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Introduction
A
ball head is a ball head -- right? I used to think so!
I've always had the attitude that it really doesn't matter
what ball head you use, since all it does is clamp the
camera in the position you want. I figured any ball head
that was big enough to handle the weight was good, and
all that really matters is the price.
Well,
I come before you today with a different attitude. As
the old song says, "I've seen the light!" Until
I actually used a pro-level ball head I simply didn't know
what I was missing. I'm just glad I never wrote any articles
about less-than-professional ball heads, because I'd have
to take them back.
Let
me tell you how I came to this recent conclusion. Back
last summer I was enjoying a nice photographic day in
the Great Smoky Mountains. A couple of Nikonians and
I were running around the Smokies bringing home lots
of great early summer images. I stopped at a nice overlook
on the Foothills Parkway West and got a few shots. I
realized that the heavy workload of taking images had
made me hungry, so we stopped to consume a few sandwiches.
I leaned my Bogen® 3021B Pro tripod with its massive
488RC2 ball head up against the back of my Jeep while
we ate. That's the last I ever saw of it!
Somehow, when we got in the Jeep and headed down the road,
my tripod was no longer with me. Whether it was stolen or
simply left behind, I cannot tell. We drove to a different
part of the Smokies before I got out to take another shot,
and discovered that my dear tripod was gone. Back we went
in search of it, but, no joy. I had no tripod, in the middle
of the day, in the most beautiful spot on earth.
Somehow
I got through the day, and on the way back home I stopped
at the local super-store and bought for myself a deluxe,
crank-the-handle-for-maximum-height, $29.00 USD genuine
plastic and metal tripod. I was set for the next trip!
?
That evening, I was sitting at home feeling particularly
sorry for myself for losing my $250.00 USD tripod and ball
head. I was Skyping with a certain famous Señor Palacios
of Nikonians.org about my tragedy, and he was very sympathetic.
In fact, he told me he was going to send me a nice Markins
M10 Ball head to test, and that we could make arrangements
later about purchase if I liked it. Since I was currently
almost tripod-less (still had the plastic and metal crank
unit), I agreed that it was probably a good idea. A few days
later the UPS man drove into my driveway with a box from
a certain Photo Pro Shop
Within
a short period of time, my photographic life changed.
I opened that small box expecting "just another ball
head" only to find that I had never truly ever seen
a real ball head before. Every ball head I had used before
that moment paled into insignificance. I had never spent
over $100 USD for a ball head and had no idea what a few
more dollars would bring to my photographic life.
The
first thing I noticed was the highly refined finish on
the ball
head. "This Markins M10 is clearly made to last," I
thought. Looking it over, I saw a thing or two that I had
never seen before, and other things that were simply better
than anything I had ever seen before. I
am now going to attempt to express my enthusiasm for this
Markins M-Series Q-Ball head. I'll discuss the various
features
I found important, and tell you how I used the head during
ANPAT 2006 to bring home some of the best images of my
life.
I'll
use a Markins M10 ball head as a reference point in this
article, but remember that the Markins M20 is also
available for a few extra dollars. It does everything
the M10 does,
plus allows for monster telephoto lenses. |
