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The great tripod & head thread!

rayyen

Member
Really looking forward to a new mini cube 60 from AS too.
I love gear head too.

Ray



ARCA SWISS will obviously launch a kind of minicube 60 (60mm in diameter) soon . Have a look at the P0 hybrid and just imagine the LEVELER , the new top part , as a mini cube .
This leveler , part number 860102 is cancelled . Waiting for the new model .

Yes it is true , I am a geared head slut .[/QUOTE]
 

dave.gt

Well-known member
I’m having Precision Camera swap the Arca-Swiss classic screw clamp on my p0 for an RRS lever clamp (B2-LR-II). I should have it back tomorrow. I highly recommend Bob Watkins and the folks at Precision Camera for clamp swaps on Arca-Swiss heads.

Just found this SunwayFoto clamp:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1152902-REG/sunwayfoto_ddy_60p0_discal_clamp_for.html

It appears to be similar (nearly identical) to the Meng’s clamp mentioned earlier.

And someone who’s selling the p0 with SunwayFoto clamp attached on eBay at a decent price:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Arca-Swiss-...925212?hash=item1c87a6939c:g:PCwAAOSwi7RZNiZu

Joe
Wow, thanks, Joe!
 

rayyen

Member
Wondering if it is much smaller than D4 & the Linhoff cube.
Would be great if u have a photo put them side by side compare.


Initial thoughts on the P0 Hybrid

Some background on my situation: I currently use two tripod systems, a 3-series RRS TVC-34L w/ A-S Cube and a 2-series RRS TVC-24L w/ BH-40. The 34L is the default for everything, while the 24L is used for backpacking or mixed travel.

Weights of my options:
BH-40: 445g
P0: 365g
P0h: 590g*
D4g: 800g
Cube: 1040g

Here is the best site I found for A-S head comparison and weight info:
https://www.arca-shop.de/en/tripod-heads-compared


I had the geared D4 for a while, but never bonded with it. Although it is a great, full-featured head (geared and free-moving, dual panning above and below, etc.) there were a few things that kept me from using it much:
  1. The weight difference between the D4 and the Cube wasn’t as much as I liked
  2. The D4 is still fairly large in a pack. I like to remove the head from the tripod while strapped to a backpack on long hikes or multi-day trips.
  3. The free-moving feature is nice, but because you have to release each direction separately, I didn’t find it to be much quicker than simply cranking the geared knobs. I use L-Brackets, so someone flipping the D4 over for portrait orientation may find the free-moving knobs more useful.
If I only had one tripod system the D4 might be The Goldilocks. But, because of all the above I found myself using the BH-40 on the 24L instead. The BH-40 checks the size & weight boxes, but it is still a ballhead, with all the non-geared ballhead issues.

I’ve been intrigued by the original P0, but it too is still a ballhead. Enter the P0 Hybrid (P0h). My first impression came at the fedex pickup location. They handed me the box and I thought it might be empty! The P0h fixes two of the three D4 issues I had above. It’s half the weight of the Cube, and releasing it for free movement is as fast or faster than any ballhead. Grab and twist with your eyes closed. It really is the best of both worlds: Fast as a ballhead but without the frustrations, and as accurate as a geared head.

Because the ball release is orientation-agnostic, you can position this head different ways to fit your style, hand positions and equipment. For example, I position the drop notch forward. With L-brackets (or the H/V mounting points on the STC), there is no need for me to drop the head 90 degrees left or right. I can position the drop notch forward and still have all the release and geared controls in a convenient orientation. This is how I currently have it oriented:



There are some things that may or may not be a bother. There are heavy detents designed into the panning head every 90 degrees. I like this because I prefer to orient pitch and roll so I can adjust one without affecting the other. People who use the panning feature a lot may find these detents annoying. There are also detents on the zero angle positions for pitch and roll. This does bug me a bit. I don’t understand the need and it makes it more difficult to fine tune close to zero because it wants to drop into the detent. A minor nit-pick for sure.

