Nikon D4 with 300 mm f2.8 AI-S lens and Vanguard head

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crycocyon

Senior Member
Just playing around with the new Vanguard ABH-340K head I got today. Man, this thing is much smaller and lighter than the ancient 3-way head I had (which you can see in my thread with the D800 w. this same telephoto lens). Adjusting the tension on the ball is pretty easy once you get the hang of it, and it works really smoothly. Now I'm wondering why I never went with a ball head before? :confused: Anyway, it turns out that the Really Right Stuff plate that I got with the 300 mm works great with the Vanguard head, so below are some pics of the setup on the Nikon D4.

Unboxing the head.....

Vanguardballhead.jpg

And the setup....

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D4w30028Rg.jpg

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D4w30028R.jpg

And a test shot in the living room. ISO 1600 at f2.8....straight from the camera no adjustments.

DSC3208.jpg
 
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gqtuazon

Gear Head
Nice. How does the ballhead handles your set-up when it is positioned at an angle? Does it sag or it holds it solid?

Congrats on your new rig. :D
 
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crycocyon

Senior Member
Thanks, this head is extremely solid and the amount of tension one can adjust even at the lowest setting is very high so that there's a lot of resistance. I think the scale goes up to 12 and I find I don't need to go past 3 or 4 and it holds really tight even at an angle, independent of locking it down. So with the weight of the lens, moving it is a breeze because the weight is balanced nicely by the resistance. Yes, the amount of money this costs vs the machining quality and finish...I'm still astonished. I thought I would have to pay $400-500 for something this good. And it can handle up to 88 lbs....sheesh! That's amazing. So this setup is peanuts compared to what it could conceivably handle.

I'm not familiar with the Induro line of tripods as I've mainly kept to Manfrotto (also highly regard Bogen and Gitzo). Not sure about the rotating collars as a lever takes less time to tighten and when I use a tripod I'm always changing the height. Metal alloy is fine as I wouldn't get a carbon tripod because it would be so light as to be more top-heavy in the wind. My Manfrotto is a good balance between weight and stability, even though it is around 30 years old.
 
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STM

Senior Member
I think the one of the only areas where a ball head falls short of a traditional head is horizontal panning, especially if you are going to do panoramas and will stitch the images together in Photoshop.
 
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crycocyon

Senior Member
Perhaps that's true, although this head has a built in level and if you are able to set it properly you should be able to pan just as easily as with a 3 way head.
 
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Nathan Lanni

Senior Member
STM said:
I think the one of the only areas where a ball head falls short of a traditional head is horizontal panning, especially if you are going to do panoramas and will stitch the images together in Photoshop.
Click to expand...

Hey Scott please explain because I haven't used a ball head before but was planning on getting one so I'm a little confused. I really like to get a Gitzo Leveling GT2531LVL tripod plus the Acratech GP ball head, but $1,200 for a tripod setup is just me dreaming. :)

It was my understanding from reading that ball heads with panning capability work OK for lighter setups. But when your setup get's heavier, say a 500mm f/4 or larger, then you're going to need a Wimberley gimbal head. Be even then I understand if you put your ball head in a horizontal position then you can attach a Wimberley "Sidekick" gimbal head that fits into the BH's arca swiss quick release.

Again, I'm new to this so please help me out before I make the leap and buy one. I do want to birds, landscapes and panorama stitching. :)

Thanks for your help.
 
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