With the double ended arca plate one could simply flip the entire thing upside down and use the panning base on the ballhead without having to level out the tripod legs and without having to unscrew any clamps.
It looks to me like you would wan a A-S ballhead base.. Sorry, but all ballhead bases are round. At least all the bases I know of are roundular. A-Ss clamps are squareish.
runamuck wrote:
It looks to me like you would wan a A-S ballhead base.. Sorry, but all ballhead bases are round. At least all the bases I know of are roundular. A-Ss clamps are squareish.
I really am just looking for a double ended rectangular plate. The possibilities for configuration of your gear in ANY order with a simply double ended plate and double ended clamp are too hard to ignore.
Really Right Stuff sells all the things you have shown. You show a double sided plate in your sketch, and the RRS Multi purpose plates are exactly that. The double clamp you show is available directly from them, and you can also put some RRS clamps together to form a back to back pair of clamps. And RRS makes dovetail "plates" that are designed to fit on the bottom of round ball heads, and provide a short dovetail that can mount in a clamp.
I understand your desire to flip a ball head for doing a pano, but adding a leveling base to the tripod, or attaching one in the stack using Arca Swiss compatable plates and clamps may be a better approach. And for me, I find that leveling the tripod its self is also a very practical way to shoot.
While I see how that would work, you could accomplish the same thing with less weight and complexity with an Acratech ballhead, which are designed to be mounted either flipped or not. Changing the orientation isn't as simple as using a clamp, since you have to unscrew the head from the tripod and reposition the clamp on the ball, but it only takes a minute, and can be done in the field. Might be an alternative if you haven't already considered it.
dsjtecserv wrote:
While I see how that would work, you could accomplish the same thing with less weight and complexity with an Acratech ballhead, which are designed to be mounted either flipped or not. Changing the orientation isn't as simple as using a clamp, since you have to unscrew the head from the tripod and reposition the clamp on the ball, but it only takes a minute, and can be done in the field. Might be an alternative if you haven't already considered it.
Dave
Only the Acratech GP heads allow this, right?
This thread was actually in response to this. I felt that it would be a lot simpler, faster, and possibly cheaper to just get a double ended Arca plate. Then you could do the inverted thing with *any* ballhead with a panning base, or do it with a non-panning base ballhead + separate panning base combo, and it would be cheaper and easier than getting a dedicated Acratech.
Yes, the GP and GP-S. It's a matter of preference, of course, but I find the Acratech approach simpler than the multi-part approach you are contemplating. But it looks like either would work.
I use the GP-S ballhead set up all the time with the rotator on top, so I never have to change it (though I could if I wanted). I haven't found any advantage to having the rotator on the base for general photography, and with it on top I can both level and rotate without having to change anything or add anything to the stack.
The PCL-1 is, by all accounts, a nice instrument, but it would be an extra part and more weight to carry; whereas the GP-S is natively set up to do that.
I use a Sunwayfoto rotating (panning clamp) so I don't have to flip the works when I go from side to front mount plates. Not sure if that's what you're trying to do but it's also great for panoramic images on a travel tripod:
