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Have a friend who has waited FOREVER and it probably still isn't ready (I am talking well over a year...), as he backed out when he discovered that you basically need a tripod anyway and you have to submit your lens to have the rangefinder calibrated, etc. and I think he just got plain tired of waiting....he picked up an M line 4 x 5 arca with orbix, I think...sweet camera...
So, as to when you might get one, assuming you want one (they aren't cheap)...who knows....
I really cannot understand why this company, whose products are well-received and popular, does not even attempt at a marketing strategy. No web-site. Ancient PDF brochure which is rigid and not user-friendly. Crippling lack of information on new products. Dismal.Quote:
Originally Posted by Songyun
I suppose the cameras and tripod heads market themselves. They are probably selling everything they can make, and additional marketing would require increasing production capacity, which may cost more than they want to spend and could change the character of the business in ways they may not want to do.
What I wonder is why they seem to have discontinued the B2 and haven't come up with a replacement for it. It's a fantastic tripod head, and there's nothing else like it out there really.
No offense David, but wouldn't the Sinar Pan-Tilt do that just as well for 1/3 the cost?
I think the owners of Arca are so freaking anal that no website or brochure would ever satisfy them, so they never get one done or their designers quit out of frustration. It speaks well of quality and precision of the actual already-produced products that are "in stock". But I wouldn't count on seeing this new camera this year or next and I damn well would never send my lenses to France for calibration as I might not see them again for another decade or two...
The Sinar Pan-Tilt would do just as well with the 8x10P, but the B2 also works nicely with my birding setup (35mm camera and a 600/4.5), the flatbed cameras that can't be leveled with the rail clamp like the Sinar, and the panning is smooth enough for cine/video. It's stronger than my Majestic or Gitzo G1570M (both of which I sold after testing out the B2), lighter than the Majestic, and isn't too stiff for lightweight cameras like the 1570. I got it second hand for about twice the price of a used Sinar Pan-Tilt and sold the other two big heads to offset the cost, so it wasn't too outrageous a splurge.
Oh I'm envious of course and I do like the pairing of an Arca-Swiss product holding up a Sinar ;-)
Emmanuel Bigler sent me a PM saying the B2 still seems to be listed at major suppliers in Europe, so perhaps it's still available. I already have mine, but for others, that's good news.
Brice Desrez reports about his architecture work with the Arca Swiss Rm3D and a Leaf Aptus 22 Mpix digital back here
http://www.galerie-photo.com/brice-desrez.html
Sorry to date the text is in French so we'll try to find a volunteer to translate into English.
There are few technical details given but the photographer explains that he works with a dark cloth as he would work with a 4x5" ;)
Not kidding, he explains that he eventually got accustomed to focusing on a small GG and for him the problem is solved.