There are a few other things I am not thrilled with:
  • I have been using the RRS quick release system to easily remove or swap heads. The base of the P0h is slightly too large for the RRS DVTL-40. I either have to turn down the lip on the DVTL-40 in a lathe, or come up with another way to remove the head other than screwing and unscrewing every time. I’m curious if anyone else has tried this: “ARCA-SWISS Quiklink tripod head mount”. Could be an elegant answer to this problem.
  • Although there are no reports of stability problems, I do wish the center post was shorter and/or had a larger diameter. It doesn’t appear to be a problem, but having a 1” long stem 1/2” in diameter is a little unnerving. By comparison, the BH-40 stem is thicker (9/16) and only 3/8” long. And the BH-40 is by no means a beefy ballhead. As Howard pointed out several posts above, we always say center columns are a no-no and this is no different than having a 1/2” center column permanently extended 1” off the base. Again, no one has complained about stability, and if it is good enough for Victor I am sure it will be good enough for me.
All in all, my first impressions are very positive. In fact, at ~500 grams lighter than the cube I better be careful: This might replace the cube as my standard on either tripod…

Dave
 

beano_z

Active member
Wondering if it is much smaller than D4 & the Linhoff cube.
Would be great if u have a photo put them side by side compare.
Mine should have arrive at my office by now, I'll go pick it up by Friday and try to shoot a side by side image in the weekend with the Linhof 3D micro.
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
Mine should have arrive at my office by now, I'll go pick it up by Friday and try to shoot a side by side image in the weekend with the Linhof 3D micro.
Is the Arca-Swiss P0 Hybrid actually shipping now? I just saw a write up and picture of it from the A-S announcement. Looks fantastic... I couldn't find it on the B&H website...

thx,
G

---
Hah, an email answered my question. Rod Klukas says the p0 is shipping, and he has it in stock. I think I need to shuffle some equipment around.... ;-)

G
 
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Godfrey

Well-known member
The p0 Hybrid might be an ideal melding of geared head and ball head. I guess I'll find out. I have a bunch of tabletop to do and that should give it a workout.

I'm going to keep my original p0, working great now with the set screws on the RRS clamp, and sell my Markins and Acratech heads. The second p0 is on its way back to B&H now.

G
 

beano_z

Active member
Wondering if it is much smaller than D4 & the Linhoff cube.
Would be great if u have a photo put them side by side compare.
So the answer is sadly "no", it feels just a little bit smaller, or I should say, a little less substantial than de Linhof 3D micro. The P0 is taller than de 3D micro, and also taller than de ARCA D4. You might notice that I have a QR plate on both the heads in the image, so it remains a fair comparison I guess.

Also, surprisingly, even though the P0 is a few hundred grams lighter on paper, it certainly did't feel that much of a difference. But having said that, it's not all bad, you'll have to consider that the P0 hybrid achieves two functions all by itself, levelling and fine-tuning, whereas I would need to add a levelling base to the Linhof to get the same functionality, which would then make it much heavier overall (I'm using the RRS TA-3 levelling base, which is almost 350g even without the clamp).

At the moment, I have a makeshift quick release system on the P0 and the new RRS TFC-14, made with parts I had laying around the house. It's not as good looking as some of you have here, but it certainly works and uses up some old parts which were just sitting there gathering dust.

So conclusion for me is, this setup (P0 hybrid with QR clamp and plate) would be about 700g ~ 800g lighter over my other setup which is the Linhof 3D micro plus RRS levelling bas, QR clamp and plate. And add to that the weigh savings of about 1kg between the RRS TFC-14 over the Gitzo 4552TS, I'm looking at almost 2kg less to carry and just sacrificing a little bit in height.

*please excuse the lousy phone pics*

WechatIMG1.jpeg

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WechatIMG9.jpeg

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Shashin

Well-known member
Just a regular P0. The hybrid, while a really neat design, seems to be the antithesis of the P0, which is a compact, light ball head. The goniometers seem to double its height.

Oddly enough, I took some P0 porn this weekend. This thread really needs pictures.

 

Christopher

Active member
Im still saying if the p0 hybrid would have a level and pano phase between the ball and geared pared it would be perfect. Or even better two mini cubes stacked or even better a mini cube and a geared part if only one direction.
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
Okay, I've now added a p0 Hybrid and a pair of QuickLinks to my tripod kit. This is now a very versatile and quick operating kit!

The legs are a set of lightweight Manfrottos and a taller, higher load rating set of Feisols. They weigh about the same. The Manfrottos has flip-lock style leg locks with a fast mechanism to flip the column horizontal: a quick field tripod and good general purpose workhorse. The Feisols has twist lock style legs, provide about a foot more elevation, and double the rated capacity. They fold down smaller for travel too, can fit in my rollaway bag. A bit slower in operation..

