I think I've made my choices....

AH! Sorry, didnt know you were in Canada!Well yea I guess that changes things a bit.

Ya. Even with the dollar being like it is....most places haven't adjusted their prices...much!

Too bad the 488 doesn't have a feature to be locked perfectly straight up. That would be the ultimate.

TheReal7 wrote in post #6239833
Too bad the 488 doesn't have a feature to be locked perfectly straight up. That would be the ultimate.

I dont know of any ball head that has that feature though...

Ya, I haven't found one yet. Someone needs to make this a feature because it would be the ultimate for what I want/need.

TheReal7 wrote in post #6239216
I spent about an hour trying out different tripods and heads. I did try the 488 although a great head, I wasn't diggin it. I like the level on the 804 and plan to do a lot of panoramas and the 804 seem to operate the way I liked.

If you are happy the head will work for you, then go for it.

I have the legs and they are great (but with the 486RC2 ball head, also great), and I think my brother in law has that head (also on the same tripod), which he is happy with as far as I am aware, it certainly looks the job for landscapes and pano's.

Great to hear Gembobs. I think I will pull the trigger as soon as I can. I disparately need a good reliable tripod. Down the road I can see myself getting a ball head for portraits and such.

I've got that very head on a 055XPROB. I like pan heads, what can I say? I shoot a lot of panoramics and I after trying the built in levels and then buying one of the hot shoe devices, I finally bought an Acratech leveling base. It's quick, easy and about as accurate as any of the other methods.

tsamarin, what prompted you to get the Acratech? Was the bubble level on the tripod not that good?

Scott,
Yeah, the tripod bubbles get you close but if you're shooting a lot of pics to stitch together later, then even a slight tilt to the tripod causes you to crop off a lot of the tops and bottoms to keep things level in the stitch. The leveling base bubble is bigger and easier to see. Plus, moving the legs is a real exercise in patience-you end up altering the tripod position just by grabbing it to move the legs and you have to go back and readjust. This way, I get close with the tripod bubbles and then dial in with the leveling base. It's still not perfect, though. Now I understand why the pros use such expensive support gear. There's some pretty good information on the Really Right Stuff website about shooting pans. Good luck and don't sweat it too bad-it wouldn't be such a fun hobby if you didn't keep buying new things, right?

If you want to do panos, why not try a pano head? If you need one, I have a Bogen 303 to get rid of for a good price!

For Canadians buying from Amazon.com, don't they refuse to sell some items into Canada? I know for example that camera bodies and lenses are not shipped to Canada.

Maxdave

I have exactly the same combo you have, and i am happy with it, i saw that 488RC2 and i was really going to buy it, but i feel i got used to my 804RC2, and i don't know why i feel it is more easier for me than ballhead, but i am sure others see that is wrong, but in all cases i use it only in my country for short hiking that i don't need to carry something heavier, for another purposes i have my Gitzo 5eries and ballhead RRS 55 and i can use Markins Q3T if i want to.

tsamarin wrote in post #6243793
Scott,
Yeah, the tripod bubbles get you close but if you're shooting a lot of pics to stitch together later, then even a slight tilt to the tripod causes you to crop off a lot of the tops and bottoms to keep things level in the stitch. The leveling base bubble is bigger and easier to see. Plus, moving the legs is a real exercise in patience-you end up altering the tripod position just by grabbing it to move the legs and you have to go back and readjust. This way, I get close with the tripod bubbles and then dial in with the leveling base. It's still not perfect, though. Now I understand why the pros use such expensive support gear. There's some pretty good information on the Really Right Stuff website about shooting pans. Good luck and don't sweat it too bad-it wouldn't be such a fun hobby if you didn't keep buying new things, right?

I like your point of view!

Thank you everyone for the feedback. Today I picked up a 190XPROB and 804CR2 and look forward to getting much use out of it!!