p.2 #2 · Best Ballhead Markins or RRS or Arca Swiss or Kirk for 5diii and TS Lens
Scott Stoness wrote:
Well after all of the above, I am inclined to the arca swiss. There are two versions - a single and dual pano version. The single is like a regular ballhead, but the dual lets you level the ball head and then rotate. This sounds great but increases the price from $350 to $550.
It is great in theory because you don't need to level the legs, just the ball head to shoot panorama shots.
Anyone have experience with the dual pano settings. Do they decrease the reliability / decrease the stability?
Hi Scott, the Acratech GP ball head can be used as a standard ball head or converted, turned upside down, and put to use like the dual you mention above...it's pretty trick, even has a gimbal option built-in...here's a link to their demo video, hope this helps, doesn't just blur the issue
p.2 #3 · Best Ballhead Markins or RRS or Arca Swiss or Kirk for 5diii and TS Lens
Scott Stoness wrote:
I have an acratek and like it for hiking (light, strong) but based on my experience, it is more of a medium weight ballhead.
I use the Acratech (not "k") Ultimate Ballhead for backpacking and some hiking when I want to minimize gear weight. This unit weighs only one pound, is very flexible as to camera position, locks up nicely, adjusts easily. It does a fine job with 70-200mm lenses, and can work with heavier lenses that have a ring mount - such as the 70-200mm f/2.8 and my 100-400.
These are really first rate heads and I recommend them without hesitation.
I also have the RRS BH-55 for use when weight isn't an issue. I have it fitted to a larger tripod than the one I usual use with the Acratech. It is a big, beefy unit. It adjust easily - both the rotational release and the ball head release. The ball head release, in particular, is very large and easy to operate. It has a third drag control adjustment. I leave mine on a setting with a very slight drag, though I'm not sure that this setting is necessarily all that useful.
Having said all of this, I think that it is impossible to determine the "best" ball head. Fortunately, there are a whole bunch of very good ones and you would be quite happy with any of them. In the end, you might think you have found "the best" one, but someone else will think that some different unit is best - so don't worry about it too much. (Out in the field you'll find a lot of competent photographers using a wide range of heads.)
p.2 #5 · Best Ballhead Markins or RRS or Arca Swiss or Kirk for 5diii and TS Lens
gdanmitchell wrote:
I use the Acratech (not "k") Ultimate Ballhead for backpacking and some hiking when I want to minimize gear weight. This unit weighs only one pound, is very flexible as to camera position, locks up nicely, adjusts easily. It does a fine job with 70-200mm lenses, and can work with heavier lenses that have a ring mount - such as the 70-200mm f/2.8 and my 100-400.
These are really first rate heads and I recommend them without hesitation.
I also have the RRS BH-55 for use when weight isn't an issue. I have it fitted to a larger tripod than the one I usual use with the Acratech. It is a big, beefy unit. It adjust easily - both the rotational release and the ball head release. The ball head release, in particular, is very large and easy to operate. It has a third drag control adjustment. I leave mine on a setting with a very slight drag, though I'm not sure that this setting is necessarily all that useful.
Having said all of this, I think that it is impossible to determine the "best" ball head. Fortunately, there are a whole bunch of very good ones and you would be quite happy with any of them. In the end, you might think you have found "the best" one, but someone else will think that some different unit is best - so don't worry about it too much. (Out in the field you'll find a lot of competent photographers using a wide range of heads.)
Thanks Dan. I am spelling challenged. I have a large acratech ballhead. I like it for hiking but I don't like it for stationary close to the car picture taking. Mostly I hate the quick release clamp that unscrews in a nano-second but I could fix that, I just use it for my lightweight gitzo with my eos-m for hiking so a fix is not needed. It is a pretty good ball head ( light and easy to use with pretty good holding power) but I want something stronger and with less flex and simpler, for my go to landscape photography.
