don_minton Posted June 4, 1999 Share Posted June 4, 1999 I am trying to put/get a ball head on a conventional consumer-grade tripod. I was perplexed to find at local retail that the tripods in my price range ($50-100, Velbon or Slik) only come with the 2-way pivot heads. In order to get a tripod with just s flat solid platform, I'm looking at a $300-500 Bogen or Gitzo. I'd rather not have to screw the ball head adapter on TOP of the multi-jointed/quick-release heads of the affordable tripods. Is there an affordable model out that has a rigid platform? Am I stuck scouring junk stores and pawn shops for old bogens? Or should I resort to a hacksaw and a welding torch? :-) BTW, i am using a Mamiya C220. DM www.geocities.com/~minton2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tom_raymondson Posted June 4, 1999 Share Posted June 4, 1999 I have an older Slik tripod (about $80 ten years ago) that came with a quick-release tilt/pan head better suited for a camcorder. It easily screws off, so I recently replaced it with a Slik Standard Ballhead II which was about $40 from B&H. It works great with my Fuji rangefinder - very solid and easy to adjust. It seems that it could handle twice the weight of my camera. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joachim Posted June 4, 1999 Share Posted June 4, 1999 Hi Don, for $100 or perhaps a bit more you should be able to get a small Manfrotto 190 ( Bogen 3001 in the US I belive) and a head. I use that for a Mamiya C330 and am very happy with it. You can put any standard head on it. I use it with a 3-d head. Manfrotto has the nice feature of 3 tiny screws with whom you can secure the head from comming loose. The TLR is very undemanding with respect to tripod. No flipping mirror or focal plane shutter. In strong wind I stabilise the tripod by not extending the lowest leg section(s). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael_heal Posted June 4, 1999 Share Posted June 4, 1999 <P>$300 for a suitable Bogen? Take a look at the extremely popular Bogen 3021 (or Bogen 3221 in black)---$90 US at B&H. Comes without a head. You attach the ball head of your choice using the standard 3/8 inch screw. For those who don't live in the U.S., this tripod is called the Manfrotto 055 everywhere else (Manfrotto 055B in black). It should easily support a Mamiya 220 and is far more stable than any $50 or $100 consumer grade tripods that I have seen. If you want an inexpensive but useable ball head, try the Bogen 3055 (Manfrotto 168)---$43 US at B&H.</P> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rendy_cheng Posted June 4, 1999 Share Posted June 4, 1999 <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML> <HEAD> <META NAME="GENERATOR" CONTENT="Mozilla/4.08 [en] (X11; I; IRIX 6.3 IP32) [Netscape]"> </HEAD> <BODY> Hi <BR>I recently bought a Giottos ballhead which can handle 22 lbs of load. <P><A HREF="http://www.glue.umd.edu/~rcheng/picture/giotto.jpg">http://www.glue.umd.edu/~rcheng/picture/giotto.jpg</A><A HREF="http://www.glue.umd.edu/~rcheng/picture/giotto.jpg"></A> <P>It is only $89.00 without quick release ($25). B&H is selling it for $129. (I don't know why the large different. Maby I just got a good deal.) My camera setup weights about 6 lbs and the ball head performs great. I think the quick release from Giottos is a piece of junk, but the ball head is quite good for the money. There are 5 models from Giottos line. The one I got is the second from the last. <BR> <BR><A HREF="http://www.glue.umd.edu/~rcheng/picture/giotto.jpg"></A> <BR> </BODY> </HTML> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
don_titus Posted June 4, 1999 Share Posted June 4, 1999 I have been using a 3001 bogen tripod with a 3265 Bogen Trigger ball head with my Bronica S2A and my 35mm with up to a 100-400 telephoto it works just fine. I am considering the 3401 to get the horizontal feature.... Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
altaf Posted June 9, 1999 Share Posted June 9, 1999 Bogen 3221w+ ballhead Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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