Leica Ball Head Experience?

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Is there anyone who had experience with FLM/Leica Ballheads and their coupling system?

[rramesh]

Expensive logo on an FLM ballhead.

 

There are already many very good ball heads in the market - Manfrotto, Giotto, Arca, RRS, Kirk, Benro. Some expensive and some not so.

 

Frankly, i find the Leica camera to be very compact and most often I am happy with the Leica tabletop tripod and ball head which is very versatile in many uses, and extremely portable.

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[bephoto]

Sorry but I use Leica as an all around camera for shooting portraits to editorials, a table top tripod is out of question. FLM has a patented system that has a Tilt lock and also the smallest shoe in the market. I'm looking to ask a person with experience some questions. though price wise as I researched its in the same range as gitzo and rrs.

[Bill W]

I have a lot of experience with this ball head. It was ancient when I got it over 25 years ago. The tabletop tripod is that old as well.

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[bephoto]

thats beautiful ballhead, no i meant this one Leica Ball Head 38 14114 B&H Photo Video

[Bill W]

thats beautiful ballhead, no i meant this one Leica Ball Head 38 14114 B&H Photo Video

I know, I just wanted to show off my old Leitz vintage one. I use a Really Right Stuff BH 40 head with a quick release. It is cheaper than the one you are asking about. I use a RRS small B9 multi use plate for my M's. The total cost of both of these are still less than the Leica Ball Head. The RRS ball head is great.

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Leica/FLM ballheads have this unique Tilt Lock which I really wanna see how good is it. at the moment I work with a gitzo which is a piece of shit compared to RRS

[Bill W]

Not sure what a tilt lock function does or why

[rramesh]

Good video on what it does.

[bevlin761]

I use Leica as an all around camera for shooting portraits to editorials, a table top tripod is out of question. FLM has a patented system that has a Tilt lock and also the smallest shoe in the market.

[gisling]

I use a large Leitz ball head

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[pico]

I use Leica as an all around camera for shooting portraits to editorials, a table top tripod is out of question. FLM has a patented system that has a Tilt lock and also the smallest shoe in the market.

 

If you use the camera in the vertical (portrait) orientation, you might find as I did that many ball heads are too short: the camera in the vertical position is too close to the tripod head to be comfortable.

 

I have three ball heads for 35mm, including a short, cheap one, and the long (14110) and early short Leica head. The long (14110) is tall enough to not even remotely place the camera too close to the tripod head.

 

The FLM (14114) really does not do anything the early Leica ball heads do not do, except empty your wallet faster. The tilt-lock is not meaningful if you change your tripod position between jobs.

Edited June 20, 2014 by pico

[wlaidlaw]

Whenever I use a ball head on my travel tripod, I always long to get back to the Manfrotto Joystick heads I use on my larger tripods. I find a regular ball head just does not give enough control and the friction is always too tight or too loose. That said, the modern Leica head looks like about well thought out a solution as I have seen to date.

 

I still use my father’s Leitz table tripod, with a head similar to the one posted by Gisling above, with the three legged collapsible base. Somewhere in my attic, I still have its red cardboard box.

 

Wilson

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[bocaburger]

thats beautiful ballhead, no i meant this one Leica Ball Head 38 14114 B&H Photo Video

 

Looks like a very nice ballhead. Can you buy the same ballhead without the Leica logo for less money?

[wlaidlaw]

I have noticed there is a huge discrepancy between US and UK prices for the type 38 ball head, even allowing for 20% VAT on UK. $369 in the US and £330 in the UK. Subtracting the tax, the UK price is equivalent to $468.

 

Wilson

[wattsy]

Yes, the price differential does seem a bit excessive. Maybe better to bypass that problem and just buy the FLM 'OEM' version for £208?

 

Edit: Just noticed that the FLM version doesn't have the QR system so you do get a bit more for your money with the Leica branded version other than just a red dot and a more refined visual appearance.

Edited June 30, 2014 by wattsy

[wlaidlaw]

Ian,

 

Thanks for that tip. However, I note it does not have the neat QR system the Leica head does. I am looking for something better than the Manfrotto 484RC2 ball head I use on my lightweight Giotto travel tripod, which does not even have a separate friction control. As it is generally the only tripod/monopod I take when travelling, I don’t mind if it has a different QR system to all my other heads, which use the Manfrotto RC2 system.

 

Wilson

[wlaidlaw]

I am probably going over to the USA in late September with my wife, sometime after our next grandchild is born, so I can just get the Leica head send to my daughter’s house in Baltimore, MD and bring it back with me. I am surprised FLM do not offer any QR heads (I have been on their website). Virtually everyone who uses that price of head, would nowadays want a QR system, I would have thought.

 

Wilson