| Latest Review Posted | Vanguard ABH-Series Ball Heads
I was looking for a solid Ball Head that could handle my medium format cameras and/or long lenses when I stumbled upon this Vanguard on Ebay. The specs said that it could handle a whopping 66 lbs which gave me enough room in case the manufacturer was exagerating as they often do. Apparently this model was being discontinued by Vanguard, which is why the seller was selling it so cheap. I thought that there may be a catch, so I did my research.
Usually this BH sells for $200+ brand-new, or a little less on the used market, but this was a brand new, boxed, came with instructions and warranty card, so at $40 plus shipping it was a steal ! I also have the Vanguard SBH-200 which is a very good double-bubble BH with minor caveats. This ball head is built like a tank and the smooth operating locking-lever works well, but it's a little difficult to get used to. Not only that the friction-control and Independent Pan lever work really well.
One of my medium format cameras is the all metal Mamiya 645 1000s that is a beast when it comes to weight, but this ball head handled it easy. I have not tried it with some of my longer lenses yet, but I'm sure it will work fine.
The only 'nitpicky' thing I have against this BH given the price I paid for it, is that the small round bubble can be completely covered depending on the position of the mounting plate. Another annoyance is that you need a screwdriver, or coin to screw the mounting plate on the camera. However, I think you can pu... |
