Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/02/02
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]At 02:57 PM 2/3/98 +0800, you wrote: >I believe some of you might have used or using the leica large ball head. I >would like to hear from you on the usage, whether able to take medium >format camera, the weight of the ball head, etc. thank you > I have a couple of the large Leica ball heads. I have found them to only be useful for the fairly light weight M camera. The R camera is too heavy except for possible use with 50mm down to 19mm lenses. Anything over 50mm and the 15mm are too heavy and will shake at slow shutter speeds. I always use a substantial tripod and a large sturdy head. I use Gitzo 346 tripod and a Gitzo Rational No.2 Pan Tilt head, a Bogen 3224 tripod and an Arca Swiss B1 ball head, and for travel I carry a Gitzo 1228 carbon tripod and an Arca Swiss B1 ball head. The 346 Gitzo and R.No.2 pan tilt head by far gets the most use. A second camera set-up would go on the Bogen. The 1228 Gitzo is for lightweight travel only. It is a very sturdy tripod in it's own right. George Lepp (http://www.leppphoto.com/) did a comprehensive test on the carbon tripods and they basically tested as sturdy as the metal versions. Bottom line... I no longer use the Leica ball heads as they are simply too small for general purpose use. IMHO the Arca Swiss B1 and quick release platform (uses Really Right Stuff and Kirk camera and lens plates) is probably the best medium size ball head that will handle everything from any Leica with any lens, up to a 4x5 field camera. This, of course, includes all MF cameras. Jim