Arca Swiss Monoball P0 - Experiences/ Compatible with new Novoflex Q-Mount mini?

[previlo]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Hi there,

I come across the small Monoball P0 from Arca Swiss and find it quite interesting.

However I discovered that you can have 2 different versions of the mounting, the classic Arca Swiss mount style, and the new one, what they call Monoball fix.

This one is smaller and not compatible with the classic one, I just discovered that Novoflex also introduced a mini version of their Q-Mount (which was Arca Swiss Classic compatible if I remember correct).

Anyone knows if this is compatible with the new Arca Swiss system?

 

Besides that, what are your experiences with Arca Swiss and the Monoball in general?

I am a bit disappointed that they do not have a website with more information, also their email communication is slow (well, honestly, they simply don’t reply...).

So I am not super thrilled with their customer facing so far, I hope their service is better?

 

Thanks!

Oliver

[RobertJRB]

Hi there,

I come across the small Monoball P0 from Arca Swiss and find it quite interesting.

However I discovered that you can have 2 different versions of the mounting, the classic Arca Swiss mount style, and the new one, what they call Monoball fix.

This one is smaller and not compatible with the classic one, I just discovered that Novoflex also introduced a mini version of their Q-Mount (which was Arca Swiss Classic compatible if I remember correct).

Anyone knows if this is compatible with the new Arca Swiss system?

 

Besides that, what are your experiences with Arca Swiss and the Monoball in general?

I am a bit disappointed that they do not have a website with more information, also their email communication is slow (well, honestly, they simply don’t reply...).

So I am not super thrilled with their customer facing so far, I hope their service is better?

 

Thanks!

Oliver

 

I bought the P0 about 4 months ago.

 

First some pics I made for someone else who wanted to know the size:

 

Arca swiss P0 on a Gitzo 1550 carbon traveler tripod

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I took the P0 because of the relative small size, trough there are far more smaller heads, and because of the top panning.

Really right stuff has the BH-30 with is about the same price and smaller. But it does not have top panning and with the panning clamp its more expensive and far bigger.

 

The P0 works really well, short twist to the ring and the head is secured. The new system from arca swiss is called the slide fix.

greatest thing about it is the smaller size. Fits the M sized camera's well.

 

When you place the camera you can still slide it to the front and back, as you can see in the second picture where the camera is moved to the back. When its really secure you simple lock it and the camera is fixed.

There are different size clamps (or whatever its called, the thing you place under the camera) so a lot of opportunities. For panorama's simply take a long one and you can use the nodal point of the lens for perfect panorama's.

I don't know if the novoflex one is compatible, but I don't think its really important because the arca ones cost you 60 euro. Not to expensive.

 

Unfortunately the best thing when buying a head is to try it at the camera store, and not everyone sells them.

 

Hope it helps.

[click]

Will you please show a detail shot of how the camera is attached from the center underside of the body. With the thread mount on the bottom right of the M I cannot see from the pictures how it is supported from the middle. I'd like to buy one of these P0's and the slidefix m mount to go accompany it.

 

Thank you,

 

Justin

[RobertJRB]

Will you please show a detail shot of how the camera is attached from the center underside of the body. With the thread mount on the bottom right of the M I cannot see from the pictures how it is supported from the middle. I'd like to buy one of these P0's and the slidefix m mount to go accompany it.

 

Thank you,

 

Justin

 

The M8 and M9 have the thread mount in the middle, not like the film M's at the right.

 

 

I know Arca has a special release plate for the M camera's with the threath on the right

Arca-Shop.de - Kameraplatte MonoballFix Leica M Kameraplatte MonoballFix Leica M 800 802262

 

And here some video's from Robert White.

 

The P0,

 

The different arca systems:

[click]

Thank you for posting that, I was genuinely confused and had no idea that the thread was in the center. I was so perplexed I was thinking that the M baseplate was (somehow) integrated into the slidefix. I saw a M8 once at a cafe but didn't think to look at the thread.

 

I want one of these P0's because I think I'll be able to recompose on the fly with my left hand adjusting the P0 and my right hand operating the shutter. The thought of a ball head with only one control has great appeal for shots where I set up and wait for a shot and have to recompose quickly. When I finally get my hands on one of these I'm going to hit my old tripod head with a hammer to save another Photographer from it.

 

Sincerely,

 

Click

[Lindolfi]

Thanks very much RobertJRB for the images. Was looking for something like that and bought it. Today I tested the P0 head against the B1 head of Arca Swiss (click) on a sturdy tripod and found it to be equally stiff, which was a pleasant surprise, given its weight. It is much stiffer than the tall Leica ballhead I normally use for my Leica M and about 50% heavier.