I would recommend acratech to all who want a light ballhead but not those that might want to clamp on a sidekick from time to time or have a large 5diii with 1.4x and TS17 who ocassionaly carries same on the tripod for distances (that puts lots of torque on the ballhead) I would go with something more substantial, like the ones I listed. And if I was using it a lot for a big expensive camera I would swap out the clamp that comes with it for a slow release (safer) clamp.
p.2 #6 · Best Ballhead Markins or RRS or Arca Swiss or Kirk for 5diii and TS Lens
A question, Scott, Dan and all that might use Acratech products...
Typically I've a gripped EOS-3 or 40D w/300 f4L IS and 1.4x T/C III, and I don't appear to experience any 'flex' or 'torque'. I gather that if I were to use a 500 f4L or larger that the Acratech GP won't be as stable, possibly un-safe?
A 1DMkIIN is in the mix now, seems stable, a 400 f5.6L or 100-400L will join soon, any thoughts, experiences would be greatly appreciated!
p.2 #7 · Best Ballhead Markins or RRS or Arca Swiss or Kirk for 5diii and TS Lens
Related to the "gripped" heavy lens issue, there I think your concern is more about the tripod to head to bracket to foot to grip to lens combination, right? There the issue would probably be roughly the same independent of which head you choose.
I don't use anything as large as the 500mm so I have no direct experience with it. My largest lens is the 100-400, and with its foot mounted (through an RRS bracket) to the Acratech it seems plenty strong to me.
My "light" rig is the Gitzo 2542L tripod with the Acratech Ultimate Ballhead. Most often these days I use that with lens like the 17-40, the 24-105 or 24-70, and a 70-200, for which is works very well. This is the gear I take backpacking and on some day hiking shoots.
My heavier setup, for shooting where I'm not so worried about portability, uses the older Induro C313 Carbon Fiber Tripod with the RRS BH-55 head. I wrote some stuff about the RRS earlier in this thread, so I won't repeat that here. The Induro tripod is a more complex issue. I have put it through the wringer, and in many ways it has been fine, and this brand seems overall well designed and constructed. But mine now has some leg issues, with sections that spin more than they should and attachment bolts at the top that can no longer be tightened enough to produce the level of friction I want. That said, this model has been supplanted by a newer improved one, so don't take my experience to mean too much.
p.2 #8 · Best Ballhead Markins or RRS or Arca Swiss or Kirk for 5diii and TS Lens
Dan, thanks, I've a lens plate on the 300's tripod/collar foot, the same setup would be used with one of the 400mm options, that you use the 100-400L on the Ultimate bodes well for my using the GP as it is a bit bigger/heavier.
I've a CB gimbal that most often gets used with bigger/heavier combos, I just don't normally carry both, use the ballhead most of the time. I appreciate your reply...
p.2 #9 · Best Ballhead Markins or RRS or Arca Swiss or Kirk for 5diii and TS Lens
StillFingerz wrote:
A question, Scott, Dan and all that might use Acratech products...
Typically I've a gripped EOS-3 or 40D w/300 f4L IS and 1.4x T/C III, and I don't appear to experience any 'flex' or 'torque'. I gather that if I were to use a 500 f4L or larger that the Acratech GP won't be as stable, possibly un-safe?
A 1DMkIIN is in the mix now, seems stable, a 400 f5.6L or 100-400L will join soon, any thoughts, experiences would be greatly appreciated!
Cheers,
Jerry
The Acratech is rated at 25lbs. The others in this list are rated at 50bls plus. A good rule of thumb is not to exceed 50% of the rated weight. You are coming close or exceeding that just with your 300 /1.4/camera.
But the issue is that the further out a lens hangs without counter balance, the more lever effect it puts on the ball head and the more vibration susceptible it will be. When you put a big heavy lens (TS17) that sticks out and then extend it further with a 1.4x thats lots of torque and the slight wind will/or shutter release will cause vibration that will dampen slower as the lens is further out. So its not just weight but leaverage. My smaller crop body 7d with 17-55 lens is more compact and lighter and the acratech is more appropriate. Even more so with my eos-m with 22mm pancake, it is fantastic. And if I am hiking, I will even use it with TS17, because I don't want to carry big weight.
On a big lens (300/2.8, 400/2.8, 200-400, 500, 600,800), you would balance the load by having the plate on the lens and the torque effects are counterbalanced and would not be as great.
