- Joined
- May 1, 2008
- Messages
- 25,422
- Reaction score
- 5,003
- Location
- UK - England
- Website
- www.deviantart.com
- Can others edit my Photos
- Photos OK to edit
Ok so the GP ballhead arrived at last and I've had a little time to play around with it and here are my thoughts:
1) It's very well built, the smooth ball moving without lubrication is going to mean it won't collect gunk and muck like some greased balls will. Time will tell if this lasts just as long; but all signs point to it lasting a long while
2) For some reason they've put the levelling bubble on the connection plate on the top. That's fine; but on the lever arch design head they've put the bubble under the quick release plate. This means you'd have to set the tripod and head flat and then attach the lens/camera to it. A bit of a pain really and whilst a hot-shoe mounted spirit level gets around this weakness it is a bit of a poor show to not have a visible bubble level when the camera is mounted.
Note the screw-mount design doesn't have this limitation
3) When the tension knob and the locking knob on the ball are locked into place it has a REALLY strong grip. Even with a heavy 120-300mm f2.8 and pushing down it wasn't going anywhere. You'd have to really push hard to make it budge; by which point you already know you're doing something you shouldn't.
4) Motion is smooth and fast and easily controlled; the knobs are all large with a good textured grip and will work with hands or gloves with ease.
5) The fake gimbal mode works a treat; get a tripod head under the arm side and it moves and pitches easily. A 120-300mm f2.8 is possibly near the limit; but it depends how far side to side you're panning; and honestly if you are panning you've got your hand on the kit anyway. A good solid mode in my view and certainly worth the cost on this head.
6) The lever arch design I'm not 100% comfortable with yet; if just because you can't easily loosen the tension to slide the camera back and forth. I went with the lever as I felt its locking mechanism was safer than a screwknob; and it is certainly not unclipping unless you press the button. But in hind sight for balancing larger lenses a knob design might have been better.
7) It features an adjustment knob to account for slight variations in arca swiss quick release plates from 3rd parties; it won't loosen enough to let hte plate slide; but does let you ensure you've got a good firm grip when its all locked down.
8) All the screws/knobs are limited turns; so you can only turn them so far before they lock and won't go any further; a great feature as the knobs are unobtrusive and it means you won't accidentally unscrew something.
9) It weighs almost nothing; very light, very simple to attach.
Overall - barring one or two niggles; mostly with the quick release plate attachment point design (which can be swapped out) this is a VERY solid head and I'd heartily recommend it. Whilst I've yet to really put it through its paces I can see it being a very firm choice and one likely to spend a lot of time on the tripod!
Addendum - Kirk arca swiss quick release plates.
1) Very well machined and solid; they lock down a treat onto the camera body or lens collar and won't budge at all. No more rotational slips!
2) The design for the camera quick release plate features a screwthread that would allow you to attach a normal quick release plate of another brand or to direct mount to a tripod/monopod. Sadly this is not repeated in the lens collar quick release plates. It's a shame as it would be a useful feature to have that capacity; but its not a deal breaker in my view as ideally if you can invest in plates of this level you can invest in the required tripod heads as well to suit.
1) It's very well built, the smooth ball moving without lubrication is going to mean it won't collect gunk and muck like some greased balls will. Time will tell if this lasts just as long; but all signs point to it lasting a long while
2) For some reason they've put the levelling bubble on the connection plate on the top. That's fine; but on the lever arch design head they've put the bubble under the quick release plate. This means you'd have to set the tripod and head flat and then attach the lens/camera to it. A bit of a pain really and whilst a hot-shoe mounted spirit level gets around this weakness it is a bit of a poor show to not have a visible bubble level when the camera is mounted.
Note the screw-mount design doesn't have this limitation
3) When the tension knob and the locking knob on the ball are locked into place it has a REALLY strong grip. Even with a heavy 120-300mm f2.8 and pushing down it wasn't going anywhere. You'd have to really push hard to make it budge; by which point you already know you're doing something you shouldn't.
4) Motion is smooth and fast and easily controlled; the knobs are all large with a good textured grip and will work with hands or gloves with ease.
5) The fake gimbal mode works a treat; get a tripod head under the arm side and it moves and pitches easily. A 120-300mm f2.8 is possibly near the limit; but it depends how far side to side you're panning; and honestly if you are panning you've got your hand on the kit anyway. A good solid mode in my view and certainly worth the cost on this head.
6) The lever arch design I'm not 100% comfortable with yet; if just because you can't easily loosen the tension to slide the camera back and forth. I went with the lever as I felt its locking mechanism was safer than a screwknob; and it is certainly not unclipping unless you press the button. But in hind sight for balancing larger lenses a knob design might have been better.
7) It features an adjustment knob to account for slight variations in arca swiss quick release plates from 3rd parties; it won't loosen enough to let hte plate slide; but does let you ensure you've got a good firm grip when its all locked down.
8) All the screws/knobs are limited turns; so you can only turn them so far before they lock and won't go any further; a great feature as the knobs are unobtrusive and it means you won't accidentally unscrew something.
9) It weighs almost nothing; very light, very simple to attach.
Overall - barring one or two niggles; mostly with the quick release plate attachment point design (which can be swapped out) this is a VERY solid head and I'd heartily recommend it. Whilst I've yet to really put it through its paces I can see it being a very firm choice and one likely to spend a lot of time on the tripod!
Addendum - Kirk arca swiss quick release plates.
1) Very well machined and solid; they lock down a treat onto the camera body or lens collar and won't budge at all. No more rotational slips!
2) The design for the camera quick release plate features a screwthread that would allow you to attach a normal quick release plate of another brand or to direct mount to a tripod/monopod. Sadly this is not repeated in the lens collar quick release plates. It's a shame as it would be a useful feature to have that capacity; but its not a deal breaker in my view as ideally if you can invest in plates of this level you can invest in the required tripod heads as well to suit.
)
![[No title]](/data/xfmg/thumbnail/32/32933-a3726bc86a7c36fb222612f8aeab6b84.jpg?1619735763)
![[No title]](/data/xfmg/thumbnail/42/42057-1509913128bb1db2bc11235c05832fd4.jpg?1619739993)
![[No title]](/data/xfmg/thumbnail/42/42054-e8278f89f6a543cad8fd644e37b064f3.jpg?1619739992)
![[No title]](/data/xfmg/thumbnail/32/32929-22e23acc63d6ecb25e5ee941be87121f.jpg?1619735758)
![[No title]](/data/xfmg/thumbnail/42/42055-105f2ee23a1fd79c786de42c5578274b.jpg?1619739992)
