[attachimg=1] 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]
While you're looking at the camera plates, you may want to look at Really Right Stuff's "L" brackets. ; They make each one for a specific camera, and allow you to mount the camera in both landscape and portrait orientations while keeping the ball head upright. ; I have one for my D700 and use it all the time with my RRS ballhead. ; Just make sure that they are compatible with your ballhead. ;
i use an rrs L plate currently on my 5d, fairly light, a little tight on getting the cable release in with the camera's built on rubber flap, but no other issues at all, want portrait after already leveled off, just open the clamp, turn the camera to portait, insert into the clamp, tighten, there you go, same scene, now portrait forgot to add, i too am an acratech user, since the spring, love their products
