After a lot of research (and once I was able to swallow the price), I ended up purchasing the Acratech GP-S head for an upcoming trip to Iceland. I loved how it has the ability to act as a leveling base and it saved money on not having to purchase one.
Acratech has two clamp options. One with a lever and a laser engraved scale on the clamp, and one with a knob release WITHOUT the laser engraved scale. Call me old school, but I'm not a fan of lever release clamps and prefer knobs. Since Acratech does not laser engrave a scale on the knob clamp it would make using my nodal slide much more difficult. I knew this when I purchased it and figured that I would simply use the scale on the nodal slide and match that with the end of the clamp. However once I received the head I knew that I wouldn't be happy with it as is. I had thought about returning it and getting the version with the lever but I decided to instead call Acratech direct. I explained that liked the knob but wanted a scale on the clamp and asked if they would even consider making a version like that. The lady on the phone was extremely nice and told me to just send the clamp in and they would laser engrave it for $10. I sent my clamp in and the day after they received it they called asking for payment info and shipped it back that day! I'm thrilled with the customer service I received from Acratech! I can now use my nodal slide by matching it with the center of the head.
