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