"Bandicoot" wrote:
"David J. Littleboy" wrote:
"Bandicoot" wrote:

(I've been thinking about the BH-3. I'm currently using a Foba
Superball M-1, and I'm not happy with it for flopping my Mamiya
645 over on it's side for vertical shots. (The camera moves as I
tighten down on the knob, very irritating.))

Yes, but not often. I much prefer to use an 'L'-bracket for portrait
oriented shots, so only 'flop the ball' when I'm travelling light. I use
this head mostly with 35mm gear, usually putting my MF cameras on an Arca
B1
on a big Gitzo.

Having said that, the BH-3 really doesn't seem to move when I tighten the
knob. It'll hold a Pentax LX and 300mm F4 A*, for example, like this. I
like it, and it seems exactly the right size to match up to the 444.

I have used the 444/BH-3 combination with my 6x6 gear when travelling and
it
has worked pretty well, certainly fine with a 180mm f2.8 (though probably
not if it was very windy.) Of course, with 6x6 I don't need to flop the
ball.

My 35mm stuff is probably similar in weight to your 645 though, so I'd
expect it to be fine. In fact, my preference for using an 'L'-bracket
rather than flopping the ball isn't really to do with the head: it has
more
to do with the tripod and keeping the mass above the apex. It also just
seems easier to use that way rather than work with the ball flopped and
then
need to use the panning base to adjust side-to-side, etc.

Hmm. Thanks for the comments. Sounds as though I should probably get at
least the BH-1. (One of those buying the right tool first saves money in the
long run sorts of things.)

I have an L-bracket for my Mamiya but it gets in the way of hand-held
operation, and getting it on and off the camera is awkward enough that I'd
not want to futz with it in the field.

David J. Littleboy
Tokyo, Japan