I did it a lot when I was shooting wildlife. I track and pan in different planes and find a ball head much easier and more convenient to deal with than a pan/tilt head. I replaced the grip thing with the Mannfrotto 352RC. On top of it I put an A400/5.6 lens with a 2X extender attached to an LX.
I then use the tripod to support the weight while viewing and tracking game. I adjust focus and aperture with my left hand, which is equipped with a full complement of fingers, so I use the thumb and forefinger on the aperture dial, and the other 3 fingers on the focus dial. For large changes of focus of course I use the whole hand. It may sound complicated, but it's very easy. -- Cheers, Bob > -----Original Message----- > From: Godfrey DiGiorgi [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: 05 January 2006 23:39 > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: Anyone using these Manfrotto products? > > I don't understand "tracking a subject while focusing > manually and adjusting aperture" when using a tripod. Ball > heads are supposed to hold a camera/lens STILL, not be > supports to track motion. If you want a support for tracking > sports and other moving subjects, use a pan head or a monopod. > > I also can't imagine adjusting the aperture at the same time > as tracking a subject and focusing. Why would you ever do that? > > For cine/video work, you should use a 3 axis pan head, > instead of a ball head, which is designed to allow horizontal > or vertical movement with improved stability. > > Godfrey > > On Jan 5, 2006, at 12:15 PM, Bob W wrote: > > > I have a grip action ball head. It was the first head I > bought for my > > first Mannfrotto. However, I soon abandoned it in favour of a > > conventional ball head because to use the 222 properly you need 3 > > arms. I am short of that to the tune of 1 arm. Using the > grip action > > thing you cannot simultaneously > > track a subject and either focus manually or use the > aperture ring > > while > > keeping your finger on the shutter release. Possibly it works well > > with AF cameras and lenses without aperture rings. > > > >
