Leveling base or panning clamp?

I want to get a better ball head and I'm looking at the RSS BH-55. I think I would like to have a leveling base, but they don't have any which fit my tripods (Gitzo 2543 and Surui 3204X). Would there be any disadvantage to getting the BH55 with the PC-LR panning base, versus a leveling base?

I've never used a leveling base
but I have the above RRS ball head & RRS panning clamp.
Like you mentioned, the panning clamp will fit any tripod
that will accept your ballhead, so there's "that" advantage if
in the future you change or add tripods.
The panning clamp works great for me, just level the ball head
and your good to go. Like I said, I have no experience with using
a leveling bases and it's advantages.

maxblack wrote in post #17445771
I've never used a leveling base
but I have the above RRS ball head & RRS panning clamp.
Like you mentioned, the panning clamp will fit any tripod
that will accept your ballhead, so there's "that" advantage if
in the future you change or add tripods.
The panning clamp works great for me, just level the ball head
and your good to go. Like I said, I have no experience with using
a leveling bases and it's advantages.

Thanks for the feedback!

The only disadvantage I could think of is that if I want to use one of the ballhead dropdown notches, I would need to rotate the main ballhead panning, which would not be level. And at that point the weight of the camera and lens are supported by the panning clamp.

I have an RRS tripod with a leveling base. I like it a lot. I just added a panning clamp to my BH-55 for two reasons. I wanted to convert to the lever clamp vs. the screw clamp I originally purchased and I wanted the added convenience of the panning clamp for landscapes, etc.

That said, the leveling base in almost a necessity for my new RRS Gimbal head. I have to say...... that thing is sweet. I shoot a lot of wildlife and birds so it made a lot of sense for me.

I used to use the RRS leveling base and an Arca-Swiss ballhead on a 3-series Gitzo systematic and the RRS leveling base is a terrific product. However I found that the big head on top of the leveling base made the tripod a bit top heavy and somewhat unwieldy. I think you'll find the same with a BH-55 and a Mountaineer 2543, I'm trying out a BH-55 at the moment and it's even heavier than my Arca-Swiss Z1.

I replaced both head and leveling base with an Acratech GP ballhead that has a leveling base built in. The Acratech is light in weight and very good in bad weather also but it's a medium sized head that won't support a huge telephoto like the BH-55. However it's a very suitable head for a Gitzo 2-series Mountaineer.

Many thanks for all the feedback. I have to admit that selecting a new ball head has been very confusing for me. I ordered the BH55 with the PC-LR panning clamp and I will go from there. I'm sure it will be better than the inexpensive Manfrotto that I have been using. I am just now about to the point where I am going to lose a thumbnail from using a 70-200 f/2.8 lens with the Manfrotto last fall...

I do like the idea of a leveling base, and it would be nice with my Wimberly gimbal head, so I guess my quest to find exactly what suits me best is not over.