I've been using my Arca-Swiss p0 for a few weeks now, as it arrived just before Christmas. I've been using it mainly with a Nikon D3s and a 70-200mm f/2.8G II but also with a 1Ds Mark 3 and a variety of lenses.
As others have noted, the Arca-Swiss p0 is small, it literally will fit in a jacket pocket. It is roughly the size of a Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 lens. Setup is very easy: screw it on the tripod column (it is threaded for a standard 3/8" stud) and off you go. The top of the SlideFix QR clamp has a small bulls eye level built in that is easily visible if you have a long lens mounted in the SlideFix Clamp but hidden under a camera body if you use the anti-twist body plate (more about the SlideFix system in a minute or three). I also use a variety of other levels and against those the level in the SlideFix clamp is pretty accurate, but is small. If you want more accuracy you should use a two-axis level with a longer base.
The design of the Arca-Swiss p0 and it's larger and heavier weight sister the p1 is counter to most ball heads of my acquaintance save the Novoflex MagicBall. Essentially the ball is on the end of a short stem that attaches to the tripod and the clamping body (which includes the panoramic rotation) rolls around on the aspheric shaped ball. Arca-Swiss started using Aspheric shaped balls with the B1 Monoball and the advantage is that as the camera tilts farther from the upright position the load on the head meets greater and greater resistance the greater the angle of tilt. If you have ever had a camera flop around unexpectedly on a ball head -- something I've had happen with other ball heads and have a small scar on a finger as a result-- you'll really appreciate this feature. It also makes setting a tilt angle and lens axis direction a more precise endeavor.
The p0 and p1 are unique in another way as well. Almost every other ball head I've owned, tested or handled - exception being the Acra-Tech where pressure is applied to the ball directly through a band that girdles a narrow strip of the head -- applies clamping pressure indirectly to the ball. You turn a knob, which either through gears or levers applies pressure to a cup that forces the ball against the shell of the head's body. With these designs essentially you are fighting gravity; the weight of the camera and lens is pressing down and you are pushing the ball plus the camera and lens weight up against the shell. (Some of the Gitzo heads like the http://www.adorama.com/GZGH3750QR.html?searchinfo=Gitzo+Series+3 ) push the ball laterally). In the Arca-Swiss p0 and P1 pressure is applied directly to the head through an arrangement of three "planetary gears” and you control the pressure by turning a single ring. And unlike some other heads the Arca-Swiss heads do not rely on grease or other lubrication for smooth movement. Grease and lubricants eventually get sticky as they bond with airborne dust and grit and prevent the head from working the way the manufacturer intends for them too.
On the p0 there is no additional minimum tension control as was pioneered on the Arca-Swiss B1 and B2 Monoball series heads and later copied by others. On my Arca-Swiss B1 and B2 Monoballs I mostly used this feature when working with either large format view cameras or with big large aperture super telephotos. In practice with the p0 I've found I don't miss this feature. This is especially true in cold weather (cold of course is a relative term but I'm talking about the low teens to just above freezing temps we've had in Atlanta the past couple of weeks especially just around dawn and at night. Once I lock the head at the angle I want I've experienced no head creep or vibration problems at long exposures. The larger p1 however does have a minimum tension setting control. The p0 allows for a full 90-degree (a little more than 90 degrees actually) lateral tilt while the p1 lateral tilt is limited to roughly 50 degrees.
Rather than have a panoramic base where the head meets the tripod, the panoramic rotation is just beneath the camera. Due to size constraints there are no reference marks or degree markings on the head. On the p1 with the standard clamp these markings are there. The rotation lock is a small lever on the head and even with the head tilted all the way over and a highly unbalanced load once you lock the head or the panoramic rotation there is no creep.
SlideFix is a new quick release system from Arca-Swiss. It has a far narrower rail width than the Arca-Swiss standard used by A-S, Really Right Stuff, Kirk, Foba, Graf, Novoflex, Markins, PhotoClam, Induro, Sunway Photo, etc. The locking mechanism has three positions -Spring loaded open, open just enough to slide the rail back and forth in the clamp but not loose enough for the rail to come out of the clamp, and locked. When locked (it clicks into place when fully locked) the lever lies nearly flat against the clamping mechanism. To place a rail into the clamp you put one side of the beveled rail into one side of the clamp, open the other side and drop the other side in. the lever is spring loaded so you have to deliberately pull back on the lever to get it fully open. The clamp is then closed just enough to keep the rail in the clamp but loose enough to let you slide it back and forth depending on the length of the rail. The longest rail is 200mm and the shortest about 25mm. For most cameras the rail doesn't attach directly to the camera body but the screw goes through an anti-twist plate. For 35mm style DSLRs there is a universal anti-twist plate that you attach the rail of your choice to. The rail and body plate lock in alignment and generally speaking the rail is aligned fore /aft along the lens axis. Martin Vogt at Arca-Swiss tells me that an L bracket that I saw at PhotoPlus Expo '09 when I ordered a p0 and p1 has just begun shipping so I hope to have on in my hands shortly. For longer lenses there is a roughly 100mm rail with two screws for mounting to footed telephoto lenses. I have also used this rail on the body plate as a short nodal slide and for some macro work with a 105mm f/4 AI-S Micro-Nikkor.
