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!

The great tripod & head thread!

Geoff

Well-known member
A note of thanks to Rod Klukas - who read this, and contacted me immediately about the D4 - to send it back to the mothership in France for service. Impressive.

Three different answers - over the past years:
RRS BH40 ball head easy to use, but small droop while tightening. Largely retired.
Linhof 3D leveling is very good, not quite as flexible as the Cube (no 90º, 10º max angle) nicely geared and very stable. Use for long shots or for max stability is needed. .
Arca D4 is the daily standard - quick and easy, works well. A bit tall and heavy. Has developed a little looseness, needs a bit of attention.
 

MGrayson

Subscriber and Workshop Member
Three different answers - over the past years:
RRS BH40 ball head easy to use, but small droop while tightening. Largely retired.
Linhof 3D leveling is very good, not quite as flexible as the Cube (no 90º, 10º max angle) nicely geared and very stable. Use for long shots or for max stability is needed. .
Arca D4 is the daily standard - quick and easy, works well. A bit tall and heavy. Has developed a little looseness, needs a bit of attention.
I was surprised by thecentercolumn.com's results on tripod heads. Ball-heads are almost uniformly stiffer than geared heads. There is the drooping problem, though. Tradeoffs...

M
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
I was surprised by thecentercolumn.com's results on tripod heads. Ball-heads are almost uniformly stiffer than geared heads. There is the drooping problem, though. Tradeoffs...

M
This is why I like the Arca-Swiss Monoball P0 Hybrid: use it like a ball head, and when you need to be precise, the gonimeters let you dial it in exactly and defeat the typical "little bit of drooping" problem. For the relatively light equipment I tend to be using, it's nearly ideal. Certainly not the best or only solution, but one that does the job for me.

The only beef with it is that it is somewhat tall and a bit heavy compared to the standard P0 version. Trade-offs.

G
 

Shashin

Well-known member
This is complicated. I think three really good analyses of the moment of inertia really break down the issue of the camera, tripod, and head factors:

https://thecentercolumn.com/2019/10/19/camera-lens-moment-of-inertia/
https://thecentercolumn.com/2019/08/24/moment-of-inertia-of-ballheads/
https://thecentercolumn.com/2019/08/19/tripod-moment-of-inertia/

The interesting thing is the ballhead is not a big factor. The tripod and gear are.

I think the underlying issue is at what point does the tripod, head, and equipment actually result in softening on the image. My first long journey into the Japanese Alps, I need a compact and light system. I got a Gitzo Totolux 5-section tripod with a Manfrotto mini ballhead to support my Mamiya 6 medium-format camera with the 75mm standard lens. At approximately 3,000m (9,000ft), the conditions were going to be windy. No question this support was not the stiffest, although the lightest and most compact. However, this rather cringe worthy setup worked.



I guess if you are simply transporting your tripod and carrying it from the car to the side of the road, you have the luxury of getting a very solid support system. If you are spending six weeks in the alps, there needs to be different choices, unless you can feed your mule as well. This for me is an important question. What is going to give me sharp images and allow me to carry the equipment when traveling? (Being six feet tall, complicates this.)
 

Shashin

Well-known member
This is why I like the Arca-Swiss Monoball P0 Hybrid: use it like a ball head, and when you need to be precise, the gonimeters let you dial it in exactly and defeat the typical "little bit of drooping" problem. For the relatively light equipment I tend to be using, it's nearly ideal. Certainly not the best or only solution, but one that does the job for me.

The only beef with it is that it is somewhat tall and a bit heavy compared to the standard P0 version. Trade-offs.

G
The interesting thing is the Center Column does not give a very high stiffness rating to the standard P0, I assume the hybrid will be lower. Yet, I have found the P0 to be a great head.
 

Geoff

Well-known member
My first long journey into the Japanese Alps, I need a compact and light system. I got a Gitzo Totolux 5-section tripod with a Manfrotto mini ballhead to support my Mamiya 6 medium-format camera with the 75mm standard lens. At approximately 3,000m (9,000ft), the conditions were going to be windy. No question this support was not the stiffest, although the lightest and most compact. However, this rather cringe worthy setup worked.
Nice shot. Worked out well, it seems! In a pinch, a less stable tripod can be improved by just not opening the bottom one or two legs. Its a significant improvement.
 

Abstraction

Well-known member
I think the underlying issue is at what point does the tripod, head, and equipment actually result in softening on the image.

I guess if you are simply transporting your tripod and carrying it from the car to the side of the road, you have the luxury of getting a very solid support system. If you are spending six weeks in the alps, there needs to be different choices, unless you can feed your mule as well. This for me is an important question. What is going to give me sharp images and allow me to carry the equipment when traveling? (Being six feet tall, complicates this.)

It's amazing how little is actually required to get good results https://thecentercolumn.com/2019/07/06/torque-tests-for-15-10-6-mph-wind-speeds/ Unless you have really strong gusts of wind, it seems that pretty much anything will do.
 

Hausen

Active member
You could try reaching out to Rod Klukas, I believe he’s the Arca rep for the US and may be able to help.

