Dave Busse wrote: > Seems to me on the Kirk ball there are three control knobs. I thought > the advantage of ball heads was the control with just one knob on all > axes...
You end up using just one knob once you 'configure' your ballhead the way that you want to. The big knob (which I like to have on the left, so I can hold, aim and fire the camera with my right hand) is the primary and usually the only adjustment in actual use. The small knob on the side of that Kirk ballhead is the ball tension adjustment, which you normally just set and leave the way you like (the Arca Swiss stays like you set it, I don't know if the others loosen in use). On the Arca Swiss B1 this tension adjustment is a thumb screw that is incorporated into the primary knob. And that primary knob on a B1 is so smooth and so accurate that you can use it as the tension adjustment after a little experience using the B1, without thinking about it. That third knob is the pan base control, and this is the case on almost all tripod heads, regardless of type, including the fine NPC Prohead. However, on a ball head, the ball (and your camera) are free to pan when you have the knob loose, so you rarely need to use the pan base adjustment. I keep mine tightened down almost all the time. You can just leave the pan base adjustment loose too, and a lot of people prefer this since on a B1 there is no play regardless if the pan base is tight or not. There are many ballheads priced cheaper than an Arca Swiss B1 that also work very well, but this is a finely crafted Swiss made precision instrument that needs to actually be used to be fully appreciated. Several people that I know laughed at my B1 ballheads, then I let them use mine and they were so impressed that they bought one for themselves. It is indeed rare when you run across a product that works so well that it would be difficult to notice any possible improvements. This is one case where you do get what you pay for. Dave Cohen Photographer [EMAIL PROTECTED] --> SPORRS: Serious Photographers of Railroad Related Subjects X-Mozilla-Status: 0011 Content-Length: 3164
