Albert,
I have the Ultimate Ballhead and have reported on it before. The only
(minor) complaint I have so far, and I believe this has been addressed
with later versions, is some rusting with the set screws after I
knocked the tripod into the ocean up in Rockport MA (but not the
camera). Later versions have stainless steel set screws.
The best feature of this tripod compared to others is the ability to
switch to portrait orientation quickly. It has more range of motion
than traditional ballheads. And I like it better than any other
ballhead I have used, which include a small kaiser, giotos, arca swiss
B1, and Gitzo offset ballhead. None compare when you consider weight.
The advantage of the arca swiss is the stability against sudden
movement, such as flopping over. The arca swiss is also bit smoother
with panning motion. However, this same feature is also a problem when
trying to move the head around quickly as it always tends to stick.
Hence, the arca swiss is very cumbersome if you want to switch over to
portrait mode. You really need a right angle plate with the arca swiss.
The right angle plate is not needed with the ultimate ballhead.
The Ulitmate ballhead does not have the gripping feature of the arca
swiss. Instead, the tension is very smooth or uniform and does not bind
up like the Arca Swiss. If you are worried about your big lens flopping
over, you have to pay attention with the ultimate ballhead. On occasion
I find that the ultimate ballhead has non-uniform friction in one
direction versus the other, but that is easily fixed by adjusting the
secondary tensioning thumb nut. If you look at the website
<http://acratech.net/prod01.htm> you can see the main tensioning knob
near the bottom, and a smaller tensioning knob at the top.
The Ultimate ballhead comes in a left handed version and a right handed
(although with an allen wrench you can probably switch it). I prefer
the left handed version - which puts the main tension knob on the left
when the ballhead tilts from ~10 degrees up to -95+ degrees (pointing
straight down). If you tend to shoot down more than up (macro), the
left handed version allows your right hand to operate the camera.
Oh, did I mention that the ultimate head is 1/3 the weight... On a CF
tripod it makes for a very balanced system when transporting with a
backpack. The arca swiss makes a CF tripod top heavy. I've dropped the
ultimate ballhead into snow and ice, ocean water, etc. You would think
with the exposed ball it would cause a problem, but there is no place
for the water to accumulate.
One cool feature I proposed to them (Scott's wife over the phone) was a
way to lock the head into a vertically square position to allow for
leveling the tripod for panoramic shooting. I made a wooden shim that I
slips between the back support and the quick release clamp that lets me
set the top plate parallel to the base. (Look at the website photo left
picture) By slipping the shim in between the top of the support and the
quick release clamp and locking the tripod, I can then use a bubble
level to level the tripod and know the mounted camera is also level to
the tripod base plate. This is important if you want to do panoramic
stitching. I don't know of a way to do that with any of the other
ballheads I have tried. Pan tilt heads probably have this feature built
in. It would be neat if they could add a vertical locking feature the
ultimate tripod.
Anyway, as you can see I'm a great fan of this ballhead. I think it is
the ideal outdoor photography ballhead. I can set the tension to allow
some movement but also with near constant holding power. If your
primary interest is with big heavy lenses like the 350/2.8, it may not
perform as well as an Arca Swiss. But if you do a lot of macro or
standard lens shooting where packing weight is of concern, there is no
better made head than this one. I have the Gitzo 1228 with this head
(3lbs total). Acratech also sells the Velbon tripod with a custom made
fixed top plate for use with this head, but I think it is a bulkier
(but cheaper and the same weight) combination as the Gitzo 1228.
Wayne
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