I know that on the continent there is preference to use heavy oil damped video style pan tilt heads for long lens photography - such as the big Gitzo video head, but these things are extremely heavy to use out in the field.
Acratech appear to be on the point of marketing their own take on the video pan tilt head see here
As to be expected it is extremely lightweight and appears elegantly designed
Looks like an interesting model/option to me Mike, and no long levers to poke me in the eye,
Although my present ballhead seems pretty reasonable with my 400mm/3.5, it was borderline with my previous 2.8.
I personally will give this head serious thought, when my ballhead packs up { not as smooth these days}.
Alan
Posted by Rene de Heer on April 8, 2008 at 10:18 AM
It looks nice but i dont think it can be as smooth as the oil dampened Video heads. the Gitzo, by the way, is NOT oil dampened but works by means of coils. I currently use the Manfrotto 503 HDV Fluid head and love it, less bulky then the Gitzo and it has a very smooth action.
Rene de Heer
Quite right I forgot the Gitzo has differing tension springs not oil damping
I am currently testing the Acratech levelling unit at present and it is well engineered and a neat solution to go with my current Oly downsizing project so I may have my Gitzo 1321 ball leveller for 3/5 series Gitzo CF Mountaineer tripods up for sale if anyone is interested (it replaces the flat plate)
I'm very happy with my Kirk BH-1 & BH-3 Ball Heads and my Wimberley Gimbal V2 - I'm also using a Gitzo levelling base which really makes verything simple for me! My only requirement maybe will be a geared haed for marco work!
Discussion
4 repliesAcratech appear to be on the point of marketing their own take on the video pan tilt head see here
As to be expected it is extremely lightweight and appears elegantly designed
Mike
Although my present ballhead seems pretty reasonable with my 400mm/3.5, it was borderline with my previous 2.8.
I personally will give this head serious thought, when my ballhead packs up { not as smooth these days}.
Alan
Rene de Heer
Quite right I forgot the Gitzo has differing tension springs not oil damping
I am currently testing the Acratech levelling unit at present and it is well engineered and a neat solution to go with my current Oly downsizing project so I may have my Gitzo 1321 ball leveller for 3/5 series Gitzo CF Mountaineer tripods up for sale if anyone is interested (it replaces the flat plate)
I'm very happy with my Kirk BH-1 & BH-3 Ball Heads and my Wimberley Gimbal V2 - I'm also using a Gitzo levelling base which really makes verything simple for me! My only requirement maybe will be a geared haed for marco work!