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Author Topic: Arca Swiss tripod heads geared vs non geared pan  (Read 1019 times)

Harold Clark

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Arca Swiss tripod heads geared vs non geared pan
« on: February 04, 2021, 08:50:07 am »

For years I have used the Manfrotto 410 gear head for architectural photography with good results. I am considering the Arca Swiss Leveller 75 as I am sure I would appreciate the increase in smoothness, rigidity and precision.

My concern is that this head has a non geared pan adjustment, I find the geared pan on the 410 very useful for precise framing and squaring up horizontal lines. The Cube is available with both a geared and non geared pan head, but is bulkier, more expensive and has more capability than I need.

Any comments would be appreciated from photographers who have compared both a geared and non geared Arca Swiss pan head, and whether the lack of gearing presented any difficulties in practical use.
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leuallen

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Re: Arca Swiss tripod heads geared vs non geared pan
« Reply #1 on: February 04, 2021, 01:03:47 pm »

I have the 410, the Arca geared not pan, and the Sunway Pro II geared not pan, and a Benro with geared pan.

The Arca is on my tripod. Smoothest action. Light weight. Levers to release geared movements, best solution. I thought the lack of geared pan would be a draw back. Not so much. I do many panos and with the 410 I would do a dry run to determine how much I had to turn the knob to get the correct overlap. Then I would take the pano by just turning the knob that amount for each frame. With a little practice it is pretty accurate. It was very quick, great with fast moving clouds. I found that I did not miss it that much as the panning movement of the Acra and the Sunway is very smooth, damped and easy to place where you want. Just use the third grid lines on the screen and select a convenient object in the subject and pan it to the next grid. I don't think you would have any problem with architecture. Beside leveling to the horizon seems to be the most critical and difficult. Remember to turn off stabilization. If you don't, when you pan to a spot it will drift back and forth before settling down making it difficult to pick your spot.

I use the Sunway on a custom made car window mount since most of my photos are taken from the car as I have difficulty walking. First tried the Benro, its knobs and layout was just not convenient, kept getting in the way. And it was not as smooth operating as the Arca or Sunway (which is close to the Arca). Wanted to keep the Arca on the tripod so I tried the Sunway. Was pleasantly suprised. Smooth, compact and easy to operate. It has fold out handles instead of releasing the gears for rapid movement. I do not use that feature much and find the Sunway solution acceptable. The 410 and Benro use concentric knobs that I find too hard to move and tend to hurt the fingers.

The Arca is the best but at a stiff price. The Sunway is a close second at a fraction of the price.

If you have a tripod with a leveling center column then you won't need a leveling base. If you don't have either consider a leveling base. First thing I do when I set up the tripod is to use the leveling base, it makes things much easier after that. I have tried most of them and by far the best is the Acratech. Small and precise with a big bubble level and not too expensive. Recommended.

I use M4/3 so weight capacities were not a consideration. If you use larger equipment you should check that out.

Larry
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leuallen

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Re: Arca Swiss tripod heads geared vs non geared pan
« Reply #2 on: February 04, 2021, 01:08:01 pm »

Addendum: the Arca  is also available with a geared pan. Forgot to mention that both the Arca and Sunway pan at both the base and at the top, a feature that is good for panos. But I still like using the leveling base.

Larry
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Harold Clark

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Re: Arca Swiss tripod heads geared vs non geared pan
« Reply #3 on: February 04, 2021, 03:48:07 pm »

Thanks Larry for your very informative and helpful reply. I should have mentioned that I do use a Gitzo levelling base on a Gitzo 1325 tripod. This works very well to quickly get things in the ballpark before fine tuning with the geared head, especially when working outdoors where ground is never level. It also provides 15 degrees of additional movement if required to complement the Leveller 75, which is limited to 15 degrees maximum adjustment.

I presume you are using the Arca D4 head? That one is interesting as well, but I think the Leveller 75 appeals to me more. Apparently Arca has no plans to offer either the 75 or 60 with geared pan, which is surprising since geared pan is available on the D4 and Cube.

Harold
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leuallen

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Re: Arca Swiss tripod heads geared vs non geared pan
« Reply #4 on: February 04, 2021, 06:43:17 pm »

Yes, D4. All bets off. Never heard of Leveller 75. Googled it, looks interesting. Don't know if it would have enough adjustment for me. I often put car on incline in ditch to get correct position for photo and that puts head at extremes for adjustment.

Larry

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nazdravanul

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Re: Arca Swiss tripod heads geared vs non geared pan
« Reply #5 on: February 07, 2021, 04:31:30 pm »

The Leveler 75 is amazing. And the pan is precise enough - I can live without gears.
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Doug Peterson

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Re: Arca Swiss tripod heads geared vs non geared pan
« Reply #6 on: February 08, 2021, 10:51:35 am »

We've written a very thorough primer on Arca Swiss heads here:
https://www.dtcommercialphoto.com/arca-swiss-heads-the-essential-primer/

We also sell all of them.

Harold Clark

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Re: Arca Swiss tripod heads geared vs non geared pan
« Reply #7 on: February 09, 2021, 05:00:22 pm »

We've written a very thorough primer on Arca Swiss heads here:
https://www.dtcommercialphoto.com/arca-swiss-heads-the-essential-primer/

We also sell all of them.

Thanks Doug for posting this info. It seems odd that Arca Swiss doesn't offer the Leveller 75 with geared pan option. Have you had requests for geared pan, and do you think they could be persuaded to offer this?
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Chairman Bill

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Re: Arca Swiss tripod heads geared vs non geared pan
« Reply #8 on: February 10, 2021, 05:35:46 am »

FWIW, the Arca-Swiss P0 works very well - not geared, but lightweight, and the inverted ball-head makes levelling a dream.
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