Manfrotto Tripod head - can't aim further up?

<p>Hi everyone, I have a question about my tripod head and I feel rather silly having to ask it, but since Manfrotto's customer support was of no great help, I'm hoping someone here may be able to help me.<br /><br />I have a Manfrotto XPRO Geared 3-Way Pan/Tilt Head (MHXPRO-3WG) and it has been one of the best tripod heads I've owned, until this odd situation that I've found myself in. I recently purchased a new super telephoto lens (Sigma 150-600mm) with the intention of using it to photograph the moon in the night sky (among other things, but this was one of the primary reasons why I bought it). I've got quite a heavy setup, consisting of a Canon 5D Mark IV with BG-E20 battery grip attached, plus the telephoto lens, plus a Sigma 1.4x teleconverter. It weighs in just shy of the tripod head's maximum load capacity. Everything mounts on the lens' tripod collar mount just fine. But this particular tripod head has a front tilt range of -20° to +90°, meaning you can tilt it 20° backwards (aiming up at the sky) or 90° forwards (aiming down at the ground). So what I realized is that due to the much shorter "up" angle, I'm not actually able to aim my camera/lens up far enough to be able to capture the moon in the sky as it is usually much higher than 20°.<br /><br />The way I see it, there are two things I could do in order to be able to get the upward angle that I want, but I'm not sure if they are safe for my equipment (I don't want to damage my tripod head, and I REALLY don't want to damage my camera or lens).<br /><br />#1) The first option is to rotate the quick release plate (Manfrotto 200PL) that attaches to my tripod collar mount 180° so that the camera/lens is sitting backwards on the tripod - this would allow me to point the camera up to a 90° angle, rather than being limited by the 20° tilt when it is front-facing. However, my concern with doing this is that the quick release plate has arrows on its underside that show which direction the lens should point, and by doing this, the lens would be pointing in the opposite direction of where the arrow points. I'm not sure if that is safe to do. Does anyone have any experience doing this? Is it safe? The arrows point a specific direction for a reason, so I really don't know if this is safe to do.<br /><br />#2) The second option, which I think is likely even more unsafe, is to keep the quick release plate facing the correct direction, but to insert it into the tripod head backwards so that the camera/lens is facing backwards which would allow me to point the camera up to a 90° angle. But since I believe the quick release plate is specifically designed to be inserted one way, I'm assuming this is NOT something I should do.<br /><br />I did reach out to Manfrotto's customer support with the same question, but all they said was that the equipment should not be used in any way other than how it was designed. Fair enough, but they didn't exactly answer the specific questions that I asked. They specifically said not to insert the quick release plate backwards into the tripod head, so I can safely rule that option (#2) out, but they didn't mention anything about attaching the quick release plate to the collar backwards in order to use the tripod head in a reverse position. Based on that response I imagine that this is not recommended either, but I'm interested to hear other feedback/advice about this.<br /><br />I did come across this topic (http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1367086) which is a very similar issue to mine, but the proposed solutions are for a slightly different problem in that he was already attaching his quick release plate backwards but that it would wiggle around on him.<br /><br />Does anyone have any experience with this or a similar problem? Is it safe to attach the quick release plate to the tripod collar backwards so that the lens can sit backwards on the tripod and aim more upwards? Since my equipment is quite heavy, I really don't want to risk damaging anything.<br /><br />And if the best/only solution is to invest in a different tripod head, is there any that you would recommend for this specific purpose that will also safely support a large weight capacity? Thanks in advance for any help or insight you can provide!</p>

<p>I have the same issue with the 410 geared head, it only uses a different QR plate. From my experience with your head (which is not a geared head) and the PL200 plate: #1 is the way to go, no problems here. The arrow is just and indication on how the lens can be mounted but for the head etc it does not matter. <br>

#2 does not work, the plate will not fit reversed. </p>

<p>Check out the link below. I was surprised to find such a deal. But it looks like an entirely different - and relatively affordable - option that you might consider.</p>

<p>http://www.telescope.com/Gift-Center/Save-Kits-Bundles/Astrophotography-Kits/Orion-Adventures-in-Astrophotography-Bundle/pc/7/c/395/sc/1782/p/27154.uts</p>

 

<p>In addition to the above: a ballhead will give you more degrees of freedom in moving the camera but at a price. Cheaper units will not be as stable and move a little bit when or even after you have fastened the head. <br /> If it's for an occasional shot I reverse the adapter as stated earlier. When you're serious about astro photography you may want to consider the option David mantioned. Which brings me to an additional question: what about tripods that are made for other purposes than photography, like the ones made for surveying?</p>

<p>I know the old hex plates can be put in reversed with no problem.</p>

<p>My wife has an older 3030 head with the RC2 plate, which I think is the same plate under discussion. That plate can be put in reversed, except that for some unknown reason it has a little recess, so that when reversed it is not held as tightly. It engages the head's dovetails correctly, and I see no danger of it falling out, but it's just a little loose because the mounting cam rotates all the way to its stop without pressing on it. Why they did this remains a bit of a mystery, but I wonder if you could just put a piece of tape or something on the recess to tighten up the mounting. </p>

 

<p>Adding to the above, I did a bit of experimenting, and at least on the 3030 head with its locking cam, the pad goes in safely backwards, though a bit loose. With as little as the thickness of a piece of duct tape in the recess, it becomes reasonably tight, though the tape is a little bit elastic. I imagine if you wanted to do this often and tightly, you could glue on a little piece of metal, such as a piece from a tin can, for a firm mounting. It's clear that the recess is there to make reverse mounting uncomfortable, but not deep enough to make it dangerous. </p>

<p>I would still recommend actually reversing it on the camera if there's any doubt, but I'd experiment with the pad on the tripod head first, because you may find it easy enough just to mount it in reverse. </p>

<p>I still am a bit mystified at why the pad was designed this way, as it would appear to have been just as easy to make it fully reversible, as the hex pads are. </p>

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<p>I have used this Manfrotto QR system on tripod heads and flash brackets for 20+ years, with some fairly heavy gear on it. I have routinely rotated the plates to the opposite direction to mount my cameras on flash brackets with no issues.</p>

<p>Collapse one of the legs on your tripod? Easy peasy.</p>