Feisol Ballhead and Arca Swiss compatability...

A heads up to those considering the Feisol balls...i have a kirk l-bracket for my d200, although i can place the bracket and secure into the

release clamp, it's a poor fit. it will probably hold but i would not want to put an expensive long lens with an AS plate into the Feisol

clamp..they claim its compatible but the fitment is terrible. i am going to contact Feisol re this... buf others might want to ge aware..

<p>Hmmm ... I wonder if the production quality has changed from their original heads, or you got one with a bad Q/R clamp. I have a Feisol CB-50 (their first ballhead, purchased 5+ years ago?), and also a Kirk BL-D200 L-bracket for my D200, and the clamp fit to the L-bracket is absolutely perfect. The dovetail profiles match exactly.</p>

Michael, interesting, i have the CB-50D, and the bl-d200. but the profiles are off somewhat. the clam can bite the lip of

the plate but because the kirk plate has a thicker nose at the tip it wont seat the dovetail parallel to the clamp. also, the

habe changed their ball somewhat as it has swiss cheese holes.

 

in fact i just put in the plate that came with the ball head, add the dovetails sit parallel, but interestingly the tip of the plate

doesn't go fully into the cavity of the clamp.

 

we'll see what feisol as to say, but i prob shoud have just spent $150 more and gotten a Markins...i suspect I'll end up

buying a kirk or hanjer clam and put it in the Feisol all..$60-80...hopefully the set screws sizes are standardized...

<p>..." but i prob shoud have just spent $150 more and gotten a Markins.." <br>

<br>

Thats almost the same route I went. Bought and sold many ballheads until I bought<br>

the Arca Swiss. It had its moments ( the ballhead "lockup" that plagued a few units).<br>

Repaired under warranty and never ever another problem. Its smoothness and <br>

holding ability are superb. I too have read many great things about Markins and Photoclam too. <br>

Just FYI, Some makers have special notches or cutouts at the end of the ballhead stem. A/S has one. It prevents the clamp from rotating. A 3rd party clamp may not sit correctly on the Feisol stem. <br>

</p>

<p>Another unfortunate consequence of the Arca-Swiss type of QR system not being a dimensional standard. Some clamp makers issue warnings about incompatibility, for example RRS says that Markins plates don't work too well in some of their lever clamps. It's sometimes good policy to buy clamps and plates from the same manufacturer, so if you already have a Kirk L-plate maybe you should look at the Kirk clamps?</p>