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Why
the Markins Ball Head Tension System?
Of
all the features found on the Markins Q-Ball heads, the
tensioning system alone makes the heads well worth their
cost. It is vastly superior to any other ball head I've
ever used, and makes the use of the head much more flexible
and fast.
On my previous ball heads, I would use my left hand to control
the tension knob while using my right hand to position the
camera at the best angle for the image. When I was done with
one picture, I'd loosen the tension knob and hold on to my
camera carefully until I had it positioned for the next image,
then retighten the tension knob. For obvious reasons, I had
to be very careful not to let go of the camera at any time
the tension knob was loose.
I
was perfectly happy with that process, since it was simple
and fast enough. However, once I used the Markins tensioning
system, I was a changed man. I discovered a principle
that I later discovered was called the "sweet spot." What
is a sweet spot, you ask? Well, let me rave a little
about it!
With
the Markins, instead of moving my camera with one hand,
clamping with the other, and hoping I didn't forget to
hang on to the camera while the tension is loose, all
I had to
do was tighten the ball head until the tension allowed
me to move the camera at will, screw in the minimum tension
limit dial and then go shoot. In other words, I found I
could
set the ball head tension so that it kept my camera from
moving, but I could then just reach up and move the camera
to a new position without touching the tension knob. What
a concept!
The Sweet Spot
The "sweet
spot" is the place where the tension on the ball clamp
exactly balances the torque of the camera with lens so
that it does not move. Without touching the tension knob
I could use one hand to move the camera to any position
I'd like.
No more was I a slave to the tension knob. No longer
did I have to worry about my camera flopping over
forward because
I had not set the tension correctly. I simply put my camera
on the ball head, set the tension so that it would still
move without flopping, screw in the limit dial and then
go shoot pictures. I would not have to touch that
tension knob
again unless I put a much heavier lens on the camera and
needed to adjust for the extra weight. To
me this was a revelation. I had tried tripod heads of all
sorts for years and never
really been happy with any
of them. I've had heads with so many positioning knobs
that I'd have trouble remembering what they all did. I've
used
heads with all sorts of squeeze-and-position ideas too.
None of them ever satisfied that inner desire for a simple
head
that was easy to use but very flexible.
I
almost found tripod head happiness with a standard ball
head, but was
aggravated with how the camera flopped around
so easily if I did not get the tension just right on
the ball clamp. It only took me a few minutes with the
Markins
M10 to realize that I had honestly found what I had been
looking for in tripod heads. To me it is the
ultimate ball head! |