So far I've had no problems with the p0 and I haven't babied it either. I put it on my 25 year old Gitzo 320 series aluminum tripod, and without a protective cover on the head, have let the combo mostly live in, bounce around in, and freeze at night in the bed of my Honda Element when I haven't been using it for shooting cityscapes, stitched panoramics and studio work. It isn't the heaviest duty head I've used. Right now I'd hesitate to use it with long fast lenses beyond a 300mm f/2.8 or for multi-row panoramics with the 1Ds Mark3 and the full Really Right Stuff Ultimate-Pro Omni-Pivot Package, but for those applications I use what is the best heavyweight head I've ever owned or used, a Foba ASMIA and a much heavier tripod. But for everyday use I really like the Arca-Swiss p0.
It is fair to note that one FM forum participant who contacted me off list found the p0 a little jerky for his macro work unless he has a relatively heavy load on the camera. As the cameras I'm using are larger than his this might be why I'm not seeing this. The p0 I have has operated very smoothly except for the first couple of minutes when I first start working with it on very cold days.
I paired the p0 with a Basalt 2 series. I opted for the simple model without the new slidefix system so that I could retain compatibility with the Arca Swiss standard. Bought a clamp from an ebay. The p0 is as light as one could ask for and has held my 5DII + 300mm f4 + 1.4 converter with razor sharp results. Ease of use is simple. No wobbles or drift. Great traveler. So far so good. Wouldn't press my luck with a larger lens but since I do not have anything bigger...
Does the aspheric ball negate the need for a separate tension control? In other words, does the Arca Swiss P0 have a sweet spot even though there is no separate tension dial?
Arca-Swiss heads have had aspheric balls since the B1 series. They also pioneered the minimum separate tension control as well. For reasonable loads ( like a D3 or EOS 1D series body and up to a 300mm f/28 I haven't missed it. The single control ring gives you a great deal of finesse.
E-Vener wrote:
Arca-Swiss heads have had aspheric balls since the B1 series. They also pioneered the minimum separate tension control as well. For reasonable loads ( like a D3 or EOS 1D series body and up to a 300mm f/28 I haven't missed it. The single control ring gives you a great deal of finesse.
Thanks. This is very interesting. I've been considering a Photo Clam PC-44 but this head is intriguing. My only concern is how it compares to the Photo Clam, or other heads in this class with a separate tension control, when it comes to adjusting the camera/lens within that sweet spot where you don't have to hold on to the camera to keep it from flopping around.
nikonem wrote:
Thanks. This is very interesting. I've been considering a Photo Clam PC-44 but this head is intriguing. My only concern is how it compares to the Photo Clam, or other heads in this class with a separate tension control, when it comes to adjusting the camera/lens within that sweet spot where you don't have to hold on to the camera to keep it from flopping around.
I'm going to have to take a trip to Adorama and see if they'll open one up for me...
Thanks. This is very interesting. I've been considering a Photo Clam PC-44 but this head is intriguing. My only concern is how it compares to the Photo Clam, or other heads in this class with a separate tension control, when it comes to adjusting the camera/lens within that sweet spot where you don't have to hold on to the camera to keep it from flopping around.
the difference is something you have to feel. Because there is naturally more dampening applied to the Arca-Swiss heads with aspherical balls you probably have more control. It isn't like the tension control ring is binary - either locked or floppingly loose -- the combination of the load on the head plus the progressive tensioning mechanism let's you micro control the movement based on how much weight the A-S heads are supporting at the moment. Based on my experience with the A-S B1 and B2 Monoballs if you have a seperate minimum tension setting you end up having to readjust that each time you change lenses or cameras. In practice this tends to be something you set for the lightest camera & lens combo you normally use and just use the main control for every day use. With the p0 this isn't a concern as so far as I can tell, the tensioning mechanism is automatically handling different loads.
My guess is the larger p1 A-S head has a separate minimum tensioning control as is more designed for large format view camera users where that really is a useful feature in my experience. Monorail view cameras not only tend to be a bit heavier than most 35mm based DSLRs and common focal lengths but also have the loads and stresses further away from the fulcrum point.
