Red Snapper RSH-12 Ball Head - what comes with it?

[Naboo32]

I'm not entirely sure from the description on the website, whether this ball head comes with the QR clamp and the QR plate, or just the clamp !?

Link ...

Can anyone who's bought one of these recently please confirm what they actually got for their 50 quid (apart from 'a great bargain" )?

Thanks!

 

[Yog]

The "clamp" is integral and the plate comes with it.

Mine arrived this week, and I must say I'm very impressed with it. It's noticably better than the Benbo ball and socket head I have been using, despite costing less than what I paid second hand for the Benbo head.

Great piece if kit

 

[I-S]

It comes with one plate, but it's not spectacular...

I highly recommend getting some better plates, although you need not spend £50 per plate as some are (eg Kirk). There are chinese copies of the wimberley plates on ebay, which have identical anti-twist nubs and safety stop screws, but come in at less than half the price. I have genuine wimberleys (bought before the chinese ones were available) and a colleague bought one of the chinese ones and they are absolutely identical (even down to the connections for the wimberley flash bracket, which kirk and markins plates do not have) - I'd have no concerns over buying the chinese ones. They're £15-£20 each.

Don't bother with plates that have little rubber bits or cork on. Properly designed all-metal plates are better as they provide one less place that movement may be introduced.

 

[Naboo32]

The "clamp" is integral and the plate comes with it.

Mine arrived this week, and I must say I'm very impressed with it. It's noticably better than the Benbo ball and socket head I have been using, despite costing less than what I paid second hand for the Benbo head.

Great piece if kit

Thanks for that Mark, that's just what I wanted to hear - I think I must go and click on a few buttons and get myself one of these .

Originally, I wanted to upgrade the clamp on my Giottos ball head to a (27 quid) Arca style clamp, but it seems that they don't fit properly without drilling a counter-sunk hole into the plate first, and I don't have the tools to do that :shrug:.

So, I might as well spend another 23 quid and have an RSH-12 for my tripod and just and use the Giottos on my monopod .

If only all camera equipment was so reasonably priced .

It comes with one plate, but it's not spectacular...

I highly recommend getting some better plates, although you need not spend £50 per plate as some are (eg Kirk). There are chinese copies of the wimberley plates on ebay, which have identical anti-twist nubs and safety stop screws, but come in at less than half the price. I have genuine wimberleys (bought before the chinese ones were available) and a colleague bought one of the chinese ones and they are absolutely identical (even down to the connections for the wimberley flash bracket, which kirk and markins plates do not have) - I'd have no concerns over buying the chinese ones. They're £15-£20 each.

Don't bother with plates that have little rubber bits or cork on. Properly designed all-metal plates are better as they provide one less place that movement may be introduced.

Thanks for the info about the plate I-S .

Ultimately, I want to get an L bracket (Kirk, probably) for my D700 and the little square one supplied with RSH-12 would simply be to hold my (plastic) D90 with a short lens on. I just wondered whether or not I needed to order one of these as a separate item, or whether one was included.

If it wasn't already included, I'd take your advice and so and look for a better one, but as it is included, I can try it out first and get a better one if it's no good.

Thank you both for your help .

 

[I-S]

The cheap chinese plates I mentioned have now been branded kiwifot, and are now slightly different to the wimberleys... however, I'm sure they're still fine.

I have a kirk L-bracket for my 5D (I was given it) which works very well, although I don't use the L bit much at all. I have wimberley lens plates along with a wimberley universal camera plate (which has a rubberised coating on the top) which isn't too bad - it works for my partner's 1000D.

The redsnapper plate will be fine for a light body/lens - my colleague who has a redsnapper uses it with his EOS 450D and 18-55 and 55-250 lenses, with a kiwifot for his sigma 150-500. Works well for him.

There's plenty of good plates out there, although I'd not spend my money on RRS.

 

[Yog]

Ultimately, I want to get an L bracket (Kirk, probably) for my D700 .

I don't know if it will fulfill all your needs, but the ball head on the Redsnapper has a slot on one side of the casing that allows the camera to be turned through 90 degs on the vertical for portait shots.(unlike my Benbo head).

 

[Naboo32]

The cheap chinese plates I mentioned have now been branded kiwifot, and are now slightly different to the wimberleys... however, I'm sure they're still fine.

I have a kirk L-bracket for my 5D (I was given it) which works very well, although I don't use the L bit much at all. I have wimberley lens plates along with a wimberley universal camera plate (which has a rubberised coating on the top) which isn't too bad - it works for my partner's 1000D.

The redsnapper plate will be fine for a light body/lens - my colleague who has a redsnapper uses it with his EOS 450D and 18-55 and 55-250 lenses, with a kiwifot for his sigma 150-500. Works well for him.

There's plenty of good plates out there, although I'd not spend my money on RRS.

Well, I only have one long lens that I will be mounting to this ball head - the Nikon 300mm f/4 AF-S. Luckily, it has a foot with two holes in, so I can use the long Red Snapper bracket and fit it very securely ....

Link ..

The weak link here, though, is the actual lens foot - it's not very sturdy ! I can't justify the cost of a Kirk replacement foot, but I'll try to brace it with something.

So, if the short plate is no good, I'll look out for a "Kiwifot" one - cheers !

 

[Naboo32]

I don't know if it will fulfill all your needs, but the ball head on the Redsnapper has a slot on one side of the casing that allows the camera to be turned through 90 degs on the vertical for portait shots.(unlike my Benbo head).

How stable is the camera when it's tipped over to 90°, Mark? My Giottos has that feature too, but on long exposures there is a gradual downward creeping movement, resulting in blurred exposures (although this may actually be the fault of the sloppy QR plate/clamp, rather than the ball itself slipping :shrug:.

 

[robrevens]

My redsnapper RSH-12 is rock solid when you do the clamp screw up.

 

[Naboo32]

My redsnapper RSH-12 is rock solid when you do the clamp screw up.

Good to hear . Maybe I should just get one and give it a go, before I start shelling out for L plates etc.

Thanks Rob!

 

[Yog]

How stable is the camera when it's tipped over to 90°, Mark?

I'm using it with a 7D and a Canon 24-70mm, which combined weighs in at around 1.8Kg, and the head seems to hold just fine at 90degs.
Longest exposure so far in this position was about 10 secs, but no sign of movement blur.

 

[robrevens]

Good to hear . Maybe I should just get one and give it a go, before I start shelling out for L plates etc.

Thanks Rob!

I would. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised, and may save yourself some dosh...

 

[Naboo32]

Thanks again for the info guys - I will place my order tonight .

 

[Naboo32]

One last question:

Does anyone know whether the QR plate is held on by a threaded bolt/screw, or whether the shaft of the ball head itself is threaded and screws into the QR plate :shrug:?

 

[robrevens]

I'm not at home at the moment, but I seem to remember that it's a screw.

 

[Yog]

Does anyone know whether the QR plate is held on by a threaded bolt/screw, or whether the shaft of the ball head itself is threaded and screws into the QR plate :shrug:?

There's a threaded bolt that applies pressure to the side of the QR plate to hold it in place, and there's also a failsafe pin underneath (that is released by a side button), just in case you don't have a secure grip on the camera when you undo the main threaded bolt.