The p0 Hybrid has a different set of strengths compared to the p0. I especially like how precisely and easily I can adjust the framing with my larger, longer, heavier lenses (like the Leica SL90-280mm). It's much faster when you're trying to be precise for endeavors like table top with these kinds of lenses, or with high magnifications on a macro setup. The regular p0 is great for fast field work with shorter and wider lenses, and also for doing full-circle panoramas given that it has no detents on the panning platform. From a use and workflow point of view, I really like having two heads with the same main controls rather than having to remember how to work with two heads that have radically different control designs.

The QuickLink mount is essentially a pair of breech-lock mount and mounting plate units that allow me to quickly swap the heads from one set of legs to the other, and/or carry the heads separately in a padded pouch for protection in travel. They add about four ounces or so to the total tripod weight and a little bulk to the top of the column or triple clamp. They're very convenient and make it much easier to switch from one head to the other for different shooting needs.

All in all, a bit of expense but a big win in terms of overall system convenience and usability. Now to gather up the other heads (Markins Q3, Acratech Ultimate Ball Head, and Acratech GP) and put them up for sale to recoup a portion of this expense.

G
 
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Godfrey

Well-known member
dchew said:
There are heavy detents designed into the panning head every 90 degrees. I like this because I prefer to orient pitch and roll so I can adjust one without affecting the other. People who use the panning feature a lot may find these detents annoying. There are also detents on the zero angle positions for pitch and roll. This does bug me a bit. I don’t understand the need and it makes it more difficult to fine tune close to zero because it wants to drop into the detent.
The detents on the pitch and roll adjustments, at least on mine, are very light and don't get in the way of precise adjustment.

The heavy detents on the panning platform are a bother—they actually do get in the way occasionally. I've asked A-S whether there is a way to disable them. So far, the quick word back is positive but I'm waiting for more information. Will report back when I hear more.

G
 

vjbelle

Well-known member
I've now had an opportunity to use my P0 with numerous tripod/lens combinations and have given up on any of the lighter tripods and..... am cautious with the P0 with my longest lens. What I have found is that when using my 180mm lens even the slightest hint of a movement - as when pressing the loupe againse the LCD screen - can cause the image to jump/shake when in live view and it becomes very, very difficult to focus properly and accurately. This is 90% due to tripod stability and because of this I have gone back to my GT3541. I had the newer Gitzo Traveler 2 which was very light and seemed strong but was impossible to use with my 180mm lens. I had really wanted to shed as much weight as possible but the trade off is just too great. I have also found that there is a difference between using the Cube vs the P0 when using my 180mm lens. I have to be a little more careful with the P0 as it seems to slightly transmit movement more than the cube. The Cube is really rock solid but weighs 1.4 lbs more then the P0 and when adding that to the additional weight of the tripod itself the entire assembly gets fairly heavy. On my next trip I will take both heads and am hoping I can use the P0 most of the time. I'll be in Tuscany the Dolomites and Venice so everything will have a good workout.

Victor
 

jotloob

Subscriber Member
I have been using my P0 extensive in the last three days . I like the weight and the handling is reasonable .
I had to get used to fix the camera position by just turning the adjustment ring and that I have to level the camera
by moving the camera in the two level axis at the same time . The P0 hybrid will help here but makes the whole
tripod head too high . IMO .
My conclusion , I really prefer my MINICUBE , which you can see in post #155 .
Is the AS P0 an other technical item for my glas cabinet ? ? ? :banghead:
 

jng

Well-known member
I've now had an opportunity to use my P0 with numerous tripod/lens combinations and have given up on any of the lighter tripods and..... am cautious with the P0 with my longest lens. What I have found is that when using my 180mm lens even the slightest hint of a movement - as when pressing the loupe againse the LCD screen - can cause the image to jump/shake when in live view and it becomes very, very difficult to focus properly and accurately. This is 90% due to tripod stability and because of this I have gone back to my GT3541. I had the newer Gitzo Traveler 2 which was very light and seemed strong but was impossible to use with my 180mm lens. I had really wanted to shed as much weight as possible but the trade off is just too great. I have also found that there is a difference between using the Cube vs the P0 when using my 180mm lens. I have to be a little more careful with the P0 as it seems to slightly transmit movement more than the cube. The Cube is really rock solid but weighs 1.4 lbs more then the P0 and when adding that to the additional weight of the tripod itself the entire assembly gets fairly heavy. On my next trip I will take both heads and am hoping I can use the P0 most of the time. I'll be in Tuscany the Dolomites and Venice so everything will have a good workout.

