Arca Swiss Z1 vs Really Right Stuff BH-55

[Thingy]

I need to get a more manovrable head for macro photography using my 45SU and was wondering what people would recommend? I have looked at the YouTube demos of the Z1* and the BH-55** and am not sure. If I go down this path I would also really like to buy a head to replace my current Manfrotto 410 for landscape work, and would like to know if monoballs are versatile, stable and robust enough for using with my Ebony 45SU and lenses such as the Nikkor 90/f4.5 and Cooke PS945? Does anyone have experience of using monoballs for LF photography?

* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sr57E22E ... re=channel
** http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDBIOkPYHqo

I do actually fancy the Arca Swiss C-1 cube***...... but the price!

*** http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FU0ovTGw ... re=related

[Joanna Carter]

Personally, I would have said that the 410 should be the head to go for for precision movements.

[timparkin]

I need to get a more manovrable head for macro photography using my 45SU and was wondering what people would recommend? I have looked at the YouTube demos of the Z1* and the BH-55** and am not sure. If I go down this path I would also really like to buy a head to replace my current Manfrotto 410 for landscape work, and would like to know if monoballs are versatile, stable and robust enough for using with my Ebony 45SU and lenses such as the Nikkor 90/f4.5 and Cooke PS945? Does anyone have experience of using monoballs for LF photography?

* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sr57E22E ... re=channel
** http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDBIOkPYHqo

I do actually fancy the Arca Swiss C-1 cube***...... but the price!

*** http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FU0ovTGw ... re=related

The BH55 is very good and stable but does move slightly when you lock it up (very slightly but with Macro I could imagine that would be annoying). The people I know who use 410's have all complained about the mechanism getting 'loose' over time (Joe has replaced his multiple times and now uses BH's and Acratechs, Dav Thomas is looking at the PhotoClam) .. however it might be cheaper to replace the 410 multiple times than buy a C1

I use a BH55 with my 45SU and it copes with everything I throw at it (including a 500mm at full tilt pointing up at about 60 degrees! Don't ask!) but I'd be interested to play with the PhotoClam (I'll post some feedback if/when I get a chance to play with Davs.. )

[PAUL O]

I've tried a variety of heads over the years with LF - both pan/tilt and ball-types. I've tried the Manfrotto 410 amongst others and it is okay but I replaced it with an Arca Swiss B2 and haven't looked back! The AS is a bit heavier but a lovely piece of kit! It uses an aspherical ballhead design with an inner and outer ball that lock and move independently of each other so very much like a pan/tilt type. All movements are friction controlled and the movements are super-smooth. For the 45SU the 410 should be fine or you might consider the larger 405?

[timparkin]

I've tried a variety of heads over the years with LF - both pan/tilt and ball-types. I've tried the Manfrotto 410 amongst others and it is okay but I replaced it with an Arca Swiss B2 and haven't looked back! The AS is a bit heavier but a lovely piece of kit! It uses an aspherical ballhead design with an inner and outer ball that lock and move independently of each other so very much like a pan/tilt type. All movements are friction controlled and the movements are super-smooth. For the 45SU the 410 should be fine or you might consider the larger 405?

Relative weights for the systems

405 - 1600g
410 - 1220g
Photoclam - 950g
ARCA C1 - 925g
BH55 - 815g
BH40 - 479g
Acratech ultimate - 450g

The Acratech is more than capable of holding a 45SU

Tim

[Thingy]

I've tried a variety of heads over the years with LF - both pan/tilt and ball-types. I've tried the Manfrotto 410 amongst others and it is okay but I replaced it with an Arca Swiss B2 and haven't looked back! The AS is a bit heavier but a lovely piece of kit! It uses an aspherical ballhead design with an inner and outer ball that lock and move independently of each other so very much like a pan/tilt type. All movements are friction controlled and the movements are super-smooth. For the 45SU the 410 should be fine or you might consider the larger 405?