[However, I would suggest that none of these mentioned ballheads would be as good as a wimberly head for wildlife. And I am always nervous beyond at most a 70-200 on a ballhead because its easy for it slump over if you get it off centre or just loosen the ballhead. On a wimberly it will just shift a bit]
Obviously a bigger/stronger ballhead is better than a smaller ballhead to solve the levering effect. The acratech at 25lbs is not a big strong ballhead as evidenced by its 25lbs rating.
My gut feel after using the Acratech is that it did not do as good a job of avoiding vibration as my big induro (that is lost).
But I think that if you are putting a >=300f4 weight lens on any tripod it should be with a wimberly. Even with the sidekick, that I use sometimes, I am quite nervous about a slump if I accidently loosen the ballhead. And when I have tried this with my acratech, its even scarier.
That said, the 100-400 is only 3.5 lbs and it would be mounted on the lens, so it would be okay on the acratech. The 400/5.6 is starting to get big though and I would either have a bigger ballhead or a wimberly.
p.2 #10 · Best Ballhead Markins or RRS or Arca Swiss or Kirk for 5diii and TS Lens
Like many of the folks here, I've had my share of tripods and ballheads. I love my Acratech when weight becomes an issue. But by a long, long margin, I like my Gitzo with the Arca Swiss Z1 dp. Unlike the Acratech that you have to flip over for panning/leveling, the Z1 dp has a panning base and another at the camera mount. I use it for easy panoramics.
With the tension adjusted, it easily holds my gripped 5DIII w/100-400L at any attitude. If you don't need/want the additional panning feature at the camera mount, the standard Z1 is probably a better candidate for you.
p.2 #11 · Best Ballhead Markins or RRS or Arca Swiss or Kirk for 5diii and TS Lens
I don't know what the best one is as I've never tried them all, but Markins are very good indeed and a lot lighter than the RRS, which is what concerned me more than price and load capacity.
p.2 #12 · Best Ballhead Markins or RRS or Arca Swiss or Kirk for 5diii and TS Lens
SUNWAYFOTO FB-36DDH2 40lb Max load Tripod Ball Head w Panning Clamp Arca was recommended to me by a friend with a heavy Arca-Swiss because of the large price difference vs quaity.
I use it on a light tripod with a 1DsIII and TS-E24L for real estate and landscape work.
Long lenses require a gimbel head and I found Jobu excellent.
p.2 #13 · Best Ballhead Markins or RRS or Arca Swiss or Kirk for 5diii and TS Lens
I'd vote for the markins and the arca swiss. Over the years I've had most of the head mentioned. I generally use the markins except in extreme cold or where the load is very heavy. Then the arca comes out. I've had the markins become unworkable in sub freezing temperatures. If you wipe the ball with a cloth moistened with wd-40 it works again (in my experience and per their web site). The arca swiss is pretty bullet proof. Only problem was a trip to iceland where it was rained on daily. The head more or less froze up later and had to be repaired. Kirk heads have been great but I had one once which did not lock up uniformly. Acratech I could never get used to its operation. RRS it is stiffer to lock up (requires more force) and the notches seem to be in the wrong place to put the locking knob in an ergonomically favorable place. No experience with induro.
p.2 #14 · Best Ballhead Markins or RRS or Arca Swiss or Kirk for 5diii and TS Lens
Flowernut wrote:
Acratech I could never get used to its operation.
It is an acquired taste, especially at first and if you are used to other head designs.
I was concerned about this when I got my RRS head, since I knew that I'd be switching between the two very different designs - the unusual design of the Acratech and the more traditional design of the RRS. I've now been doing "the switch" for some time, and it has turned out to not be a problem.
A look at the Acratech models, especially the "Ultimate Ball Head" (UBH) that I use, will make visually apparent the design differences between them and the rest of the heads. One thing I've come to like a great deal about the UBH is how quick and easy it is to get the lens/camera in position for shooting straight down or close to it. Traditional heads have you line up the base of the ball with a slot in the body of the unit, and then you rotate the entire unit to get things pointed the right way, since you have no direct side-to-side rotational range with the ball itself. With the Acratech, as long as you have the "low" side of the unit in roughly the right place, you'll be able to quickly position the camera and make adjustments more easily. This is true to some extent as well when you point the camera up.
