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© Joe McNally - All rights reserved
Sorry for the crummy photo. I returned this for the Manfrotto MH054M0-Q2 054 Magnesium Ball Head. It wasn't until after the return that I realized the photo could have been better. Ooops.
The Manfrotto 496RC2 ball head cost $74 new from Amazon. It's a decent entry level ball head. IMO you get what you pay for -- but nothing more. It feels sort of "unpolished" for lack of a better word. For example, the quick release lever is just unfinished aluminum. I think what disappointed me most was the ball itself. It seemed really small. And I detected some slight movement when locking down my camera (when it was mounted with a large lens). Also, the safety on the quick release was this tiny pin. The process of pressing the safety pulling on the quick release tab was awkward.
I had this mounted on the 190CXPRO3 carbon fiber tripod. The pieces looked mismatched; probably because they are from two different product generations.
Let me clear, this review is not to knock the 496RC2. It is a capable ball head for the price and size. For me though, I found I was happier (and poorer) having switched to the MH054M0-Q2.
Four section Monopod featuring:
- sure rubber grip,
- wrist carrying strap
- quick action lever leg lock system with 45° run
- large 60 mm camera/head platform with plastic cover
- dual 1/4" - 3/8" camera fixing screw.
I got tired of carrying around my old Lowepro Nova 3 plus two Optex bags so I finally got a bag big enough to carry all my stuff (and probably enough to sink the Titanic). It also holds my Manfrotto Tripod and my Dell laptop! Very cool.
© Joe McNally - All rights reserved
As noted earlier, since 11 February I've been using a Manfrotto 701HDV tripod head to support my 80mm Opticron scope and Nikon Coolpix P5100 camera for digiscoping and - to a lesser extent - videoscoping.
I Intend to write a review of this kit once I've accumulated enough experience in the field. As an interim measure I've included here some video clips taken over the past few days, which I'll perhaps add to in the near future.
The main purpose was to test/demonstrate how easily a subject could be framed at high magnification using the 701HDV head. This is something which I found extremely difficult - and often impossible - to do using my previous tripod set-up.
Preliminary tests showed that it wasn't possible (for me, anyway) to smoothly track a moving subject at typical videoscoping magnifications (70x plus) and so I've not attempted to do this here.
The scope was set in a balanced position and the footage shot without locking either pan or tilt functions. In each case the camera was set at maximum zoom (3.5x) and a range of scope magnifications used:
MALLARD (seen across the River Eden near Rickerby, 24 February 13):
Scope at 40x, total magnification at 140x
Scope at 60x, total magnification at 210x
RINGED PLOVER (seen on the shoreline from Bowness Railings, 27 February 13):
Scope at 20x, total magnification at 70x
Scope at 30x, total magnification at 105x
Scope at 40x, total magnification at 140x
Scope at 60x, total magnification at 210x
More to follow...
27 February 13
(This photo forms part of a summary of my experience of using the Manfrotto 190CXPRO4 tripod and 701HDV tripod head for digiscoping with my Opticron ES80GAED scope.)