Manfrotto 405 Geared Head
Now I'm on bread and water and I only went in for a look.
We were in Dereham today, and as this thread is still running, I thought I would personaly check out what heads they had in Norfolk Cameras.
As I have previously posted, it really is down to construction and materials used. The MN229 appears to have bronze bearing surfaces and is considerably more robust than the 141RC. Although for shorter focal lengths the 141RC is up to the job.
Always a sucker for a bit of quality engineering I had to have a play with the 405 geared head and Hyrostatic ballheads.
Went into the shop to check out heads for Stephen, and left with the 405.
Anyone looking for a precision studio type head will love this. If you have either a proffesional camera or one with a battery grip like that on my D100, and are looking to mount a lens with its own foot, you do need to try it for fit. I have attached an image to show how little clearence there can be with it set in portrait mode. A riser plate may be needed. With the camera mounted on the Q/R plate there are no clearence problems.
Each control has a quick set, that can lock in 7 1/2 deg increments. The fine gear will work over the full range of movement or it can be used in conjunction with the ' quick set '.
Pics attached.
Don
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