Steezus wrote:
You must be real frustrated with RRS then! Every time I open their catalog it boggles my mind to see how many different support items they carry from the clamp up. It is like you have all the parts you could ever want to build either an Autobot or a Decepticon!
you see boggling i see opportunity and a systematic approach.
their products are like lego where i an build what i need when i need it. not like a russian doll concept of one product that you open and come up with the next smaller size of the same thing over and over. so much for design inovation
i'm still waiting on my tripod leveling based from them.
It was saracasm. sjms, your position seems a bit at odds with other things you have said in regards to Photoclam. No doubt RRS is an awesome company and makes a ton of great gear, but they have 4 tripod heads, 3 that literally could fit inside themselves like a russian doll. I count 5 for Photoclam. So I find it odd to fault that company even though you obviously love RRS who also will develop a component, then create the same design in various sizes as well.
Basically, I don't think you have a very objective view of PC which would be okay if it was because they were so far unproven over a long period of time, but you instead chose paradoxical criteria it seems.
So far, I haven't heard of any problems with PC falling apart or seen a cutaway or breakdown of the gear showing sloppy work. To me, that is all we have to go off as far as build quality goes unless people report they are failing and handle like slop as well.
Don't get me wrong though, I think RRS is a pretty amazing company and that BH-40 will replace my head if it ever fails to deliver in the future. It just doesn't seem like you take a very objective approach in regards to any support equipment if it isn't Gitzo or RRS.
it seems your saracasm eluded more then me. in fact it still does. but then its pretty irrelevent.
cute shot of the Tori Gate at Miyajima. last time i was there was sept 1992. needed a serious paint job back then. way too hot for me there too. cruised up to Sapporo after a stop over at my friends apartment in Tokyo to refill my film supply. bagged a few peaks there in Daisetsuzan National Park while up there. Hokkaido is the best
Thanks for the review. In my looking around, I had missed this one. I've basically decided on getting the PC-44NS in red. If I may, let me add a little bit more information that I have gathered. First is that I can already see that the bubble levels are virtually useless as a circular level would have been better. I understand that it is difficult to view having to look underneath the side of your camera and still shows fore and aft level so much more clearly than lateral.
With quality seeming to be similar among "higher" priced heads, I gather that all would meet my amateur needs. However, a nice thing about these photo clam heads is how they can fold up inside a Feisol tournament tripods (and likely others like Benro Travel Angel) with or without a center column. The difference in design seems to be that the pan and ball tension knobs are 90(?) degrees apart allowing them to fit with a tripod leg in between. Most seem to be about 45 degrees which would interfere with the legs. Kerry from reallybigcameras gave me an excellent and lightning fast explanation/clarification about what works which I will quote. From his explanation I take it that only 33, 36, and 40 heads bought through him will fit between the legs. Look carefully on ebay listings, and you'll see the difference. Definitely worth buying from Kerry.
For lenses up to 70-200mm f4, I'd recommend the PC-36N/NS. If your 70-200mm is an f2.8, I'd move up to the PC-40N/NS. For the Bigma, the smallest ballhead I'd recommend is the PC-44NS. The only ballheads I normally stock in colors are the PC-30N and PC-33NS in red, blue and gold, and the PC-44NS in red. These heads, plus the all the black Photo Clam ballheads from PC-30N through PC-44NS will fit within the reverse folded legs of the Feisol Tournament Class tripods with, or without, the center column installed. The colored PC-36N/NS and colored PC-40N/NS
will not fit in the reverse folded legs of the Tournament Class tripods without the center columns installed. I believe they may fit in the reverse folded legs of these tripods with the center column installed, but I have not tried this.
It may seem odd that the color of the PC-36N/NS and PC-40N/NS ballhead would make a difference in whether or not it will fit within the reverse folded legs of the tripods. When I first started working with Photo Clam, I asked them to move the position of the pan locking knob on their PC-33NS, PC-36N/NS and PC-40N/NS to fit within the reverse folded legs of the Feisol tripods. The agreed to do so, but required that I commit to purchase a large quantity of each head they modified to meet my request as it requires a new set of anodizing masks for each size and
finish color. I was willing to make that commitment for the all three sizes in the black finish, but only for the PC-33NS in the colors. The PC-30N and PC-44NS are newer products that were designed with the an locking knob in the ideal position. So, if you want a red ballhead that will fit within the reverse folded legs of the CT-3442/CT-3342, without the center column installed, your choices are the PC-33NS or PC-44NS. ...Show more →
Steezus wrote:
You must be real frustrated with RRS then! Every time I open their catalog it boggles my mind to see how many different support items they carry from the clamp up. It is like you have all the parts you could ever want to build either an Autobot or a Decepticon!
Actually the opposite, RRS has a real good foundation for building custom rigs but they don't have everything I needed, so I had to machine some of my own stuff. It's currently a combination of RRS, Arca-Swiss, Hejnar, Kirk, Cambo and various milled aluminum bits.
Thanks for the review. I like the Feisol Tripods and was reading various reviews of 2 in particular, 3442 and 3441T
Interesting that I found comments about the same problem with both tripods (although in sum total reviews were overwhelmingly positive).
In any case, the issue involved where the angle of the legs are adjusted. My impression was that the metal teeth (perhaps ridges is a better word) that the tripod legs press up against when set at various angles were either very soft or weak, either wearing down or breaking off, making one or more of the legs not usable at one of the angle settings.
