Arca Swiss D4, panning knob

<p>Hi All<br /> Searching around the net on pictures of the D4, it looks to me like the upper panning knob is placed slightly different on various samples of the head? (see attached photos)<br /> I could imagine that the placement of the panning knob could be a bit annoying when using the 90° vertical position, not much space in-between plate, head and camera for fine adjusting the panning in portrait position.<br /> Is the panning knob position customizable by user?<br /> Unfortunately I won't be able to see and try the Arca Swiss D4 in a shop, as there is no distributor in my country. Any feedback much appreciated.<br /> Martin</p><div></div>

<p>I think if you search here for other D4 threads, you may find that there are one or two other people here on the forum who have this head, and one can hope they can answer the question if they're still around. It's surprising how little information is readily available in a web search.</p>

<p>I do know that some similar clamps, such as the column clamp on some Manfrotto tripods, are attached to their spindles with a spring, so that you can pull them out, free the clamp from its splines, and reposition them to avoid just that sort of interference as things wear. One can hope that this is the case here, or at least that there is some way to remount the knobs in a new position, but so far I've found plenty of demonstrations of the head and discussions of the quick releases, but no simple answer on this, and the outward appearance of the knobs does not make anything clear. </p>

<p>Interesting, Martin. I reviewed my d4 on <a href="http://www.photo.net/filters-bags-tripods-accessories-forum/00b5rk">this thread</a>, and the clamp for the upper panning knob on mine is definitely opposite the lock for the less-flexible (upper) axis of rotation, as in the second two of your three images. (Aside: I kind of wish Arca had made the rotation axes cross in the middle rather than worrying about putting the gears on-axis - or that they'd added an offset gearing to achieve this. If you unlock everything, it's not <i>quite</i> like a ball head because of this offset. Minor niggle, though.)<br />

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The side of the knob pretty much touches the apex plate (or at least it's level with the main base of the head - I've not checked clearance) in the 90-degree vertical position. I don't <i>think</i> the knob itself fouled the side of the head (in a way that would change whether it was locked), but it's been a while since i tested the limits; I'm fairly sure I had no problem with the upper panning axis locked while pointing straight down, and I think I've tried unlocking it to allow me to swing the camera about the horizontal axis, but I wouldn't swear on it. I can see how having that knob offset to one side (or even above the upper axis clamp) would have merits, if only for convenience. Obviously it's not as bad as trying to tilt the other way, which causes the upper axis clamp to foul the base before you tilt too far.<br />

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Unlike my Triopo ball head and (apparently) the Manfrotto clamps that Matthew mentioned, the knobs on the Arca are fixed (at least, they're not obviously spring-loaded) so you can't pull them out to tweak orientation and avoid it clamping. Of course, they're plastic, so if you really had a problem it's not anything a file wouldn't fix!<br />

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I'd have to have another stare at mine - I don't know whether, if you took the clamp off, you could dismantle the upper panning base in a way that would allow you to move the knob - it does <i>look</i> like a separate lump of metal (although it may have been coated as a single block), but I don't have mine in front of me. I've had it for a few years now - it's possible that Arca realised the limitation and that the first image in your set is a result of a design tweak, or maybe someone just dismantled it and put it back in a different place. Or, of course, someone might have photoshopped the knob there so it was obvious that the upper base could pan.<br />

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I'd recommend asking nicely at arca-swiss-magasin.com (it may help to use French, even if you're using Google Translate for the heavy lifting - I believe there's a strange French tax rule about companies below a certain size, meaning that Arca-Swiss are constrained to be smaller than you'd think and they probably don't have a huge number of polylingual support staff). Or you might find a friendly distributor on-line who'd be willing to answer questions about what they have in stock (Wex Photographic in the UK seem to have started stocking them since I suggested they should - though it might be a coincidence - and they're friendly, but I have to say the knob position in their photos looks the same as on mine). I'll be interested to know what you find out - good luck.</p>

<p>Thanks for the replies. And Garrard, I have read your review earlier, a very good and thorough review.<br /> I don't think the panning knob is photoshopped, and I am as far as I can see it doesn't seem to be a new revision of design, here a review from 2011 with the "okay" placement of the panning knob <a href="https://www.onlandscape.co.uk/2011/06/the-arca-d4-a-new-standard-for-geared-heads/%20">https://www.onlandscape.co.uk/2011/06/the-arca-d4-a-new-standard-for-geared-heads/ </a><br /><br />I will try mailing Arca-swiss-magasin.com (which as far as I understand is run by a photo shop and not directly by Arca Swiss?). But I can imagine there might be a language barrier :)<br /><br />best Martin</p><div></div>

<p>Hi Andrew</p>

<p>I got a response from Arca-Swiss-Magasin.com :<br />
"The current model of the D4 is the one shown on the website on the page 
<a href="http://www.arca-swiss-magasin.com/contents/fr/d36_rotule-arca-swiss-d4.html">http://www.arca-swiss-magasin.com/contents/fr/d36_rotule-arca-swiss-d4.html</a> <br /> The panning knob position is not customizable by user."</p>

<p>But at the same time Briantilley at dpr ( https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/58600885 ) looked at his version of the D4, and found three 2mm allen key screws below the panning plate which seems to solve the mystery.<br />I suppose this gives 3 different possible placements of the panning knob/plate. So the knob seems to be unofficially customizable, I of course don't know how this might inflict warranty (when thinking of storries regarding the fliplock adjustment the unscrewing was a courageous move by Briantilley:))<br /> <br />I attach a photo were the allen screws are visible from beneath.<br /> <br />best Martin</p><div></div>

Oops - forgot to check back! Thanks, Martin - both for

the helpful information (which I'll bear in mind if my

clamp position starts bothering me) and for the kind

words; glad you found my review helpful. I hope this

means you're happy to get one - it's a nice bit of kit.