And it will make you a better photographer—"gives support to the expressive capacity of photographers by allowing them to continually renew their inventive creativity and achieve hitherto unimaginable results." I think I need one.....
.Originally Posted by vinny
Frank,
I am using a BH-55 (with a PCL-1 screw clamp) and the B-25 plate for my Super Technika V 5x7 on an older Gitzo CF tripod, and it is rock solid. While 3-D heads may be better suited to LF cameras for positioning the camera more subtly, I am also shooting DSLRs and don't want to lug around yet another tripod/head combination. So, the BH-55 combo provides 95% of my LF needs and 120% of my DSLR needs.
With the PCL-1 clamp, the screw knob sticks out to the left or the right, thus it doesn't interfere with neither the rotating back nor with the drop bed.
Cheers,
Andreas
To infinity - and beyond...
Just throwing it out there Frank but I have a Foba Superball and have been using it for over a decade now. One of the nicest things about it is a simple flick of the locking lever locks it down solid which helps a great deal when adjusting a LF camera. Costs a little more than the RRS head but what the hell.... Mine has a Linhof quick release glommed on to it since I never liked the Arca quick release.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...k_Release.html
Actually my cheap eBay plates are fine in my lever clamp. It's original Arca-Swiss plates and rails and other plates made very close to the Arca-Swiss spec that seem to have trouble in Arca-Swiss-style lever clamps made by other manufacturers.
I have RRS plates which won't work with an RRS lever clamp. The RRS lever clamps have a good feel to their action but are not adjustable. Arca Swiss lever clamps are adjustable and work fine. The Acratech lever release looks like it could be the best.
I also like and use the Acratech ball heads. I actually like the feel of their controls more than the Arca Swiss Z1 but my first good ball head was an Acratech leading to a possible bias. The only RRS head I've used is their smallest cheapest one. It doesn't work nearly as nice as the more expensive models from Acratech and Arca Swiss that I have.
If the plates fit the lever release clamp, the lever release clamp is much faster and IMO safer. When working fast it is too easy to think the screw clamp is tight when it isn't. If it is windy you can pop the camera off the tripod quickly using a lever release clamp avoiding tip-overs.
Jeff Keller
Jeff,
Contact RRS, they would like to hear that you're having a problem with their plates on their head. I had a similar problem with a BH40 lever lock, and Joe took care of it for me.
Frank,
I use a BH55 with a Sinar F1 on a RRS tripod (2 series, three leg section) and it is rock solid. I really prefer the lever lock, much more convenient, no less solid. I'll even put the Sinar on a BH 40 in a pinch, not as solid but still useable. I've been using RRS since the Brian Geyer days... yeah, I got yelled at occasionally, but I still use the stuff. The new "administration" is much more user friendly.
JD
I ordered my RRS lever clamp directly from RRS and talked to them on the phone before I ordered it. I didn't have many surprises but I believe I did have at least one. At the time, I believe they were the only option available for a lever clamp and I was and I still am happy with the choice I made then. There are more choices available now.
One advantage of the RRS lever clamp has over the Arca Swiss is that the RRS clamp opens so wide that the lens/camera can be set directly down on the clamp whereas the Arca Swiss clamp requires that the plate be slid into the clamp. If all you have is a large format camera, RRS would be better than Arca Swiss. I don't have the Acratech lever clamp (yet), so I don't know if it has any issues. The design looks good.
RRS is a "first class company" and upfront they made arrangements for several RRS plates which they expected would not work and which I sent back to them. I don't remember why I still ended up with some that would not clamp tight. I also have a good number of Kirk and recently Hejnar plates. Many perhaps even most of the Kirk plates work with the RRS lever clamp. The 2" long Hejnar plates seem to be slightly larger but still work with the RRS lever clamp except the screw heads for the safety stops are too big and need to be removed.
Jeff Keller
I ended up buying a BH-55 and a couple of plates to try out. I recently got the ball leveler and am currently using it with the Linhof 3-way, and frankly I am starting to think that may be the best of both worlds as it allows the quick leveling of a ball head with the option of axis-only movements. I might try the Linhof with a RRS lever clamp attachment and some Loctite and be done, or perhaps the BH-55 will be more comfortable to use... best way to find out is to try them both and see which works better.
I just watched the video for the GP head, I'm sold. Thanks for the link.
Earl
For what it's worth, I'm using a Manfrotto 498RC4 ballhead with my Wista. I needed something light, and this seemed a good compromise for use with my large format and my lighter gear.
So far it has proven to be sufficiently rigid in the field. But note that the first one I got fell apart in the middle of a shoot, in the middle of a running stream! This happened within 30 days of purchase, the shop replaced it. The replacement has not had any problems.
Note that I'm not currently using it with looooooong bellows extension - my longest lens at the moment is 135mm. I'm upgrading to a Chamonix and will have the bed extension, and plan to mount a longer lens. We'll see how the head holds up, but so far I feel reasonably confident.
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