As I suspected, Adorama was willing to let me play with an A-S p0 in the store when I went to buy $200 worth of filters . It's smooth, but not well-damped. I also felt it was kind of jerky with light loads, which is what I'd frequently be using with it. Quite smooth with an Olympus 50-200 though...with that and a 2X TC (800mm EFL), I was able to adjust the frame to within an inch at 15 feet...that's about as good as I'd expect from a head costing less than $400 (and about the same performance I got from my PC-44).
It locks down tight, but it's hard to say how it would do under truly heavy loads...it would have probably done fine with my Sigma 100-300 f/4 when I had one. I can't imagine wanting to put a 300 f/2.8 on it, but if you can afford a 300 f/2.8, you can afford a p1
The panning base is similar to the ball...smooth but not well-damped. The knob isn't very big and seems like it would be easy to bump while adjusting the tension. But other than that, it's very well-designed...it fits right in with the rest of the head, so you can ignore it when you don't need it.
Overall, I'm whelmed...it's a bit like a low-end BMW...it's not going to be as nice as the standard model, but it costs less and in the end, it's still a Beemer. I'm going to buy an RRS panning clamp for my PC-44 instead...it's a bit more expensive, but I have no complaints about my PC-44 and the devil I know is worth $80 more than the devil I don't.
YMMV, and keep in mind I haven't used the p0 in the field...these are just first impressions in comparison to a PC-44.
What's the benefit of their new slidefix system over the tried and true arca swiss clamp?
At least they're not afraid to try something new...
The benefits I've noticed are less weight and bulk over the older Arca-Swiss based systems, you don't need body specific anti-twist plates (I'm waiting to to see what the "L" bracket looks like for SlideFix.) so it is a bit more user friendly and with less materials being used it could mean lower retail costs as well.
+1 on your second comment. Whether the SlideFix design gets enough traction in the market for other companies like RRS / Markins / and the other companies who cloned A-S designs in the first place to take note is gonna be a big question.
I'm kind of confused because the supported weight spec for it is WAY more than the above combo, many times greater and yet they talk about p1 for larger cameras and large lenses and yet in other places talk about long lenses on the p0.
skibum5 wrote:
Can the p0 handle a 5d2/7D + 300 2.8 + 1.4x TC?
I'm kind of confused because the supported weight spec for it is WAY more than the above combo, many times greater and yet they talk about p1 for larger cameras and large lenses and yet in other places talk about long lenses on the p0.
I'll try to remember to post here after I have a chance to try mine out. I just got one recently because it's lighter than a Really Right Stuff BH-40 (which is already light!), and because the Slidefix clamp fits an Arca monorail directly, which eliminates some extra hardware from my kit -- and also makes the RRS panning clamp redundant, since the panning base on the Monoball P0 is on top of the ball. (So once you level the camera, you've also leveled the panning base.)
I haven't had a chance to try it out in the field yet, but I'm hoping to this weekend, over at Mount Saint Helens. I did try it out a bit at home, and it certainly feels sturdy enough with the Arca on it.
I believe that the main reason that ballhead vendors recommend larger balls for heavier camera/lens combos has more to do with the fact that the larger diameter ball makes the extra weight easier to manipulate. I haven't had any problems using a large lens/camera combination on my BH-40 though, and that includes a 6.5-pound Ebony 4x5 and a 500 mm lens racked out to nearly 18 inches. The closeup of the lava dome at Mount Saint Helens is one that I capture with this combination, and it was a 1-second exposure, and cropped a bit, yet still sharp enough to print with exceptional detail at 24x30. So the combo works -- and the Monoball P0 is even sturdier than the already sturdy BH-40, so I don't think that it will be a problem.
Tamerlin wrote:
I'll try to remember to post here after I have a chance to try mine out. I just got one recently because it's lighter than a Really Right Stuff BH-40 (which is already light!), and because the Slidefix clamp fits an Arca monorail directly, which eliminates some extra hardware from my kit -- and also makes the RRS panning clamp redundant, since the panning base on the Monoball P0 is on top of the ball. (So once you level the camera, you've also leveled the panning base.)
I haven't had a chance to try it out in the field yet, but I'm hoping to this weekend, over at Mount Saint Helens. I did try it out a bit at home, and it certainly feels sturdy enough with the Arca on it.
I believe that the main reason that ballhead vendors recommend larger balls for heavier camera/lens combos has more to do with the fact that the larger diameter ball makes the extra weight easier to manipulate. I haven't had any problems using a large lens/camera combination on my BH-40 though, and that includes a 6.5-pound Ebony 4x5 and a 500 mm lens racked out to nearly 18 inches. The closeup of the lava dome at Mount Saint Helens is one that I capture with this combination, and it was a 1-second exposure, and cropped a bit, yet still sharp enough to print with exceptional detail at 24x30. So the combo works -- and the Monoball P0 is even sturdier than the already sturdy BH-40, so I don't think that it will be a problem. ...Show more →