As with all things (he repeats, ad nauseum...) there are compromises with any choice and personal needs/choices certainly come into play. The Acratech is plenty solid, but there are more solid units. The Acratech is different from the standard design, which may appeal to or concern you. Some don't see the appeal, while others like them just fine.
(Some will say that a bigger and beefier head - and tripod - is always a better thing. It is true that beefier can be more solid, as long as the beef is accompanied by excellent design. But weight isn't always a good thing, especially if you have to carry the gear!)
p.2 #16 · Best Ballhead Markins or RRS or Arca Swiss or Kirk for 5diii and TS Lens
I have a Markins Q10 with lever release (weighs 490gr. holds 45kg +) on a CF tripod and a Markins Q3T Traveler with lever release (weighs 368gr. holds 30kg +) on a CF monopod. Operation is smooth and positive, properly adjusted has no drift and adjusts pretty precisely. Light weight and easy to carry. Markins Arcaswiss plates for 2 bodies and three lens foots. Got a pair of well designed and quality head hoods for free, all from Nikonians.
p.2 #17 · Best Ballhead Markins or RRS or Arca Swiss or Kirk for 5diii and TS Lens
This survey is invalid because:
1) Probably no one has tried all the products
2) They are all pretty good products making evaluation highly subjective
My experience is limited to Kirk, Markins and RRS. I preferred the Markins. I would consider a Arca-Swiss next time, but the Markins will last my lifetime.
Nov 18, 2013 at 05:53 PM
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p.2 #18 · Best Ballhead Markins or RRS or Arca Swiss or Kirk for 5diii and TS Lens
leftcoastlefty wrote:
This survey is invalid because:
1) Probably no one has tried all the products
2) They are all pretty good products making evaluation highly subjective
My experience is limited to Kirk, Markins and RRS. I preferred the Markins. I would consider a Arca-Swiss next time, but the Markins will last my lifetime.
So how do YOU know all the products are pretty good without any experience of all the products ?
Based on the second review, I would go with the AS if I was buying today- maybe through Wimberly who puts their own clamp on it, I hear.
Thanks for the references - I had already read the digital picture which gave the edge to Arca Swiss, over RRS, for ease of use resulting from their asymetric ballhead (automatically applies more resistance as you get off centre) but I had not seen the other.
A summary of ron martinson's review is:
1) He put all the ballheads on a similar stress. 70-200 and camera on ball head and took pictures and pixel peeped at sharpest of 2 taken.
2) He took pictures and concluded that the Arca Swiss did the best job of locking down and having the best stability (image) and good features.
3) He recommends Arca Swiss as best and Benro B3 if you are cost constrained ( I suspect this is the same as the induro above with a different brand name)
4) He concludes that the RRS is pretty good (image) but not as good as the AS and more expensive
5) He conludes that the Acratech and Kirk were even, but behind RRS on image stability, and not as easy to use as the AS or RRS. [This is surprising to me because the Kirk is 2 x the mass of the Acratech] And RSS was most expensive when taking into account the price and the lack of plate in its price.
[He did not test the Markins]
All of which supports my previous conclusions:
1) Arca Swiss is best. Highest rated weight and usability with the asymmetric head. With reasonable price. [ Markins is lighter and rated lower so my guess is that AS is more stable. Just a guess]
2) Acratech is good if you are going to go hiking and are concerned with the weight.
3) But all of these ball heads ( and Acratech) are pretty good. And which one you choose depends on your weighting of capacity, weight, ergonomics, and customer service.
p.2 #20 · Best Ballhead Markins or RRS or Arca Swiss or Kirk for 5diii and TS Lens
Scott,
I just went through the same analysis and all the heads you list, except the Induro, are excellent.
I ended up with the M20 and it just works perfectly but I would have been just as happy (probably) with the RRS.
There are lots of good review out there for you. My choice was to get the one with the best customer support which rules out the Chinese companies.
Good luck.
