The GetDPI Photography Forum

Great to see you here. Join our insightful photographic forum today and start tapping into a huge wealth of photographic knowledge. Completing our simple registration process will allow you to gain access to exclusive content, add your own topics and posts, share your work and connect with other members through your own private inbox! And don’t forget to say hi!

I know everyone here loves the Cube but....

GrahamWelland

Subscriber & Workshop Member
I've been so close to doing that with my Cube clamp but over time I've grown to enjoy the positive deliberate nature of the Arca Swiss clamp.

The first spring/washer explosion of the Arca clamp normally sends people running but once you've been through it without long lasting effects you grow to like/love the positive clamp of the Arca Swiss mechanism. Yes, really. I'm shocked at myself too. (Unashamed RRS fanboy that I am).
 

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
Cube snobs. :ROTFL:

Seriously I had one for awhile very nice on a tech cam but on a camera body it's a little slow and if your not using a L bracket to switch to a vertical and relying on the head to do so, slow and a pain to get it flipped over to vertical.

Someone had to step to the plate and whine a little. The koolaid on the cube is flowing.

Now I'll probably be banned by morning for falling out of ranks here. :D
 

Bob

Administrator
Staff member
Cube snobs. :ROTFL:

Seriously I had one for awhile very nice on a tech cam but on a camera body it's a little slow and if your not using a L bracket to switch to a vertical and relying on the head to do so, slow and a pain to get it flipped over to vertical.

Someone had to step to the plate and whine a little. The koolaid on the cube is flowing.

Now I'll probably be banned by morning for falling out of ranks here. :D
Mine does a vertical. Totally easy with the hassy 503cw.
At least for me it is not slow at all.
But I probably take 1/4 the images of some.
-bob
 

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
Oh and I use the flip. No screwy knob. I like the safety catch as I almost lost it 3 times with a screw pano head screw clamp.

Geez I'm not so sure if I even belong here anymore I'm such a rebel.

Oh worse yet I use RRS legs no less . 24L like Mr. Cooley
 

gerald.d

Well-known member
It's a little known fact outside of Trekkie circles that the Borg Cube was based on the design of the Arca Swiss Cube.

They chose it because of course, resistance is futile ;)
 

gazwas

Active member
So after over 20 replies I'm reading between the lines here that you're basically saying, "get the Cube". :p

So if I go for Gitzo Giant, Arca Cube and a Sachtler DV10, it all adds up to aprix £4K ($6500) - My wife will be pleased.
 

Bob

Administrator
Staff member
Oh and I use the flip. No screwy knob. I like the safety catch as I almost lost it 3 times with a screw pano head screw clamp.

Geez I'm not so sure if I even belong here anymore I'm such a rebel.

Oh worse yet I use RRS legs no less . 24L like Mr. Cooley
I just hate two things about the flip.
1) if you have a mix of arca and rrs plates it is a real pain
2) the adjusting wheel slowly loosens up over time and surprise, you are not locked down tight at all.
RRS says they have a new lever clamp that handles both plate sizes I might try but until then the screw is the best for me.
-bob
 

Bob

Administrator
Staff member
So after over 20 replies I'm reading between the lines here that you're basically saying, "get the Cube". :p

So if I go for Gitzo Giant, Arca Cube and a Sachtler DV10, it all adds up to aprix £4K ($6500) - My wife will be pleased.
Don't tell me you have to "balance" your gear purchases? :loco:
-bob
 

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
So after over 20 replies I'm reading between the lines here that you're basically saying, "get the Cube". :p

So if I go for Gitzo Giant, Arca Cube and a Sachtler DV10, it all adds up to aprix £4K ($6500) - My wife will be pleased.
**** you fell right into the koolaid barrel. Lol

Just kidding . Great combo buy a helmet for when you tell the wife :deadhorse:
 

archivue

Active member
Cube is nice but slow
Z is quicker but not as precised
D4 can be both...

but it doesn't answer to the original question...

Anyway, you will need a video head... so buy one, ad an adapter for Arca clamps...
If it doesn't works properly for still, then you will have to buy an other head fot stills only...

If i was Arca, considering the fact that D800, 5DIII can produce video... with the reputation of being the best manufacturer and inventor for tripod head... i will ad a video head to my catalogue...
 

yaya

Active member
Just a thought....

Use the video head and fit a Cambo levelling head on top of it, with an Arca clamp?

That way you'll get the fast floating movement and the precise gearing for final tune

Not sure how it all fits together but if it does then it might do the trick...
 

MGrayson

Subscriber and Workshop Member
What I like about the cube is precisely that it can't flop over. The number of shots I've missed because I couldn't tilt the tripod head fast enough is zero. The number of times a bunch of expensive equipment has tried to hurl itself to the ground because of a loose ballhead is a lot.

While I believe that the D4 doesn't have the flop problem, it isn't enough smaller, cheaper, or lighter than the cube. I also like that the Cube's center of rotation is much higher than the D4's or any ballhead's.

--Matt
 

thomas

New member
Just a thought....

Use the video head and fit a Cambo levelling head on top of it, with an Arca clamp?

That way you'll get the fast floating movement and the precise gearing for final tune

Not sure how it all fits together but if it does then it might do the trick...
basically it works... you just need the level head with the quick release for Cambo Mount: Cambo - CLH-500 . You can get only the level head separately from the panorama set.
I do mount my Cambo level head on top of such a tripod base with integrated leveling base: http://www.berlebach.de/bilder/produktbilder/1054_gross.jpg . Works like charm and is super rigid.

But I think it doesn't make sense to mount it on a large fluid head like the Sachtler DV10 ...

@gazwas: I don't think you will be happy with a large, heavy fluid head designed for film/video use. Leveling is pretty fiddly and the fluid damping is not much better than on a head with friction control when it comes to adjusting a still camera.
Above all you can't use it on your Gitzo tripod.
 

Don Libby

Well-known member
I may also have a D4 however the only tripod/head I'm taking to the South Rim this morning is the (wait for it...) Cube. :D
 

Jack

Sr. Administrator
Staff member
See, I didn't need to say a single, solitary thing of any direct relevance or import to this topic. Got to love it when the Obiwan stuff works.

:D
 
Top