Markins ball head

Interested in Markins M20 and M10 ball head. Any experience and

critique is welcome. Smoothness, precision and durability are

concerned. Especially the performance under critical conditions as

long distance travel, cold weather, rain and dust. Thanks.

Why are you interested in these heads instead of Kirk, Really Right Stuff, Arca-Swiss, Foba,

Acratech or Linhof heads -- which have all proven themselves to be what you are looking

for?

...because they are superb ballheads. Interesting how some folks chime in without having any information to contribute.

 

I have several Markins heads and they offer a combination of compact size, solid support, and smooth controls that are worth considering with any of the usual suspect ballheads.

 

Like the Kirk head and unlike the Arca head, Markins uses a spherical ball. This eliminates the Arca "lock up" and the Arca preventive requirement to fully loosen the main tension knob when transporting your tripod. The spherical Arca ball offers the progressive "anti flop" resistance as the ball is tilted from vertical. But the same quality allows the elliptical shape to wedge itself tight with the vibration of transport. This is usually fixable by the user, but sometimes it's a job for the manufacturer.

 

Markins offers similar or better load capacity to Kirk and the B1 in a smaller, lower profile head. RRS offers a nice low profile, but until the head's been out a while it's hard to know if the design has any drawbacks.

 

Here are two links with some detailed information:

 

http://www.nikonians.org/html/resources/non-nikon_articles/markins/markins_1.html

 

http://www.nikonians-images.com/info/Markins-Whitepaper.pdf

 

I personally favor the RRS lever action clamp platform. You can order a Markins head without a clamp if you would like to follow suit. The only functional suggestion I'd offer is to apply a couple of drops of WD-40 to the ball surface if you use it in freezing conditions while breathing on the mechanism. The WD coating will prevent freezing condensation from sticking to the anodized surface. Dust and rain have posed no problems for me.

The aspherical ball distinguishes the AS head. Together with the soft locking action , it is responsible for the effective tension control absent from all others. The lockup is caused by the tension limiting screw (the small screw within the main knob), not by the aspheric ball. The new model is supposed to eliminate the jam. I've use the new one for over a year now without problems. It's in the car all the time, and has been used from 10 to 110 deg F.

FWIW the RRS web site recommends that Markins camera plates be not used with the RRS lever action clamp platforms.

YUN CHEN,

 

Here's a write up on the Markins. Enjoy

http://www.naturephotosociety.org.sg/ASP/Article.asp?DBAPublishDate=7/1/2004