Victor
It's perhaps not too surprising that with the camera perched on top of a somewhat skinny and tall post, the P0 might not be suitable for shooting with a long lens except in the calmest of conditions. At the CI Bluff 2017 workshop we saw that the D4 mounted on a 2-series RRS tripod w/leveling base had trouble holding the XF w/240mm steady enough to get a clean shot out in the field. By contrast the Cube proved to be as solid as the brick that it is, albeit at a significant weight penalty. I guess there really is no such thing as a free lunch...

John
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
I don't spend an awful lot of time out in a field in windy conditions, but I've had no problems with 180mm, 250mm, and 500mm lenses mounted on the p0 and a set of Feisol CT3442 legs, same with an old set of Bogen 3021 legs. The Manfrotto 090 series legs I have are a bit light for those lenses and show evidence of some motion unless I'm very careful.

Same goes for the SL90-280 that I'm just testing now on the p0 Hybrid head.

So ... I think it's the legs more than the head, up to some point, that cause instability. I've long ago given up on the manufacturers' ratings for their legs...

G
 

Christopher

Active member
No problem with the 240ls with the d4 and a gitzo 2 series or 1 series tripod. I for one think legs are overrated. If there is real wind there is wind and even my gitzo 5 isn't solid enough with the d4. In normal conditions, even the small Gitzos work very well.
 

vjbelle

Well-known member
It's perhaps not too surprising that with the camera perched on top of a somewhat skinny and tall post, the P0 might not be suitable for shooting with a long lens except in the calmest of conditions. At the CI Bluff 2017 workshop we saw that the D4 mounted on a 2-series RRS tripod w/leveling base had trouble holding the XF w/240mm steady enough to get a clean shot out in the field. By contrast the Cube proved to be as solid as the brick that it is, albeit at a significant weight penalty. I guess there really is no such thing as a free lunch...

John
It wasn't the weather conditions that I was concerned about but rather the stability of the head/tripod so that I could focus properly in live view at 100% pixels. ANY connection with the camera caused the image to move causing an extremely difficult environment for focusing properly. This was with the P0 on a Gitzo Series 2 traveler with the newest legs. In contrast with the Cube on a 3541 everything became stabilized and focus was easy. The 180mm Schneider Digitar in Copal 0 adds minimal weight to my system which stays fairly constant regardless of lens at about 6 lbs.

Anyway..... If three extra pounds means the difference between sharp and unfocused then I'll carry an extra 3 pounds.

Victor
 

dave.gt

Well-known member
This is not an artistic photo worthy of these two beauties....but I finally bought a Cube. A friend of mine bought it new last Fall, replaced the AS clamp with a RRS clamp and then bought a new Ries J-100 tripod with the Jatoba wood and brass knobs to put it on. He decided to sell the Cube and Ries recently. He bought the Cube/Ries for use with a 4x5 camera but decided he doesn't have time for it. I just couldn't resist this combination and saved about $800 vs buying the whole kit new. Still expensive of course, but what the heck, it's worth a try.

Gary
Gary, I gotta tell you I love this setup! :)
 

daf

Member
It wasn't the weather conditions that I was concerned about but rather the stability of the head/tripod so that I could focus properly in live view at 100% pixels. ANY connection with the camera caused the image to move causing an extremely difficult environment for focusing properly. This was with the P0 on a Gitzo Series 2 traveler with the newest legs. In contrast with the Cube on a 3541 everything became stabilized and focus was easy. The 180mm Schneider Digitar in Copal 0 adds minimal weight to my system which stays fairly constant regardless of lens at about 6 lbs.

Anyway..... If three extra pounds means the difference between sharp and unfocused then I'll carry an extra 3 pounds.

Victor
And now you can also try the cube on serie 2 and the p0 on serie 3 just to see where the vibration come from ... interested by your finding ;)
 
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