Ball heads

[fhwong]

Anyone used or know of this:

http://www.nikonians.org/html/resources/non-nikon_articles/markins/markins_2.html

The Markin's ball head, thinking of buying the M10.

Rather than the Arca Swiss or Kirk BH.

What do you think?

 

[bcool]

One of the best selection.

I am also using Markins ballhead M10 on both Gitzo tripod and monopod.
This Markins ballhead is made in Korea and lots of photographers worldwide use Markins ballhead and plate with good reputation.

 

[peter_n]

Great ballhead. The only knock on it is that it can get very stiff in extremely cold weather. This is something to seriously consider if you live in a cold climate. Markins stuff is very well made, I have a Markins Arca/Swiss QR clamp and it is a work of art.

 

[fhwong]

Thanks all!

About to buy the M10 ballhead right now!

I take it I need to buy a camera plate from them as well for the quickrelease mech?

 

[aterlecki]

Thanks all!

About to buy the M10 ballhead right now!

I take it I need to buy a camera plate from them as well for the quickrelease mech?

Before you buy have a quick look at the Acratec ones: http://acratech.net/. I bought my Linhof Profi long before these existed but if I had to do it again I'd be getting the Acratec Ultimate Ballhead. Holds more han enough weight and it's very light. Their plates are top quality too and I use them on my RRS clamp.

 

[RObert Budding]

Anyone here used a RRS BH-40? It looks promising.

 

[kbg32]

I wwould have a look at a brand called Giotto.

 

[peter_n]

Thanks all!

About to buy the M10 ballhead right now!

I take it I need to buy a camera plate from them as well for the quickrelease mech?

You can, I have their clamp and it is great. But the Arca/Swiss QR system has a number of vendors so if you fancy another brand of clamp on your ballhead just make sure it screws into the stem (almost all of which are 3/8ths).

The plate that goes on the camera you can buy from anywhere, in fact I think Markins doesn't make camera plates.

The plate on my Leica M

 

[peter_n]

Before you buy have a quick look at the Acratec ones: http://acratech.net/. I bought my Linhof Profi long before these existed but if I had to do it again I'd be getting the Acratec Ultimate Ballhead. Holds more han enough weight and it's very light. Their plates are top quality too and I use them on my RRS clamp.

I have a Linhof Profi II and I would never trade it for an Acratech. Seriously. Mainly because of the ergonomics. I think the Linhof is a really well designed product.

 

[RichardK01]

Another possibility

Another possibility

While it is substantially more expensive, you might think about the Arca Cube. A review of it is here:
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/accessories/arca-cube.shtml

 

[RObert Budding]

While it is substantially more expensive, you might think about the Arca Cube. A review of it is here:
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/accessories/arca-cube.shtml

The Arca Cube is *way* more expensive than a good ballhead. I, myself, am looking at the Really Right Stuff BH-55. The RRS BH-40 is nice, too, but I want the larger head as I mostly shoot medium format.

 

[peter_n]

That Arca Cube looks really interesting - but at $1.5K? 😱

 

[Finder]

The Markin ballhead looks really good for a view camera. I would not want it for anything smaller - I don't need the price nor the weight.

What are you going to use this head for?

 

[Finder]

Ah, sorry. This is the Xpan forum. I don't think you need such a large head for such a small camera. The wight of the head will also impact the tripod's load limit.