Gear Head For Tripod

[20 dB] I purchased this because I bought a new gear head. The gear head knobs were unusable because they rested on the top of the tripod top plate. The Riser Block solved the problem. This device also gave additional overall height for the camera on the tripod, which is good. It is solid and constructed very well. I am a satisfied customer!

[Yes] This tripod system is excellent. I mainly shoot with a 5dmkII with rails, audio gear, follow focus, etc that totals to at least 20lbs and this tripod handles it all with ease. This is lightyears better than my previous Manfrotto tripods (which were also good...this is just much better). The head is solidly constructed and the fluid head is buttery. It extends as high as I will ever need (camera is well over my head, and I'm 6 foot), and the leg locking system is easy to use, even with a loaded tripod. Suprisingly solid for having no spreaders.

[12" (30.5 cm)] Needed a new tripod for shooting video with an iPhone and mobile journalist gear. Choose this set up with fluid head and it's really perfect. About 5 pounds total, sturdy and well made. The leg extensions work smoothly, and even fully extended, provides a nice base. Fluid head is smooth.

[Yes] With no plans to travel by air, my main purpose for the Pro Light was to have a hard case that could hold most, if not all of my gear. This allows me to have it all in one place for a quick load out time when heading into the field. Upon arrival, I can then select the specific gear needed for my backpack or set up and leave everything else tucked safely in the hardshell case. The list below is everything I managed to fit inside the Pro Lighter, albeit with some clever reconfiguring to make it work well. The only downside is the attachable tripod harness. I did not find it all that useful but rather, it made the case awkward with my Manfrotto 055 tripod. Perhaps a lighter or smaller tripod would work better but for now, the harness has no practical use. Canon EOS R RF 35mm f/1.8 STM Macro RF 14-35mm f/4.0 L IS USM RF 24-105mm f/4.0 L IS USM 100mm f/2.8 L IS USM Macro RF 100-500mm f/4.0-7.1 L IS USM RF 1.4x Extender Manfrotto MHX PRO BHQ Ball Head ProMedia Gear GKJr Katana Pro Gimbal Head Filter Case, Bluetooth Remote, SD Card Case (The 100mm Macro lens and Ball Head are underneath the Pro Media Gimble)

[Bolt: 1/4"-20] I have a Benro Mammoth TMTH34C Carbon Fiber Tripod and use a Benro GD3WH gear head on a 75mm quick leveling bowl. The problem I had was making side-to-side and, at times, up and down adjustments to my composures. The base of the gear head was not tall enough to “clear” the spider plate and top of legs which meant I’d have to reposition the tripod. Even the quick leveling base was impacted because the gear head knobs didn’t have enough clearance. It was time wasting and frustrating - especially at night shooting Aurora, Milky Way and our most recent comet! This extension was the fix! Solidly built and not too tall to be impacting stability, it saved me from looking at other tripod/head options or going back to my ballhead (which I no longer like to use). Why Benro didn’t just include this as part of their gear head design or have as an option to include with the quick leveling base is beyond me. But it does its job well and I’m very happy with it.

[Ball Head] This is one of those pieces of gear one holds off buying, but finally gives into paying the price - and never regretting the purchase. I always carry this onto location, dissembled from the tabletop tripod. Separately, the two pieces stow away in remarkably small space. There are two versions of the ball head - the short and the long. I recommend the long one, since the longer versions allows for a handgrip to further steady the tripod when absolutely needed. The engineering for the head and tabletop goes back to roughly 70 years and the Leica folks have kept the patent without need for improvement. Apparently they got it right on the first go. It is amazing how much weight such a small head can handle, thanks to its grooved ball head. Anyway, German engineering/manufacturing at its straight forward finest. (If you can fine it second hand at a good price, jump for it. The gear is virtually indestructible.)

[6.55 x 3.7 x 1"] This bowl head adapter is a must if you want the ProMediaGear half ball installed on your tripod. As with all the gear from PMG that I've tried and used, it's very well made and is relatively easy to install. Recommended

[2.0' / 0.6 m] ...but this one is different. I have tried other traditional ball heads but usually found them to be, at least for me, difficult to position with any degree of precision. To be fair my usual tripod head is a Manfrotto 405 geared head, so I am a bit used to precise control. Having tension control and lock on the same large knob works great for me. The fit and finish on this head is on a par or exceeds those of ANY manufacturer, RRS included (and I have and really like RRS products). I also have a ProMedia Gear tripod and 4 L brackets as well as numerous quick release plates, all machined with the same precision. But no manufacturing process or quality control is ever perfect. When I received this ball head, there was a defect caused by a part that was blocking movement of the quick release plate in the channel where it attached to the ball. I emailed ProMedia and within minutes I had a response asking for a photo of the problem area. I sent a photo and within minutes I had a response indicating that a replacement would be sent to me by the next day and I was provided a postage paid return label for the defective unit and their regrets for any inconvenience. As I noted, no manufacturing process is perfect, what really matters is how a company stands behind their products when an inevitable issue happens. I now have the replacement ball head and it works flawlessly and I do love it and equally important I know that Pro Media stands behind its products. Highly recommend both this ball head and Pro Media Gear.

[-40° to +40°] I'm primarily a landscape photographer and like to set my cameras with tight precision. Want the frame to be just past that tree on the left and just above that bush on the bottom and so on. I found that the ball head that goes with the very nice traveling tripod I have, just wasn't precise enough. Just drifts down as it settles after tightening. So I moved on to a $200 or so gear head to see what that was like. Big improvement, but still could drift a little. Also the large movement while effective was a bit jerky. With that experience it was time to graduate to a high end head. I looked at some $400 range gear heads - better, but big and I found awkward to use. I tried several high end ball heads (Arca Swiss Z, KIrk BH1) and liked them very much. When tension is set right these are wonderful to use. Still they are not as precise as a gear head. Looked at the Arca Swiss Cube - which is very precise, but slow for landscape work. Then I found the D4-- this is an amazing combination of ball head and gear head. The ball head movements and pans allow one to quickly move into rough position, followed by incredibly smooth gear movements for absolute precision. It's really an incredible feat of engineering. The double pan is quite nice too. Last it actually takes up the same or less space than the high end ball heads, and less space than the $400 gear heads. I'm using it on the traveler tripod and a somewhat larger tripod I've added for more stability and long legs for uneven terrain. This is a high priced head, but worth every penny.

I have a Benro Mammoth TMTH34C Carbon Fiber Tripod and use a Benro GD3WH gear head on a 75mm quick leveling bowl. The problem I had was making side-to-side and, at times, up and down adjustments to my composures. The base of the gear head was not tall enough to “clear” the spider plate and top of legs which meant I’d have to reposition the tripod. Even the quick leveling base was impacted because the gear head knobs didn’t have enough clearance. It was time wasting and frustrating - especially at night shooting Aurora, Milky Way and our most recent comet! This extension was the fix! Solidly built and not too tall to be impacting stability, it saved me from looking at other tripod/head options or going back to my ballhead (which I no longer like to use). Why Benro didn’t just include this as part of their gear head design or have as an option to include with the quick leveling base is beyond me. But it does its job well and I’m very happy with it.