I agree with Lars. He got me a Studioball in Germany a few years ago and except for it's weight, it is plenty stable with anything that I have in my 35mm. stabl. And it holds my 8X10 Eastern Commercial View Field Camera with a 300/500mm convertible Symmar with no problems. I have the studioball on a 3051 Bogen tripod. I have personally dragged this gear on long hikes and while most would not call this kind of gearage portable, as long as I can still haul over 50 pounds of gear in the desert, this will be my favorite setup.
I have traveled with the wildlife photographer that Lars mentioned. He drags that big 400mm around with a 1n or now a 1v body around the woods like it is nothing. Of course, he is a really big guy and loads of fun to work with. You can get a Studioball adaptor plate to screw onto any other 1/4" head that will accept the camera plates of the studioball system. If you have more than one tripod and a head of some sort other than a Studioball, then this is definitely the way to go. The whole package is well made and very cost effective. Ronald R. Levandoski, DMD/. > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (EOS-Digest) > Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Date: Sun, 28 Apr 2002 06:13:29 +0200 > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: EOS-Digest V1 #1046 > > Date: Sat, 27 Apr 2002 21:19:49 -0500 (CDT) > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Lars Michael) > Subject: Re: EOS OT: Ballheads and big (sort of) glass > > As for ballheads, I use the Graf Studioball - as the name > implies, this head is/was designed for studio use - I must > be using this head out of spec, as I have no hesitation > using it in the field. A fellow photographer and pro nature > photographer uses the Graf Studioball with his 1v and the > 400/2.8 (for bird photography and such), which is more weight > (+/- 15 pounds) than I ever had on my Studioball. > > The Graf Studioball QR plates have a great feature - a notch > for securing the camera gear before tightening the QR mount > on the head. > > Only drawback I can see it it's weight. > > Lars > - -- > Lars Michael [EMAIL PROTECTED] > 87GT http://www.larsmichael.com/ * **** ******* *********************************************************** * For list instructions, including unsubscribe, see: * http://www.a1.nl/phomepag/markerink/eos_list.htm ***********************************************************