Contact info from his site: http://rodklukas.com/arca-swiss/

Hope that helps or someone else more knowledgeable can chime in
Thanks for the referral on this. Rod made contact and gave me contact details for PCW in US and the factory in France. Both responded to emails and I am just putting it in the box to send to PCW. Thanks again.
 

med

Active member
I have a P0 Classic and an L60 leveler... and now that I have a Cube neither of them are my primary head. I like the look of the P0 Hybrid and was wondering... can I just mount my L60 in place of the clamp on the P0 platform and “make” a P0 hybrid? If so this would be great as it would combine the strengths of both to make a killer travel head for me
 

MGrayson

Subscriber and Workshop Member
I just switched the clamps between my L60 and L75. I wanted the simple screw clamp on the L60 instead of the well-loved :ROTFL: Arca flip-lock. The L75 has the standard ball-bearing beneath the plate clicks. The L60, though has an arrangement of circular springs and a roller bearing. Or two.

That's my question: Does it use one roller bearing or two? I could only find one when I was reassembling, and it works fine, but if it originally had two, I'll keep searching the rug.

Thank you,

Matt
 

nameBrandon

Well-known member
Hey all! I've read the most recent 5-6 pages of this thread (there is a lot of great info!) and wanted to ask your guidance.

I have a Manfrotto 055XPROB and 498RC2 ball head that I've been using for ages. I've picked up an Hasselblad X1D (and recently an X1D II) and I plan on dipping my toes into the technical world with a Cambo Actus and some Hasselblad V lenses. I'd like to make sure I've got a quality legs / head setup but since the 055XPROB should hold up for now, I'm focused more on the head. I also want to be able to use the head with my Sony or Fuji mirrorless cameras which require at times a 90 degree positioning. For the X1D II and Cambo Actus I plan on shooting architectural and interiors as well as landscapes. The Fuji/Sony work is all over, from urban exploration to macro.

I had seen numerous recommendations of leveling bases and things like the RRS series 2 leveling base + Arca Swiss 75 Leveler and I love the idea, but I don't think that could get me the 90 degrees at times I may need. I saw some good feedback on the P0 Hybrid which looks great, but I'm hesitant as I hate the "droop" I see in my ball head now, and I also don't feel like there's a ton of movement with that head as compared to say the C1 Cube. Speaking of, the cube does look great, but I'm not sure how quickly I can adjust that as compared to a ballhead (or even an Arca Swiss D4) and I'm worried I'd get frustrated twisting knobs for a while on what should be a quick adjustment. Then I fall back to thinking if I should just keep it simple and pick up a 410 Junior for cheap..

Anyways, as you can tell I'm a little lost. :) I don't mind Cube prices on the head, and if I do end up getting new legs, probably looking at something like the RRS TVC24, that's the ballpark budget.

Would love your thoughts or suggestions!
 

MGrayson

Subscriber and Workshop Member
Hey all! I've read the most recent 5-6 pages of this thread (there is a lot of great info!) and wanted to ask your guidance.

I have a Manfrotto 055XPROB and 498RC2 ball head that I've been using for ages. I've picked up an Hasselblad X1D (and recently an X1D II) and I plan on dipping my toes into the technical world with a Cambo Actus and some Hasselblad V lenses. I'd like to make sure I've got a quality legs / head setup but since the 055XPROB should hold up for now, I'm focused more on the head. I also want to be able to use the head with my Sony or Fuji mirrorless cameras which require at times a 90 degree positioning. For the X1D II and Cambo Actus I plan on shooting architectural and interiors as well as landscapes. The Fuji/Sony work is all over, from urban exploration to macro.

I had seen numerous recommendations of leveling bases and things like the RRS series 2 leveling base + Arca Swiss 75 Leveler and I love the idea, but I don't think that could get me the 90 degrees at times I may need. I saw some good feedback on the P0 Hybrid which looks great, but I'm hesitant as I hate the "droop" I see in my ball head now, and I also don't feel like there's a ton of movement with that head as compared to say the C1 Cube. Speaking of, the cube does look great, but I'm not sure how quickly I can adjust that as compared to a ballhead (or even an Arca Swiss D4) and I'm worried I'd get frustrated twisting knobs for a while on what should be a quick adjustment. Then I fall back to thinking if I should just keep it simple and pick up a 410 Junior for cheap..

Anyways, as you can tell I'm a little lost. :) I don't mind Cube prices on the head, and if I do end up getting new legs, probably looking at something like the RRS TVC24, that's the ballpark budget.

Would love your thoughts or suggestions!
D4 does everything you want. Fast movement, gear adjustment, 90 degrees. Leveling base and L75 is very nice if you don’t need to tilt that far. But if you do, D4.

—Matt
 

kdphotography

Well-known member
....I don't mind Cube prices on the head, and if I do end up getting new legs, probably looking at something like the RRS TVC24...
The AS Cube is a great choice----but not so much with the RRS TVC-24 legs. The Cube is a tad top-heavy for these legs. The TVC-3 series is a great match with the Cube.

Matt is steering you towards the D4, which being a lighter head than the Cube, the D4 is a better match with the TVC-24 legs

ken
 
Top