Manfrotto 400, 405, 410 geared heads

[numnutz]

Hi - I wish to by a geared head for my 4 x 5 Gandolfi and 8 x 10 Deardorff cameras to put on top of a Berlebach Tripod.

I had discounted the Manfrotto 410 as it is rather lightweight for the Deardorff and I thought about the Manfrotto 405, but I have heard that they, both the 405 and the 410, suffer from wear as the gearing is only made from nylon. Can anyone confirm this? The nearest alternative is the Manfrotto 400, however this is a bit more than I wanted to spend - does this have nylon gears as well?

Also there is a Majestic, I really have do a bit more research on these. The price seems to be OK but they look really heavy.

The only other decent geared head I have found is the Multiflex http://photoclam.en.ec21.com/MultiFl...2_4521844.html although I feel this is going to be far, far too expensive for me, and as they don't reply to their e-mails I don't really want to send them money.

Any suggestions or help anyone can give will be welcome.


nn

[Paul Kierstead]

I don't know what the material is, but I'm willing to bet you'll get a lot of years of service from one of the manfrotto's before it wears out.

The 410 is too light for 8x10, IMO. It is good for field type camera for 4x5, but found the high center of gravity on a heavy monorail makes it iffy for that. Just my experience.

I have a Majestic gear head. It is bulletproof, dead steady and heavy as hell. Great studio head, might be ok out of the trunk, you wouldn't want to pack it.

In my observation, many or most 8x10 users tend to use something like a double tilt head or perhaps 3-way head.

[ljsegil]

Haven't used the 405, but found the 410 couldn't handle an 8x10 with much extension. Pick up a used 400, can hold a boulder still, but weighs as much as the boulder. Recommended if you're not traveling far, but also requires heavy duty legs to match it.
LJ

[Brian Ellis]

I used the 410 with several different cameras weighing in the 3 to 6 pound range for about 9 years. I never noticed any excessive wear. However, I agree with others that the 410 isn't sturdy enough for most 8x10 cameras.

[Capocheny]

The 400 head is a great piece of equipment but, IMHO, it's really meant for usage in a studio as opposed to being lugged around out in the field.

Both the 405 and 410 are nice heads but the 410 is far too light for your Dorff.

For your Gandolfi 4x5... either head will work more than adequately.

I had the Majestic head with the big supporting plate... it's also not the lightest head in the world but will hold the Dorff without any issues. At the end of the day, I went with the Arca Swiss B2 head and carbon fiber Gitzo legs for my Dorff 8x10.

Cheers

[numnutz]

Thank you all for your observations

nn

[The Dread Pirate Robins]

I know I am coming late to the party here.

I have a 410 head which I use for 4x5. The shop that sold it to me told me that if I were to get much into 8x10 I'd eventually want a bulkier head. Since I am doing a lot of packing gear into shoots I went with the lighter-weight lighter-duty model for now.

It's a real nice piece of kit.

[vinny]

I didn't have my 410 for more than three years before it showed sloppy gearing. I loved using it though, nothing quite like it.

[numnutz]

I eventually purchased an almost new 400 head from the auction site It is extremely substantial and as ljsegil comments:

can hold a boulder still, but weighs as much as the boulder

The gears used are Brass on Aluminium on the others - the 405 and 410, the gears are nylon against Aluminium.

I do prefer using it as against a simple pan tilt type of head especially with the Deardorff...

Thank you all for your comments.

nn

[GSX4]

Love my 410 with my chamonix 45-1N and some fairly big petzval's but would not consider it a suitable fit for any 8x10.... Especially my Kodak 2D which is a boat anchor! You might get by with something light like a Chamonix 8x10, but still think this head is too light a duty for even that.