Relative weights for the systems

405 - 1600g
410 - 1220g
Photoclam - 950g
ARCA C1 - 925g
BH55 - 815g
BH40 - 479g
Acratech ultimate - 450g

The Acratech is more than capable of holding a 45SU

Tim

Those weights are soooooo useful.

[Thingy]

After much agonising I've gone for an Acratech GV2 with levelling plate & an 80mm universal Arca Swiss camera plate.

Thanks everyone for your advice.

[David Evans]

Too late for Thingy, but out of interest has anyone got or tried one of these? https://www.isarfoto.com/cms.php/_pid:2 ... odukt.html

[Thingy]

I ordered the Acratech at 1700 yesterday from Bob Rigby (www.bobrigby.com) and it arrived just after 0800 this morning. That's up to the Robert White gold standard.

[BarryWilkinson]

When you have used the GV2 for a while it would be great to hear of your experiences of this head.

[Thingy]

I will do. I've used it a little to do some indoor still life images and was pleasantly suprised how easy it was to level the camera. With the 45SU the tension for the ball head needs to be set almost to the limit but having set the tension, which was quick and easy, levelling was quicker. I should also add that another factor for me is that turning the relativly stiff knobs of the Manfrotto 410 can on occassions be difficult. If you're not arthritic then objectivly I would broadly agree with Joanna, that the fine movements of the 410, on a tripod where all the legs are of equal length, the 410 is excellent. When your tripod legs are at different heights I think the GV2 is considerably easier to use. The best was is to try one out. I also appreciate the fact that the GV2 weighs around a third what the 410 weighed.

[BarryWilkinson]

I will do. I've used it a little to do some indoor still life images and was pleasantly suprised how easy it was to level the camera. With the 45SU the tension for the ball head needs to be set almost to the limit but having set the tension, which was quick and easy, levelling was quicker. I should also add that another factor for me is that turning the relativly stiff knobs of the Manfrotto 410 can on occassions be difficult. If you're not arthritic then objectivly I would broadly agree with Joanna, that the fine movements of the 410, on a tripod where all the legs are of equal length, the 410 is excellent. When your tripod legs are at different heights I think the GV2 is considerably easier to use. The best was is to try one out. I also appreciate the fact that the GV2 weighs around a third what the 410 weighed.

How are you getting on with the GV2? Does it clamp tight enough to support your 45SU? Any update would be appreciated.

Thanks Barry

[Emmanuel Bigler]

and would like to know if monoballs are versatile, stable and robust enough for using with ..
Hello from France
To the question quoted above, I can answer YES as a happy user of an Arca Swiss B1 ballhead with a 5x4" camera. The Z1 is the new version, stronger, lighter and cheaper than the discontinued B1.
About versatility : there is a L-shaped Arca Swiss accessory named "SVILT" that allows to transfrom a B1 or Z1 into a 2-way head, for example for bird photography with a 35mm or medium format camera equipped with a long telephoto. You flip the ball by 90° to the side down inside the head's notch, and you only use the lower panoramic movement (left-right) and one rotation axis of the ball (up-down).

First for use with a view camera I first bought a classical Gitzo "rationnelle" 3-way head, model 1370 (now discontinued, remains on catalogue ref. 1570, similar to the 1370 but bigger and stranger) and could not imagine using anything else.
However I had the opportunity to exchange with LF photographer friends who were very satisfied of the B1 ballhead.

A few general remarks, not directely related to the brands
- ballheads for a given weight and size can support much higher loads than 3-way heads.
- for ballheads, the bigger the ball, the heavier you can support and the stronger the torque you have to apply to eventually have the ball slipping off from the locked position.
- in 3-way heads you always have a certain degree of load applied off-centre on the combination of plates and cylinders stacked one upon each other, hence the acceptable load is always smaller than for a ballhead and the risk of vibrations higher.

