Which tripod head?

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I am about to purchase a new tripod. Seem to have mislaid my old one whilst moving and it has not turned up. Likely to choose Manfrotto 055 carbon fibre pro3. Cannot decide which head to get. My old tripod I had to keep phiffing and phaffing which totalled annoyed me at times so I am thinking something simple to use. I like to shoot landscapes, macro , still life mostly. Your thoughts much appreciated.
 
HeartandSoul said:
I am about to purchase a new tripod. Seem to have mislaid my old one whilst moving and it has not turned up. Likely to choose Manfrotto 055 carbon fibre pro3. Cannot decide which head to get. My old tripod I had to keep phiffing and phaffing which totalled annoyed me at times so I am thinking something simple to use. I like to shoot landscapes, macro , still life mostly. Your thoughts much appreciated.
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Would a geared head or 3 way fit your needs? Manfrotto do several that are quite good. The only downside of a geared head would be it may weigh more than your tripod.
 
410 junior geared head!
 
:plusone: for the 410 geared Manfrotto. Pretty much as quick to set up accurately as a ball head and once aimed won't drift off. As Rob said above, geared heads aren't light (or cheap) but if accurate framing in camera is important to you, IMO it's worth it. They do turn up 2nd hand from time to time so keep an eye on the second hand dealers' sites and the classifieds section here.
 
Yep, agree with the above observations. Weighs a bit more, but accurate and not frustrating when you need it to be accurate.
 
A geared head will do what you need, the 410 is the most affordable.
 
A geared head is best for your intended photography, I have an old (about 10 years) 055 with a 410 head, but it's heavy, and Manfrotto don't do na geared head with ARCA style clamp. I've just bought a CF 055 (MT055CXPROP3) and went for a ball head with an arca style clamp, the Manfrotto MHXPRO-BHQ6, the difference in weight is staggering, not so much on the scales, but when out and about with it.
 
Faldrax said:
I also have the 055 CX Pro 3 legs, with a 410 Junior geared head - great combination.

You can get an Arca swiss conversion for the 410 - http://www.hejnarphotostore.com/category-s/147.htm
They have a shop on ebay UK - http://stores.ebay.co.uk/hejnarphoto/Manfrotto-Adapters-/_i.html?_fsub=4082575016

I've not made the switch to arca swiss yet, but keep thinking about it!
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I've got a Sunway Foto adapter plate on the 410 head to convert to ARCA compatible.

That said the Manfrotto Ballhead I quoted abovem has a really nice ARCA style clamp, it has a spring lock mechanism which is activated before tightening up the locking wheel. Makes the whole thing very secure and less chance of dropping the camera before the clamp is tightened. The spring also has to be released before camera removal.
 
Thanks for the replies. 410 seems popular so will give this some serious thought. May need to visit the photography show to try one out first.

My next question what is the benefit of the area Swiss plate some of you have mentioned.
 
The idea behind the Arca Swiss system (I believe) is twofold
1) The design is fairly 'generic' - you can get plates to attach to the camera / lens foot (for lenses with a tripod collar) in a variety of lengths to suit any particular device - from a small mirror less to the large foot on a 600 mm lens.
2) This 'generic' nature extends to 'L Brackets' - which fit on the camera and also up one side - making it very quick and easy to attach the camera to the tripod in either portrait or landscape orientation.

A quick google of 'Arca Swiss' will lead to lots of images of the wide range of both heads and plates that work with the same system, and so are interchangeable.
 
Faldrax said:
The idea behind the Arca Swiss system (I believe) is twofold
1) The design is fairly 'generic' - you can get plates to attach to the camera / lens foot (for lenses with a tripod collar) in a variety of lengths to suit any particular device - from a small mirror less to the large foot on a 600 mm lens.
2) This 'generic' nature extends to 'L Brackets' - which fit on the camera and also up one side - making it very quick and easy to attach the camera to the tripod in either portrait or landscape orientation.

A quick google of 'Arca Swiss' will lead to lots of images of the wide range of both heads and plates that work with the same system, and so are interchangeable.
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This ^^^^

Very fast to mount camera, and you know it is secure, no phaffing abou screwing body to pl;ate and then mounting plate on tripod. I have several bodies and three tripods (all for different uses), they all just fit each other, simples....
 
Why bother with arca when the 410 head changes landscape to portrait in 2 seconds anyway? I'm only asking As I thought about an L bracket and thought ....... What's the benifit?
 
Mark twiglet said:
Why bother with arca when the 410 head changes landscape to portrait in 2 seconds anyway? I'm only asking As I thought about an L bracket and thought ....... What's the benifit?
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If you have one camera then great, but if I want to change bodies quickly, then Arca is a way forward, it's not the only way but it suits the equipment that I have.
 
Mark twiglet said:
Why bother with arca when the 410 head changes landscape to portrait in 2 seconds anyway? I'm only asking As I thought about an L bracket and thought ....... What's the benifit?
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L Brackets are good you have the landscape composition then you can quickly to a similar composition but in portrait. Also a L Bracket keeps the centre of gravity over the centre of the tripod. Turning the head sideways like you mention offsetting the weight there is a potential for the tripod to topple over if you don't have the tripod legs spaced evenly and of similar length.

Mr Perceptive said:
If you have one camera then great, but if I want to change bodies quickly, then Arca is a way forward, it's not the only way but it suits the equipment that I have.
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Like you say if you only have one head then it's fine. The problem is when you have two or more different heads (geared, ball, gimbal) where you have different bracket types. The acra Swiss plate standardises the plate type making it easier to switch heads/cameras/lenses. I had this problem when I had a Manfrotto gimbal head with its own plate type and the manfrotto RC2 ball head, it meant swapping plates all of the time and it was a pain to do this.
 
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Mark twiglet said:
Why bother with arca when the 410 head changes landscape to portrait in 2 seconds anyway? I'm only asking As I thought about an L bracket and thought ....... What's the benifit?
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Also flipping the head to one side changes the composition of the shot. And it can have an effect on the balance of the setup.
 
Thanks for responses. I will have a think about this more ......(y)
 
Ah ok see points .....

Thanks ....

Just wondered
 
I purchased a Redsnapper Ball head and spare plates arca style fit and well chuffed with it :)
 
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