Hi everyone,

I am looking at the Acratech G-series, BH-25, BH-30, or BH-40. This will be attached to an ultralight Gitzo tripod that will probably see the most use with a Micro-4/3 camera, but may also occasionally support a Canon EOS-1 or 5D II setup. I have no lens heavier than a 24-70 f/2.8, and probably never will.

Light weight is key for the tripod setup is key, as I want the whole thing to be a viable city-walking or backpacking option. Which of the above ballheads would you all recommend? Does it make sense in this situation to pick up two different ballheads (one for the µ4/3 and one for the Canon setup)? I feel that the BH-25 is inexpensive enough that I could get that for use with the µ4/3, and pick up one of the others for the DSLR.

That being said, has anyone usedthe BH-30? How does it compare to the BH-40? How are the new Acratech heads? I have an older one from many years ago that has done well for me, but there are aspects of the design that have finally started to annoy me enough to consider moving to one of their new models, or to consider RRS as an alternative. Thoughts?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

Arka C.

Arka,

You should also be considering the new Arca-Swiss p0. I've been using one for about six weeks now. It's a pretty sweet, unfussy design. I like the price, the aspheric ball that dampens motion as you tilt the camera in any direction, that the locking collar incorporates the minimum load tension drag setting based on the camera and lens you actually have mounted at the time, that the panning motion is exactly where it should be directly underneath the camera (so that once you have the head leveled or tilted at the angle you want the camera pans on that plane); the built in bulls eye type level, and the new SlideFix QR system. The SlideFix is a big improvement over the older Arca-Swiss lever locking clamp. Also the SlideFix system uses plates that are a lot lighter and smaller than the Arca-Swiss design that Amrkins, PhotoClamp, RRS, Kirk, Acra-Tech, etc have appropriated. http://www.adorama.com/AWMBP0.html?searchinfo=Arca-Swss

I know a lot of people like to run with the herd but this is something you really should be looking at as well as the ones you list. I've been using it with an EOS 1Ds Mark 3, EOS-1D mark IV and a Nikon D3s, with lenses up to a 70-200mm f/2.8 with no problems even with long exposures.

what about the Kirk BH-3? It's pretty light, quite strong, and very rugged. Mine has done great over the years.

i have a basalt 4 section 2942 with an arca swiss B1 dp and it weighs 2.75kg with an rrs rail attached. the new AS P0 head looks like the perfect lightweight set up, half the weight of mine, also do you really want to use a 0xxx or 1xxx series there very short and that will get old very quickly. the cf saves another 300g or so. also the 1 and 0 series dont take spikes. the basalt is very rigid and much cheaper.

seriously looks at a 2xxx and the P0 with a kirk clamp. 1.64kg in cf.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?Ntt=po&N=4291613486
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/567541-REG/Gitzo_GT2541_GT2541_Mountaineer_6X_Carbon.html#specifications

i also have a bh-25 and it a release set and re-tighten affair, no match for the b1.

man, that P0 looks amazing. I might get one soon to try it out, pass my BH-3 to the wife

wtf is up with their Slidefix QS system? Are they trying to rewrite the book and get away from the ARCA SWISS clamp?

The BH-25 is really best on a table tripod -- not comparable to a more full-featured head. I've never tried a BH-30, and probably won't any time soon. The BH-40 is good. The BH-3 is good, too, though probably bulkier and heavier than you'd like. You might also consider the Markins Q3, which is about three ounces lighter than the BH-40, and well-made.

The new Arca P0 that Ellis mentions looks very interesting. I'd love to try one. Looks like a nice design, and the clamp system looks well implemented. It's a different system from the main Arca standard, so that is a potential drawback (and no L brackets, so far as I can tell).

I do like the low profile and lightweight plates it uses (reminds me of a compact little clamp/plate system I had years ago for a small rangefinder -- might have been from Linhof). For many applications, the heavier Arca plate system is probably overkill. It's easy for us to forget that when it was popularized by RRS and Kirk over 10 years ago, it was primarily targeted at nature photographers with heavy gear. It's now much more widespread (which is a good thing), but the design spec may be overbuilt for some things.

lordarka wrote:
Hi everyone,

I am looking at the Acratech G-series, BH-25, BH-30, or BH-40. This will be attached to an ultralight Gitzo tripod that will probably see the most use with a Micro-4/3 camera, but may also occasionally support a Canon EOS-1 or 5D II setup. I have no lens heavier than a 24-70 f/2.8, and probably never will.

