One thing never addressed by the OP (at least that I was able to find through reading the thread) was the conditions under which the head would be used; he simply asked for recommendations using a 300mm and a 1D series body. I've gone from a small Manfrotto ball head, to a Manfrotto "joystick" style head, to an Acratech Ultimate V2 head, to, finally, an RRS B-55 head. I've also gone through three sets of legs during that time (two from Bogen/Manfrotto and now a set of Gitzo). Each bit of equipment served its purpose well initially..but as my demands on my equipment grew, as the lenses I used changed, and as I used my equipment more and more frequently, under more diverse (and sometimes extreme) conditions, some of the original equipment no longer met my needs. If I had it all to do over again, I'd have just bought the Gitzo legs and RRS head to begin with and been done with it...but if I had not been as demanding of the my equipment, I may have stopped somewhere else in the process and been just as satisfied. I've looked very carefully at the Benro/Induro heads and tripods and there ARE shortcuts taken...but they might serve the purposes of an occasional user or someone that didn't put a lot of stress on their equipment. Having looked at them, I think the lifespan of a Benro or Induro head is going to be shorter before failure of some type...so longevity expectations come into play as well. There's a good article by Thom Hogan (I think it was mentioned in this thread earlier) about buying tripod legs and heads (http://www.bythom.com/support.htm)...one I wished I had read about 8 years ago!...and it boils down to buying the proven components now instead of later and not looking back. When it comes to legs, Gitzo is that component...with heads, I think Arca, RRS, Kirk and Markin are all playing on a fairly level playing field...Acratech is very well made, but it simply is not as good with heavier bodies/lenses IMHO.
