Roman,
Murphy's law is playing with me. I have heard this advice several times and from several different sources and now that I opened my big mouth, I can't find the damn references to save my life. LOL I am sure that one of the references was from John Shaw. Let me do some looking (inbetween actual photography work) and I will see if I can point you to the references.

Has anyone here tried the new model Achratech? I understand that they fixed some of the ergonomic issues in the first generation.

Lou

I use the Markins M-20 Ball Head. Rated at 90lbs and weighs only 1.25 lbs. I have this mounted on a Gitzo G1325 Tripod and the whole thing weighs less than my old Bogen 3221 with the Bogen 3262 Ball Head.

Hey David,

You purchased the Markins since this thread started. How do you like it?

James

I really like the Markins Ball Head. I was able to play with a Kirk B-1 and the RRS BH-55 ball heads and I am convinced that all three are of equal quality. I chose the Markins because of the friction adjustment. The friction adjustment is similar to the Arca-Swiss Ball Head. It is inset in the main control knob and really only needs to be adjusted once. The Kirk and RRS has a seperate friction control knob. I liked the design of the Markins better and went with it. I could see me in a stressful situation grabbing the wrong knob to adjust and the Markins has 1 large main control knob and a smaller pano control knob and less chance for a mistake. The Markins is also the lightest of them all and is built like a tank. I bought the Markins because it would work best for me and should not betaken that it is better than any of the other ball heads. The only real difference between all the top quality ball heads is egonomics and therefore other people could make a different decision and be justified in their decision. I would recommend anybody that buys the Markins ball head, buy it without a QR clamp and install the QR clamp from Kirk. The Kirk QR clamp has a bubble level built into it and a better feeling knob and is faster to operate the clamp. I don't like the lever release from RRS because it can become loose due to wear after a while and know a few people that has already experienced that problem with theirs. While RRS will warranty replace the clamp, it doesn't help when you are at a photo shoot miles away from home. I like the Markins so much that I am going to buy another for my window mount so I don't have to keep taking the ball head off my tripod when I want to use the window mount.

Thanks for the info on the Markins. One of the fellows on my trip with Steve in March rated the Markins quite well. For other folks who are interested, this month's Outdoor Photographer had a small section on tripod heads.

James

I bought the wimberley head II. I can't believe I forked out $600 for it. After using it, I'd put the money out again in a second. For short shoot times I would say that any good head is fine. When I shhot wildlife I tend to spend 10 to 12 hours a day behind the camera mounted to the head. The Head can easily be adjusted with a single finger for adding drag or changing balance. My longest lens is only a 200 - 400 that I use a 1.4 and/or 2.0 teleconverter on. At the end of the day I am glad I bought the Wimberly.

I have just recently purchased the RRS BH 55 ball head. It is VERY nice. Regarding the lever clamp with level - that was my choice. However, they also offer the clamp with a continuous knob (instead of the lever), if you prefer. I was quite taken with the "L" Plate as I do a lot of switching in "midstream" from portrait to landscape. This allows the camera to remain in virtually the same plane. Very, very, nice.

It's a good bit of money, but each time I use it I get a smile on my face...

Dale53

A much cheaper alternative to the Wimberley heads is the Manfrotto 393 (Bogen 3421 in the States). I saw a fellow recently using one with a Nikon 600mm, and the performance and smoothness and stability of operation were excellent. Worked well with my Sigma 500 f/4.5, also.
Here is a link to a brief review with pictures:
http://www.digiscoped.com/manfrotto701RC2.html#anchor_21

Also look at the Jobu Black Widow ... I'm working on a review of same, for this site!