The New Arca-Swiss Ballhead

[keith_bogut]

After studying the issue and reading through the articles and Q&A, I decided

to buy the B1 ballhead, only to find that the B1 isn't available anymore.

They've replaced it with the Z1 (either a single or double pan).

 

I'm a little concerned about buying a new model until after they've had a

chance to identify and fix any new-model-bugs that might appear.

 

My questions are; how long has this new model been out? Have there been any

problems? Am I being paranoid?

 

Thanks to all for the help you've been in helping me figure out how to

approach the selection of tripod and head. Special thanks to Thom Hogan,

whose "Serious Support" article was both amusing and educational. I'm sure

you saved me a lot of money and frustration.

[nvp]

Keith, I purchased the Z1, but I haven't really had the opportunity to try it out yet in the field. I, too, was impressed with the B1 ratings and chose to take the plunge with the Z1 as it appears to be all that the B1 is/was. I bought the single pan, as I'm so new to photography and wasn't sure if I'd truly utilize the double pan. I also purchased an Acratech Ultimate Level Base and a Gitzo 2530EX tripod. My husband, too, purchased the Z1 and Gitzo 2530 tripod. We are good to go. I believe with the quality of these products we can hardly go wrong as to their function.

 

I know this post doesn't exactly address your questions and anxiety, but I don't believe you will be disappointed. I love my Z1 so far, as it is smooth, but then it's the only ballhead I've ever owned. I/we purchased our gear from B&H and I believe they allow returns within a certain period of time if you are not happy with your purchase.

 

Good luck with your decision and happy photographing!

[guy_kisling]

Keith, I recently went through the same decision making process. You can see my detailed notes about various ballheads by referring to my post entitled "Ballhead - RRS BH-55 / Markins M20?" originally posted on 3-27-2007. I ended up comparing the RRS, Arca, and Markins ballheads. I finally settled on the Markins M20, although I believe that after having the M20, I could have easily gone with the M10 - It's that solid. I purchased my Markins through Nikonians. The RRS people were great and so were the Nikonian folks. In the end, I didn't order the Z1 because I was so impressed with the Markins. Also, some folks on the internet mentioned that the knobs on the Z1 are set very low to the base which can make adjusting the knobs difficult due to the close clearances. Enjoy the hunt!

[Ed_Ingold]

The Arca ball heads have an unique progressive tightening action and out-of-round ball that gives the best tension control of any ball head. Ball heads are most useful when you can apply enough tension to keep the camera from "flopping", yet loose enough to point it where you want. With an Arca head, you only need to lock the ball if you need to take your hands off the camera (and even then, it is forgiving if you forget).

 

If you choose a lever-style clamp, you are best to use plates made by the same manufacturer. The screw-type clamp is more forgiving and not much slower to use (1/2 turn is loose enough to slide the plate in or out). Markins plates are undersized compared to Arca, RRS and Wimberly.

[daniel rufer]

I have both types of clamps from Really Right Stuff. While I like the fast handling of the lever-type clamp, I found that it (at least mine) is apparently slightly wider if fully closed than the screw-types.<br>

This does not pose problems with any of my RRS plates, but I have two lens collars made by Burzynski (for the first version 80-200 f/2.8 and the 105mm f/2.8 Micro-Nikkor) and the plates on these are slightly less wide than the RRS ones (we talk fractions of milimeters, but it is sufficient). While this works with the screw-type RRS clamps, they are not tight enough with the lever-type. I do not know if these plares are identical to the original Arca-Swiss plates, and the RRS are as a whole slightly wider. Anyway, with the screw-type everything is fine.

[ramana_murthy]

I have the z1 SP from last 2/3 months. I don?t have heavy glass to put it to real test. So far I have not seen any issues. That is a great head for my needs. If you search the archives here, you can see the discussion on the z1 and some links to reviews. There is also a thread in dpreview on these heads.

 

Regards