Really Right Stuff users, please post you knowledge about this product. I've seen it mentioned several times.

-- Bruce Gavin (doc@compudox.com), August 17, 2000

Answers

Kelvin and all: sometimes it is better to start a new thread if we get too far removed from the original subject. The question of the Manfrotto ball head being acceptable for the P67 would mostly depend on the ball diameter and the lenses you use. If you use the wide angle and normal lenses, then a head with a 1 to 1 1/2 inch diameter will be fine. Once you got to longer lenses, a ball diameter of 1 1/2 to 2 1/4 inches becomes necessary. All the other frills that these heads offer are more personal preference than a requirement. SR

-- Steve Rasmussen (srasmuss@flash.net), August 27, 2000.

Mostly what people are referring to are the RRS base plates. RRS makes Arca-Swiss style mounting plates tailored to a range of camera bodies. In theory, a fitted base plate reduces vibration because it conforms to the body so tightly. In practice, the big advantage for P67 shooters is that the large size generic Arca-Swiss plate is a pain to leave on the body when shooting handheld, catches on partitions when loading into a bag, etc., but you can leave the RRS plate on permanently. Makes a nice base for your palm when working handheld. If RRS would incorporate a strap grip the plate would be nigh on perfect.

Their web presence is pretty thin, but you can find 'em at http:// www.reallyrightstuff.com. The rest of their product line is heavily weighted towards 35mm shooters, especially the F5 crowd.

-- Bill Baker (wab@well.com), August 17, 2000.

Bill,

I checked out their web site and requested a catalog.

The thought occurred to me about fabricating a very heavy base plate specifically for the 6x7. The plate would cover nearly the entire bottom of the 6x7 and remain installed most of the time. I figured the weight would add inertia to damp the 6x7 tendency to twist horizontally when the shutter fires. The bottom of this plate would be machined to fit the standard Arca-Swiss release system.

It looks like one has to own a RRS base plate for every camera intended to go on the B1 equipped tripod.

-- Bruce Gavin (doc@compudox.com), August 17, 2000.

Bruce, I think you're pretty much describing the P67 plate RRS offers. I don't see the point in adding intertial dampening mass in the base plate, though. I suppose you could add weight to the ballhead stem to increase dampening mass in the vibration transfer path before the ballhead, but I doubt it would make much difference. Based on my (dusty) physics and watching my P67II fire on my Arca-Swiss B1/Gitzo 1410 combo, I think that with any decent head the vibration transfer and subsequent resonance is going to be pretty much instantaneous and relatively uniform throughout the whole support system. That is, I think the shutter braking momentum more or less causes the whole mass to "twang" and the dampening effect will be mostly caused by the overall mass.

I actually rather doubt that either a generic A-S plate, let alone a fitted plate, allows much rotational vibration (twisting). I think the lateral displacement axis is much less than resistant to intertial transfer than the rotational axis if you look at the mechanical setup of the masses. The lever arm of the body/head/tripod is much, much longer than that of the shutter and mount fitting. But I think you'd have to mount the head on a concrete block and do test shots of grid targets in order to really figure out what's going on.

Unfortunately, RRS doesn't offer a plate for either the Nikon S-2 or Sputnik stereo, so I use the generic A-S plate with those bodies. You can always use the generic plate, of course.

-- Bill Baker (wab@well.com), August 18, 2000.

Bill,

Interesting answer on the plate for the 6x7. My RRS catalog arrived today, and I read it cover to cover. It seems they have filled a niche very nicely. There are even RRS plates for my Mamiya TLR bodies.

Has anybody out there bought the Arca-Swiss B1 ball, then later wished they had bought the B1G (giant) instead? The price is an additional $100, but having never seen either, I can't make a call about the B1 being sufficient for Sinar 4x5 and 600mm of bellows draw. This would be the largest rig sitting on the ball head.

-- Bruce Gavin (doc@compudox.com), August 22, 2000.

I called up to check on the price of the Arca Swiss B1 today. Egad! I can't afford it! I was offered a high-end Manfrotto ball-head (forgot the model) ... it's 1/3 the price. Will this do?

-- Kelvin (kelvinlee@pacific.net.sg), August 25, 2000.

I have the RRS plate for my 67 and highly recommend it. The contour of it wraps around the bottom of the mirror box. This makes the camera very stable when shooting verticals as the camera can't twist on the plate.

-- Terry Dent (dentkimterry@cs.com), August 26, 2000.

Offline, I was chatting with a B1 owner who suggested getting the less expensive B1E head without the pan feature. His logic was sound, in saying most of the time when one pans, one will have to reset the ball X / Y settings after panning.

I have never use a true pan feature on any of my tripods or heads, because I never take the time to truly level the leg set. I would think the pan only works correctly with a level tripod. Therefore, the less expensive B1E head and less moving parts, might be more appropriate.

Vibration studies elsewhere in the forum lead one to think the non- panning head might be less prone to the twisting created by the 6x7 shutter.

My thoughts about the B1/B1E are more for getting rid of my *awful* tilt/pan head on my Reporter tripod. Attaching a permanent RRS clamp to this head would solve most of the problems I have with this head, but setup would still be slower than a ball head.

-- Bruce Gavin (doc@compudox.com), August 27, 2000.

I doubt the pan base of the standard B-1 would accentuate shutter shake. When you lock that sucker down, it's *solid*. I mean, that's what you're paying for, after all.

-- Bill Baker (wab@well.com), August 29, 2000.

I frequently use the pan on my B1 head. After I've set my initial H or V composition I'll often tweak that composition a little left or right, sometime just to check whether it can be improved. With pan a separate control I don't have to worry about readjusting the already locked-in H & V tilt.

-- Garrett Adams (gadams@jps.net), August 30, 2000.

I have the RRS plate for my P67 and leave it on the camera all the time. My tripod is a Gitzo 1349 (brilliant), head is a Uniloc 30 fitted with an RRS clamp. This is a cheap and light head combo which works really well. The RRS plates are very expensive but are well worth the cost with a heavy camera like the P67. Where some cheap "universal" plates end up with the camera rocking on the rubber covering of the plate, the camera+RRS is rock solid in the clamp. It's quite easy to move in/out of the clamp too. Highly recommended.

-- Kim Fullbrook (kimfullbrook@hotmail.com), September 05, 2000.