pan and tilt head - arca compatible

[Flats]

Hi can anyone suggest a good pan and tilt tripod head of the sort used for birders for their telescopes, but that has an ARCA style clamp on the top? The ARCA format seems common on ball heads, but pan and tilt seems to be more proprietary, ie manfrotto uses their own QR system and so on.

I have a birder friend who wants to be able to use my lenses on his camera in the field, but his primary use of it will be for a telescope, hence pan and tilt. That's fine, but I am all geared up for ARCA - easy to add a wimberley/kirk/rrs plate to the scope foot, less easy to find a tripod head. His existing manfrotto head is on the way out, this would be a good to time for him to switch and have our gear become interchangable.

Needs to be capable of about 8-10kg, which would be double the actual load. So far we found only one head, made by Feisol, that fits the bill - wondered if there was any competition?

Thanks
Jonathan

 

[hollis_f]

Have you thought of the Acratech Long Lens Head? I use it for my birding scope.

 

[Flats]

Good bit of kit, but more than he wants to spend, and he wants one with a handle - perhaps this is more of a fluid head than a pan and tilt? Pan and tilt with a handle?

 

[Ceejay]

He could just buy a replacement P/Tilt head and add a Arca Swiss clamp on top of it such as a Benro Arca-pattern QRC Series clamp. About £49 from "Speedgraphic" but possibly cheaper on Ebay.

C