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Acratech GV2 Ballhead:
I was looking for a gimbal, but since I don't *need* a full size gimbal head (The Oly 150 is smaller than the Nikon/Canon 200/2, and even with a TC is about the same size as the 80-400, except that I've got a full stop advantage vs. the D300 and 80-400, without explaining focus speed differences)
And the Acratech came up in searches....they market the side mount for their ballhead as a gimbal feature, even though other ballheads will do this too.
Well, they were right... ; drop the head in the side slot and there is practically no resistance for moving up and down for gimbal type shots. ; Very very smooth... And the weight of the lens keeps it down. ; Add the panning base which is already there (with pano degree markings) and panning is smooth.
My tripod needs can wait; I forgot about my Bogen 3221W, which I've had for 10+ years - it is not a good travel tripod, but it's seen action "traveling" on DC's Metro on 7/4. ; And it can take the weight of many large lenses. ; No problems mounting the Acratech on that tripod, and it was better than the travel tripods I had been trying down at the river. ; I was able to try it out for about 30 mins today, between storm fronts. ; Light was pretty good, but there were a lot more fishermen out in the river today keeping the birds at bay.
Anyway, the head's light enough to be used as a travel head too, unlike a full gimbal. ; Uses any Arca-Swiss QR plates; Acratech makes their own, and gee, looks like I'll need to buy some for my D700. ; (for those of you who aren't familiar with Arca-Swiss, the design has QR plates for the camera bodies specifically, with a lip to prevent the camera from moving in a certain direction. ; They also make plates for major brand large lenses, or you can get a generic plate for those.)
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/5 ... /KBID/2466
[attachments posted prior to 4/27/2010 have been deleted by admin. be sure to link images to make sure they don't get removed]
Acratech GV2 Ballhead:
I was looking for a gimbal, but since I don't *need* a full size gimbal head (The Oly 150 is smaller than the Nikon/Canon 200/2, and even with a TC is about the same size as the 80-400, except that I've got a full stop advantage vs. the D300 and 80-400, without explaining focus speed differences)
And the Acratech came up in searches....they market the side mount for their ballhead as a gimbal feature, even though other ballheads will do this too.
Well, they were right... ; drop the head in the side slot and there is practically no resistance for moving up and down for gimbal type shots. ; Very very smooth... And the weight of the lens keeps it down. ; Add the panning base which is already there (with pano degree markings) and panning is smooth.
My tripod needs can wait; I forgot about my Bogen 3221W, which I've had for 10+ years - it is not a good travel tripod, but it's seen action "traveling" on DC's Metro on 7/4. ; And it can take the weight of many large lenses. ; No problems mounting the Acratech on that tripod, and it was better than the travel tripods I had been trying down at the river. ; I was able to try it out for about 30 mins today, between storm fronts. ; Light was pretty good, but there were a lot more fishermen out in the river today keeping the birds at bay.
Anyway, the head's light enough to be used as a travel head too, unlike a full gimbal. ; Uses any Arca-Swiss QR plates; Acratech makes their own, and gee, looks like I'll need to buy some for my D700. ; (for those of you who aren't familiar with Arca-Swiss, the design has QR plates for the camera bodies specifically, with a lip to prevent the camera from moving in a certain direction. ; They also make plates for major brand large lenses, or you can get a generic plate for those.)
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/5 ... /KBID/2466
[attachments posted prior to 4/27/2010 have been deleted by admin. be sure to link images to make sure they don't get removed]
