Manfrotto 496 RC probelm?

[dave_bass5]

Having just got one of the above ball heads as an upgrade from my Red Snapper head, and very pleased with it, im finding that when i put the camera on the head the lever doesn't snap back tightly, and i need to push it a bit more.
Is this normal? Its not like its going to fall out but it is loose until i manually push it in, I thought it was supposed to just snap back and ready to go.

Cheers.

 

[rob-nikon]

Hi I have a 498rc2 ball head, when I mount the camera the lever snaps back but it's slightly loose. I think this depends on where the plate is in the grip and weight of camera/lens, the spring loaded lever isn't going to lock it tight, a little push on the lever soon firms the grip. I have have always seen this as part of the design, I like to check its a firm grip so always give the lever a little push. As long as the the safety latch lever is closed the camera can't fall off. Hope this helps.

 

[dave_bass5]

Thanks for the reply Rob. I think I panicked a bit as I hadn't seen this mentioned in any of the reviews.
It does seem to vary, sometimes it clips firmly and others it needs a little push. I think I'll get in to the habit of checking it each time anyway

 

[squishy]

Mine does that, I never trust it to spring back fully locked.
Always give it a firm push and it seems to lock in very tightly then.

 

[dave_bass5]

Thanks Squishy, good to know mines not faulty.

 

[Dexy101]

Yeah mine was the same so i decided to get it binned and exchange it for this. http://www.parkcameras.com/14750/Gi...ogle&utm_medium=froogle&utm_campaign=pid14750

Its almost the length of the 5dmk2 but a lot better and it locks in by sliding onto the plate then tightening a lever.

 

[dave_bass5]

cheers, that look nice but it sounds a bit more fiddly than just clipping the plate in. This was one of the reasons i went for this head. My RS head slides then tightens and to be honest i found that a bit of a pain if the tripod is very low down.

I've also got two plates, one for the camera and one that will stay on my 70-200 f/4 IS tripod ring so i dont want to change just yet.