 

A remark about the slidefix plates. There is a special M plate from Arca that can only be used up and including the M7, because of the lateral placement of the tripod mount in the bottom plate of the M. The plate has a curved recession to fit the side of the bottom plate of those older M camera's. The M8 and M9, as already said, have a central tripod mount hole in the bottom plate. I found that the universal plate of 48 mm long (which is the one shown in the picture of RobertJRB) can be used very well. You can also mount it parallel to the bottom plate, which makes the bubble level visible on the P0 when the camera is mounted. The camera is still very stable in this way. The bottom plate is the limiting factor, not the head for flex.

 

There is also a shorter universal plate (32 mm long), which can be used on the M8 and M9, but has the disadvantage of not being able to slide the camera for for instance macro.

 

The panning on top of the ball of the P0 is very nice. You don't need to set up de tripod level. Just set it up, make the top of the P0 level and you can swing around for panoramic.

 

 

If you really want to do it well, you need a longer slidefix plate to get the front nodal point of your lens in the center of the vertical axis of the P0, so that you get perfect overlap of your panoramic images. For landscapes etc. that is not important. Only when objects are also visible close by, it is of use to move the camera backward on the head to get the front nodal point in place. Plates are available of 100, 150, 200 and 300 mm. Most likely the 100 or 150mm will make positioning possible in most non Visoflex M lenses. Naturally you can also mount a short slidefix plate to a proper nodal slide device to make it work.

 

When turning the camera in vertical orientation you lose the horizontal panoramic axis, so if you want to do overlapping panorama with portrait orientation, you need an L bracket, which is available.

 

All in all the P0 head moves very smooth and is easily adjustable. Especially when framing is critical, this works very well and the camera never flops over unexpectedly due to the aspherical ball and clamping mechanism of the ball. Even on a very light tripod it makes sense to use this head as the total flex is still less than with a ball of lesser stiffness, like the Leica head. Vibrations on the other hand is another matter, which the head can not remove from a light tripod.

[Lindolfi]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

An extra remark about panoramic photography with the P0: if you do use a nodeslide on top of the head to get the front nodal point in the vertical axis: make sure you rotate the camera (M8 or M9) slightly to the right on the nodal slide, since Leica did put the hole in the bottom plate in the center of the bottom plate, but the lens mount is offset to the left when you stand behind the camera. By turning the camera to the right you get then front nodal point in the center of the vertical axis.

 

A check to see if this is done right is to take two pictures with different amounts of rotation around the vertical axis with the same two objects in the image, one close by and one far away in the same direction. There should be no shift of the close by object relative to the far away object when the camera is turned.

 

Perhaps we should build a small database on this forum for locations of front nodal points of M lenses, since although we often can get diagrams of lenses, it is not clear how this relates to the outside of the lens, (for instance the aperture ring) and it would be handy to have that as a reference to set up the camera quickly for panoramic shooting.

 

This is a bit off topic in this thread, so perhaps we should start another thread for this database if members are interested.

[40mm f/2]

Leica publishes the position of the entrance pupil of current lenses on their website (technical data pdf downloads). These data refer to the front lens but the distance to lens mount at infinity would be more practical.

This discussion makes me more interested in the P0 - have the P1s and like it (used mostly for my 5x7) but less weight would entice me to use a tripod more with my M9. The Monoball P0 is now also available with the standard quick set for the common mounting plates Arca-Shop.de - ARCA-SWISS Monoball p0 mit Schnellspannvorrichtung "classic" ARCA-SWISS Monoball p0 mit Schnellspannvorrichtung "classic" 800 801214

[hassiman]

I really love the P0... MUCH more practical than my B1 and it's a joy to use...

 

I have found that my Really Right Stuff PCL-1 Pano Clamp works perfectly on the P0 and allows me to use the RRS L brackets that I just leave mounted to the camera as they are small and protect the camera.

 

SunWay makes a great clamp that also fits the P0 and RRS and regular sized Arca Swiss plates and is much less expensive than the PCL-1:

 

Arca Swiss P0 | eBay

[seezee]

I've written a review of the Arca-Swiss P0 with QS quick release clamp & would appreciate comments. It's on my blog, here.

 

Bottom line, it's a great head & I have no regrets purchasing it.

[seezee]

I am a bit disappointed that they do not have a website with more information, also their email communication is slow (well, honestly, they simply don’t reply...).

So I am not super thrilled with their customer facing so far, I hope their service is better?

They seem to prefer to let their dealers & distributors do all their communication for them — they don't even have a publicly available website. The US distributor is Precicison Camera Works, I believe.

 

[EDIT] Strike that; they are not the US distributor, but have lots of info about the product on their site.

[Luke_Miller]

[EDIT] Strike that; they are not the US distributor, but have lots of info about the product on their site.

 

They are the authorized Arca-Swiss repair facility in the US. They repaired my A-S B1 ballhead at no charge well outside of the warranty period. Good folk to deal with.

[Peter H]

I find the P0 with the Slide-fix mount by far the quickest, easiest and most intuitive head I have ever used, and it seems absolutely perfect for use with an M9. It makes using a tripod almost as quick and easy as not using one!

 

I prefer it, but a very large margin, over every other head I've owned or tried.