Hi Ecke, Thanks for that. I've always liked the look of the Novoflex gear, but it's not really available locally. It's good to have a first hand recommendation. I'll have to see about sourcing it from Germany (the Novoflex web site lets me enter an Australian address, but I have yet to check on shipping).
Leon On 11 April 2010 03:17, eckinator <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi Leon > > (ended up writing more than I want to, hope it is clear) > > I haven't used the Gitzo yet so I can't comment on that but as opposed > to Gitzo, Novoflex makes very complete macro and panorama systems > consisting of mutually interchangeable parts so you can gradually > expand with dual use for quite a number of items. > > If you look here the Novoflex equivalent to the Gitzo, i.e. the base > model 'PANORAMA' is actually $90.90 cheaper > http://www.novoflex.com/en/products/panorama-photography/panorama-plates/ > > Scroll down a bit for the ones I use, 'PANORAMA=Q' and 'PANORAMA=Q > PRO'. I am extremely happy with both of them under use with rigs > weighing up to 5 kilos plus (sometimes massive) leverage factor. There > is no shakiness and no sign of stiction or torsion/distortion. > Novoflex produces in-house to very tight specs, everything is laser > cut or CNC machined, their service is truly excellent and so is their > engineering. I don't know the exact load-bearing specs but I think > they'd beat the Gitzo (and I can find out if you want). > > The reasons I recommend Novoflex over Gitzo in this particular case are: > > Since I feel it is better to place the plate between ballhead and rig > rather than between tripod and ballhead (why rotate additional weight > and have an additional source of angle/levelling errors?) I feel the > plate might as well have quick release included - 'PANORAMA=Q' is > fully Arca Swiss / Markins / RRS / you name it compatible and you'd > still save fourty bucks on the Gitzo. Really very nice. Plus it can > stay on your ballhead all the time assuming you use Arca style QR. > > The 'Q PRO' costs two Gitzos but if you have the money to burn (quote > from Novoflex) it is quite convenient: With the rotary selector button > 8 different click-stop-positions (angle steps) can be set. The > adjustment possibilities are from 360° = stepless, 60° = 6 > click-stops, 45° = 8 click-stops, 36° = 10 click-stops, 30° = 12 > click-stops, 24° = 15 click-stops, 20° = 18 click-stops, 15° =24 > click-stops to 10° = 36 click-stops. With the crossed spirit levels > the panorama plate (PANORAMA=Q PRO) is aligned accurately. > > This is extremely useful if you ever want to upgrade to shooting multi > row or sphaeric panos. Less stitching issues with reproducible angles. > And so on, bla bla bla. > > If you look at their panorama and macro systems side by side, you can > easily see how things fit together and define your starting point. > Meaning of course you don't have to lug around separate pano and macro > kits, I can only repeat that, it is a big weight saver =) > > Cheers > Ecke > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > [email protected] > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow > the directions. > -- Leon -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
