the 'blad, but the most inportant tip is not to walk about the room during an exposure.
Ball heads are a pain with heavy gear.
"The Manfrotto 400 is a great geared head, I have a 600mm lens, Sinar p, 2x convertor and Hasselblad 555ELD on mine now. "
All at the same time?
How about neither one? The Bogen 3047 works great for me. Totally solid, 2 level s built-in, big stout knobs, relatively cheap too! I don't understand the excite ment for ballheads.
Thanks a lot guys/gals for the input. Based on the recommendations, I am leaning towards the Bogen geared head.
Wim, I did look at Bogen's website in regards to their new 405 geared head. This head is rated at 16.5lbs, weighs 5.3 lbs cost $340.00 (B&H). Compare these numbers to Bogen 410 which is rated at 11 lbs., weighs 2.7 lbs and costs $163.00, I think the 410 will suffice my requirements in regards to weight and load capacity plus costwise, the 410 is $73.00 cheaper. The longest/heaviest lens I have is a Fujinon 250/6.3 which weighs a tad more than a pound (1.2) and also use a Polaroid 545i for proofing and shoot color slide films. I am going on a trip to Asia, so I try to be as 'light' as possible.
John, the tripod I use is a Bogen 3021. With your advice, I will bring my tripod with me to the store and check it agains these two geared heads.
Again, thanks a lot to everyone for your advices !!
...I guess the gods of math deserted me for a moment....the price difference between Bogen 405 and Bogen 410 is $173 (not ($73)...
Used teh Bogen 410 head with the 3021 tripod as my travelling setup for several years, and swapped the head off to heavier legs as I could. The only reason I got rid of it was that while it was wonderful with the 4x5, it wasn't strong enough to be steady with the 8x10. Now I'm trying to get used to a ballhead.
I shall have to give the 405 head a look.
Tony
Balance that $173.00 difference against the cost of your trip and your photographic materials.
If your camera has a rotating back I'd give a serious look at the other head I mentioned: the Sinar Pan Tilt head. It isn't geared but the single tilt joint is massive as compared to the similar mechanism on all other tripod heads and the head weighs no more and also has a lower overall height than either of the Bogen heads and the ballheads we have been discussing.
Why has no one has jyet mentioned the Reis heads. Is Ries still in business?
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