Light weight is key for the tripod setup is key, as I want the whole thing to be a viable city-walking or backpacking option. Which of the above ballheads would you all recommend? Does it make sense in this situation to pick up two different ballheads (one for the µ4/3 and one for the Canon setup)? I feel that the BH-25 is inexpensive enough that I could get that for use with the µ4/3, and pick up one of the others for the DSLR.

That being said, has anyone usedthe BH-30? How does it compare to the BH-40? How are the new Acratech heads? I have an older one from many years ago that has done well for me, but there are aspects of the design that have finally started to annoy me enough to consider moving to one of their new models, or to consider RRS as an alternative. Thoughts?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

Arka C.

RRS is not the best choice of lightweight ballheads although the BH30 might be different. The BH25 does not have independent pan and ball lock. The BH40 is not lightweight. In that class, I've found that the Markins Q3T is probably the best feature set at the lowest weight. It's a neat little ballhead that works very well. On top of that, the new version fits well with traveling legsets.

J.

Kirk BH3.

I use the original AcraTech because of its very high weight to load ratio. I also like its open design, which has never jammed on me even in the worst blizzards. I use a dedicated "L" plate on my D300 to make horizontal/verticals very fast. If there was a ballhead out there that I thought would work better for me, I'd have bought it by now. Don't underestimate how useful those "L" plates are.


Kent in SD

For lightweight I liked the arcatech, but for me I found it slipped slightly. I am now using a markins Q3 or M20 depending on the load and think the markins is very well made.

E-Vener wrote:
Arka,

You should also be considering the new Arca-Swiss p0. I've been using one for about six weeks now. It's a pretty sweet, unfussy design. I like the price, the aspheric ball that dampens motion as you tilt the camera in any direction, that the locking collar incorporates the minimum load tension drag setting based on the camera and lens you actually have mounted at the time, that the panning motion is exactly where it should be directly underneath the camera (so that once you have the head leveled or tilted at the angle you want the camera pans on that plane); the built in bulls eye type level, and the new SlideFix QR system. The SlideFix is a big improvement over the older Arca-Swiss lever locking clamp. Also the SlideFix system uses plates that are a lot lighter and smaller than the Arca-Swiss design that Amrkins, PhotoClamp, RRS, Kirk, Acra-Tech, etc have appropriated. http://www.adorama.com/AWMBP0.html?searchinfo=Arca-Swss

I know a lot of people like to run with the herd but this is something you really should be looking at as well as the ones you list. I've been using it with an EOS 1Ds Mark 3, EOS-1D mark IV and a Nikon D3s, with lenses up to a 70-200mm f/2.8 with no problems even with long exposures.



I was just looking at that one last night... it's a very cool design. Does it accept standard Arca-Swiss plates? I have a pretty substantial investment in Arca-Swiss L-plates on my cameras, and am not ready to move to a different mounting system.

The price is definitely right, and I love the design.

Arka C.

You know where that would be cool is on a monopod for that 1% of the time you need articulation at the top of the monopod.

Otherwise, I'm not so sure I like that long stem on it.

J.

lordarka wrote:


I was just looking at that one last night... it's a very cool design. Does it accept standard Arca-Swiss plates? I have a pretty substantial investment in Arca-Swiss L-plates on my cameras, and am not ready to move to a different mounting system.

The price is definitely right, and I love the design.

Arka C.

The slideFix clamp doesn't but that can be changed out quite easily.

E-Vener wrote:
Arka,
You should also be considering the new Arca-Swiss p0.



I saw a handful of user reviews of this P0 head on Adorama. Rather mixed in response, particularly with the smoothness of the pan rotation and lock. I think the design is fundamentally sound and innovative, but I will consider the 2nd generation to address the minor complaints. Also I would like to see the tension ring being a bit thicker, even if the shape needs to be stepped.
I still find the band locking system for the pan movement on RRS heads to be superior. Most companies simply have a set screw against the rotating post. In any case I would put a RRS lever clamp on it, I think that is a super product.
Mike K

It's not quite in the same league as some of the options, but if weight and price are your primary concerns, you may like the Giotto's MH 1302-655.

More weight than price. I decided to give the BH-30 a shot. It'll arrive on Tuesday. I will compare it with the newer Acratech GP, and see which I like best.

The p0 seems interesting to me as well, so I may order one of those and test it out.

Arka C.

Markins Q3 Traveler

I also picked up an Acratech GP to put on my other tripod (A Slik CF 614). Pretty impressive head overall. I'm excited to see how light the RRS/Gitzo setup will be.

Arka C.

Kirk BH3 ++++++