Ballhead Choices

peter_n wrote in post #11516577
It appears to me that RRS's business model is to lock customers into buying RRS components and to shut them out from buying competitors' products. This may be good for RRS but it's bad for consumers. I was looking at the RRS site this weekend and now see that you can only use RRS clamps on their ballheads. This can be a risky model as it's the antithesis of what MCAsan is talking about in post #8 above. I certainly don't like it, and while I think that RRS clamps and plates are of the highest construction quality I think in some cases they are poorly designed. I wouldn't buy a ballhead or tripod from them either as I think they've yet to prove themselves.

OTOH Markins have taken the opposite tack; they try to work with everything out there. Their lever clamp has adjustment mechanics that allows you to use various plates, they will fit an RRS clamp to one of their ballheads if you send it to them. I'm sure that kind of attitude has won them sales and their construction quality is on a par with that of RRS. I've been using a Markins clamp on a Linhof ballhead for years with plates from four or five different companies and I've never had a problem. It's a no-brainer and as I said above I'm prepared to pay for custom machining so it will bolt onto an A-S Z1 stem. I'm hopeful that RRS will rethink their strategy but I'm not holding my breath...

Not sure where you get that idea. Their ballheads are available without a clamp, and the connection method they use is compatible with many other companies' clamps; Arca-Swiss, FlashPoint, and Giottos to name a few.

peter_n wrote in post #11516577
It appears to me that RRS's business model is to lock customers into buying RRS components and to shut them out from buying competitors' products. This may be good for RRS but it's bad for consumers. I was looking at the RRS site this weekend and now see that you can only use RRS clamps on their ballheads. This can be a risky model as it's the antithesis of what MCAsan is talking about in post #8 above. I certainly don't like it, and while I think that RRS clamps and plates are of the highest construction quality I think in some cases they are poorly designed. I wouldn't buy a ballhead or tripod from them either as I think they've yet to prove themselves.

OTOH Markins have taken the opposite tack; they try to work with everything out there. Their lever clamp has adjustment mechanics that allows you to use various plates, they will fit an RRS clamp to one of their ballheads if you send it to them. I'm sure that kind of attitude has won them sales and their construction quality is on a par with that of RRS. I've been using a Markins clamp on a Linhof ballhead for years with plates from four or five different companies and I've never had a problem. It's a no-brainer and as I said above I'm prepared to pay for custom machining so it will bolt onto an A-S Z1 stem. I'm hopeful that RRS will rethink their strategy but I'm not holding my breath...

I've no idea what you've got against RRS but in every ball head post you interject how great Markins is and what a PITA RRS is. Anyway you are utterly wrong about RRS' compatibility.

RRS does have a disclaimer that their lever clamp should only use RRS or Wimberley plates, but this disclaimer is only for the the lever release clamps. Like Jon said, RRS offers both a screw type clamp and an option for no clamp. They are not discriminating against any system, nor are they forcing you to use theirs. If you want an RRS lever release clamp then you should use RRS or Wimberley plates. If you want to use something else, then get the screw type or another manufacturer's clamp, they even offer 1/4-20 or M6 threading.

I have used Markins, Bogen, Giottos, Acratech, and RRS. I still use RRS and Acratech ball heads, I have a smattering of RRS, Acratech, Kirk, generic plates, so far all of them seem to have an adequate connection with my RRS lever clamp. RRS is probably, no definitely, the finest ball head I've used. Acratech is the lightest head I've used that still has adequate clamping ability.

RRS has been around for a long time. They've been at this stuff since 1990, that's 20 years in the business. The BH-55 has been around since 2004. I trust their products, there are very few that don't praise the products that are produced by RRS. They also stand behind their stuff. Since Joe Johnson took the company over they not only produce top quality equipment, but they are easy to do business with too.

Finally, the Markins QR lever release is nice, and, yes, it will work with many types of plates (so will the RRS, I have proven this to myself with my equipment, I think there may have been some problems with some plates, maybe even runs of plates, thus the disclaimer). But in order to work with the wide variety of plates the clamp must be adjusted, and IMO this defeats the original intent of the lever release.

J-Blake wrote in post #11516710
peter, do you think that the Q3 would work marginally well with a larger lens or poorly? What is your opinion on the symptoms I would run into. Settlement, shaking, etc? Just wondering if you thought I could get by with it, should I go this route. Especially with a tripod mount on the lens.

I think you'd probably run into creep... theorizing on my part as I don't use telephoto lenses. I also think you have to take load ratings for ballheads and tripods with a pinch of salt; the measurement method is very rarely specified. I follow your logic WRT the lens collar and the load rating but can't answer the question and I suggest you email Markins about it. They're responsive but won't be back in the office till 12/29.

Jon wrote in post #11516762
Not sure where you get that idea. Their ballheads are available without a clamp, and the connection method they use is compatible with many other companies' clamps; Arca-Swiss, FlashPoint, and Giottos to name a few.

Jon I definitely overstepped the mark and I apologize for that. The BH-55 takes clamps from Arca-Swiss. Here's the clamp-related text from each of the RRS ballhead pages:

BH-55 no clamp page: Only clamps from Arca-Swiss or Really Right Stuff will fit this head.

BH-40 no clamp page: accepts clamps only from Really Right Stuff. (Bold text is RRS', not mine.) BH-40 accepts: B2-40 LR, B2-mAS, B2 Pro II, B2 AS II, or PCL-1.

BH-30 no clamp page: Clamp options: B2-40 LR, B2-mAS, B2 AS II, B2-Pro II, or PCL-1

BH-25 no clamp page: No information on clamps.

I'll make the assumption (could be wrong! ) that the BH-30 will also only take RRS clamps since the listed clamp options are a large subset of the BH-40 list.

casaaviocar wrote in post #11516988
I've no idea what you've got against RRS but in every ball head post you interject how great Markins is and what a PITA RRS is.

I'm actually not a Markins fanboy although I do like and use their screw clamps and the Q3T ballhead. They're well designed and constructed, but I'm unlikely to buy any more of their products. I need one more ballhead and that's probably going to be an Arca-Swiss Z1 to replace an old Linhof.

A couple of examples of RRS design issues I have: One of the things I like about the Markins clamp is the spring-loaded safety detent pin. One of the things I don't like about the RRS clamps is the lack of such a pin. I use two RRS L-plates (excellent build quality) and neither have safety screw stops. So, you have a loose vise on an RRS clamp and an RRS L-plate can slide out. Unlikely, but possible. Impossible with the Markins clamp because the safety pin would catch in the plate cutout.

One of the things I like about my Markins ballhead is the simple rubberized controls and their layout, almost identical to the big Linhof. Very easy to use in the field and with gloves on. One of the things I don't like about the RRS BH-55 is the metal knobs, particularly the conical-shaped ball locking knob. That design/layout just doesn't work for me. It may work for lots of other people but not for me. Just to balance the equation though one of the things I really like about that RRS design is that it's squat; it gets the camera really close to the tripod base.

I don't really care about brand names, what I do like though is equipment that I don't even have to think about. 95% of my photography is with simple film cameras, mostly mechanical rangefinders. I can use them in my sleep and in the heat of battle I do make mistakes so I need everything to be really simple and consistent and basically bulletproof. So I use screw-clamps on ballheads from different companies that more-or-less function the same way. That way I reduce my risk.