The usual objection against ballheads is that you cannot easily control fine movements with a ballhead, moreover rotations are not separate in usual ballheads, except the Arca Swiss B2 (now superseded by the Z2, which is lighter)

For landscape use, I just level the camera and eventually apply a panoramic rotation to adjust the field of view. I frame vertically with the camera's rise/fall movements.
I have the additional upper panoramic movement on my B1(see here a similar configuration with the Z1-DP), and I have found that the proper setting of the view camera was much quicker with the B1 double-pan than with my classical 3-way head.
Why ? I just let the tripod legs fall unbalanced as they wish, I set the ballhead so that the camera is levelled (I have built-in spirit levels on my camera's standards), the upper panoramic movement does the rest, with a rotation axis which is eventually perfectly vertical.
With the use of an upper panoramic movement, you do not need any additional levelling device. With my Gitzo 3-way head, I have to level the tripod itself by playing with the lengths of tripod legs. But you can add a panoramic movement on top of the large Gitzo platform, this solves the problem of levelling the legs and you no longer need the lower panoramic movement.

Another point, this time directly related to the Arca Swiss aspherical ball design, is that the natural instability of a heavy weigh on top of a ballhead is counter-balanced in A/S ballheads by the progressive friction provided by the aspherical ball.
In usual ballheads with constant (sometimes, adjustable) friction, when the camera starts to tilt, the movement accelerates because the torque increases fast when the center of mass of the camera is no longer on top of the ball. With the built-in aspherical progressive friction, you do not have this problem and it is as fast or even faster, to level a camera with a B1 or a Z1 than with a 3-way head.

I have little experience with geared heads except for laboratory use in optics, I probably do not need this extra level of fine control in photography so I'll not comment.

In the Arca Swiss catalogue, there is the P1 ball head, which is an inverted ballhead with a built-in upper panoramic movement and no redundant lower panoramic movement. In its basic form this P1 head cannot tilt by more than 35°, but it is very light (500 grams) and extremely strong (carries up to 30 kg, the Z1 is rated even higher). If I had not bought a B1 before, the P1 would probably be my ballhead of choice because I never use the lower panoramic movement of my B1-DP.

Between the "rationnelle" head 1370 and the B1-DP, which to choose ? I keep both. I use the ball head because it is compact and lightweight on top of a lightweight wooden tripod for backpacking ; when I do not have to walk on long distances, I use the 1370 "rationnelle" on top of a classical Gitzo aluminium tripod.

[Songyun]

I had this Z1DP ball head for quite a while. I like it , however I like the Photoclam copy of Cube more. I got my photoclam for quite a reasonable price @ $840 shipped to U.S.(Probably one of the first a few in U.S.) Currently it is much more expensive than $840, with some fancy big wheels. As for you 4X5, I would say no head can beat cube/photoclam mulitflex percision wise, with the weight/support combination. Before I bought photoclam, I considered Manfrotto, but I can not stand 1. manfrotto quick release system, 2. self weight/support.
If you ever think about getting bigger, you might want to take a look at Ries. The limit for Cube/photoclam is 8X10.

I had B1, Z1DP, before I bought Photoclam, once I bought that I have never looked back.
I bought a small arca type ball head for my gitzo 2 traveler tripods which is going to support my digitals and Chamonix 045 if I don't have a car to drive around(especially here in U.K.).

BTW, Thingy, would you show me some of your shots with PS945? I am thinking about buying one.

[Thingy]

I've been using the Acratech ball head for time now and am VERY glad I went over to ballheads. It is much easier for me to operate and I have used it with both my 45SU & my vew recently acquired Mamiya 645 Pro TL camera. I have been doing more macro work since getting it and it makes adjustments at odd angled using the Cooke, a doddle. Having said that, I need to get round to having all the film developed......

If you want a lightweight alternative to the weighty 405 & 410, then this is an excellent choice. I also really appreciate having a head that weighs less than my tripod!