Inexpensive head for a Canadian winter?

[mtwhite]

<p>This past summer, I got my first non-cheapie-plastic tripod, a

Manfrotto 055CL with a 352RC ballhead. It's worked wonderfully up

until temperatures started dropping below zero here. The metal ball in

the head shrinks in the cold, and the clamp can't lock down hard

enough. My camera just flops over if I let go of it.

<p>I'm looking for an inexpensive (CAN$200 hard maximum budget)

replacement head to fit the 055CL that works well in temperatures as

low as -30C. I'd prefer a ballhead, but anything that works well in

the cold would be alright. I haven't hit the weight limit of the 352RC

yet, so anything that can handle nearly the same weight is fine.

[stemked]

Hi Matthew.

 

I got rid of my first medium ballhead (Manfrotto/Bogan) for the exact same reason when I used to live in Minnesota. I've been using a Markins Ballhead, it works great but I'm afraid it is out of your price range.

[gary_watson]

The ball portion of most current Manfrotto heads is a composite material that should be stable in the cold. I like the medium-capacity 486RC2 in a trad. head and love the 322RC2(the long-overdue update of the original joystick head). With heavily gloved hands, the 322 is really easy to adjust--no fiddly lever release--with its handbrake-style grip.

[Robert_Lai]

Well, we received over a foot of snow today here in Syracuse, NY. It still continues to snow as I write now. The Linhof Pro 1 ballhead that I bought for about $150 US a couple of years ago works fine in the cold.<p>If you can find some more money somewhere, the Markins (distributor is in Canada) are really the best buys. I use the M20-L on my Gitzo 1325. The Linhof works on my old aluminum tripod from the 1980s.