southwestsam
Senior Member
I recently posted about my newly aquired Alta Pro 263AT/GH-100 Head puchase and there were a couple of people looking for feedback on the head so, as promised...
I will update this as I go but to get started:
The head is pretty weighty when you take it out the box - suprisingly so for me, but I have never owned a tripod before so this could be light in comparison to others or just 'normal'. Anyway, it has a nice solid feel to it.
Attaching it to the legs was fine - although you will need common sense rather than relying on the instruction manual which is basically just a bunch of pictures with arrows. Fine if you know what they mean, but its targeted towards people that don't, isn't it?!
The Quick Release plate is nice and easy to use. It has double protection in that you have a little orange lever that you have to push forward with the back of your forefinger while pulling the actual release lever foward with your thumb. Not much chance of accidently releasing it but not fiddly to use at all. One thing I have noticed, however, is that it clips back into place nicely without a camera attached, but when there is one attached, the grey release lever needs a gentle push to allow the safety lever to click fully back into place. It won't fall off if you don't (I have carefully tested) - but for me, with £1000+ worth of gear on the top, I'd rather not take the chance!
The ball movement felt a little stiff at first. This has been getting slightly looser/more fluid with use, and there is a lever on the back of the trigger to adjust tension which works well. A bit frustrating that you need to have it set fairly tight to ensure no unintentional movement without using the trigger but not a problem worth complaning about too much. Perhaps it would be better/solved if the trigger made a bigger difference in the tension than it does.
It's a pretty flexible head in the sense that it will allow you to go a full 90deg rotation from level sideways (landscape to portrait) and down (facing the floor). It does seem a little restrictive on backwards tilt - although there are ways around this - by using the panoramic swivel function, the adjustable centre column angle or by adjusting the tripod leg angles (lowering only one leg angle). These options, however, all seem a bit fiddly compared to just using the ball head - and depending on the legs that you have, might not be possible.
If there's anything specific that you want to know - please ask and I will find out. As I said, I will update this once I have used it a bit more, and I'll put up some shots that I've taken with it too.
Thanks
I will update this as I go but to get started:
The head is pretty weighty when you take it out the box - suprisingly so for me, but I have never owned a tripod before so this could be light in comparison to others or just 'normal'. Anyway, it has a nice solid feel to it.
Attaching it to the legs was fine - although you will need common sense rather than relying on the instruction manual which is basically just a bunch of pictures with arrows. Fine if you know what they mean, but its targeted towards people that don't, isn't it?!
The Quick Release plate is nice and easy to use. It has double protection in that you have a little orange lever that you have to push forward with the back of your forefinger while pulling the actual release lever foward with your thumb. Not much chance of accidently releasing it but not fiddly to use at all. One thing I have noticed, however, is that it clips back into place nicely without a camera attached, but when there is one attached, the grey release lever needs a gentle push to allow the safety lever to click fully back into place. It won't fall off if you don't (I have carefully tested) - but for me, with £1000+ worth of gear on the top, I'd rather not take the chance!
The ball movement felt a little stiff at first. This has been getting slightly looser/more fluid with use, and there is a lever on the back of the trigger to adjust tension which works well. A bit frustrating that you need to have it set fairly tight to ensure no unintentional movement without using the trigger but not a problem worth complaning about too much. Perhaps it would be better/solved if the trigger made a bigger difference in the tension than it does.
It's a pretty flexible head in the sense that it will allow you to go a full 90deg rotation from level sideways (landscape to portrait) and down (facing the floor). It does seem a little restrictive on backwards tilt - although there are ways around this - by using the panoramic swivel function, the adjustable centre column angle or by adjusting the tripod leg angles (lowering only one leg angle). These options, however, all seem a bit fiddly compared to just using the ball head - and depending on the legs that you have, might not be possible.
If there's anything specific that you want to know - please ask and I will find out. As I said, I will update this once I have used it a bit more, and I'll put up some shots that I've taken with it too.
Thanks
