I have a Manfrotto 055CXPRO4 tripod and a 498RC2 ball head:
When my Pentax got old I upgraded to a mirrorless camera to benefit from the smaller size and lighter weight, because hiking long distances up mountains with the above gear was difficult.
I now have an awesome and light tripod, the Amarula from Bushman Panoramic, and the equally awesome and light Gobi panoramic head:
This video demonstrates how the Amarula and Gobi are to be assembled:
Camera mounted on the Gobi in portrait orientation:
Camera mounted on the Gobi in landscape orientation,
notice that you can’t point it up or down:
The pano head screws directly into the tripod. The result is a sturdy and lightweight rig for shooting panoramas.
But.
What’s missing here is the ability to adjust the angle of the camera in landscape position when not shooting panoramas. To this end, I want to add a normal tripod head between the tripod and the pano head. I did that with the Manfrotto 498RC2, but that head is huge and heavy - it defeats the whole point of having light gear. Now we’ve reached the point of this post:
- I’m looking for suggestions regarding small and light tripod heads for light cameras (camera + lens under 1kg). No cheap Chinese junk. I would probably screw it into the tripod and mount the Gobi on top.
- I’d also like to hear if you have any other ideas to solve the problem of being able to keep the camera in landscape orientation and be able to adjust the angle (basically point it up or down). Size and weight matter.