Review on Acratech Ultimate Ballhead Without Supports by Justin Spence

After years of deliberation, I finally took the plunge a year ago and switched from a standard bow triple socket to an Arca Swiss quick change system with Acratech ball socket support . I have no regrets about the investment. While cost is an issue, there are other issues as well. I knew my work with macro and large lenses would improve as the Arca-Swiss plates have a flange that prevents the lenses from rotating. I was also hoping that they would be faster and easier to work with and this turned out to be true. But I also had to decide which kind to buy. The Arca Swiss B1 is a popular alternative and others have also recommended similar sized ball heads from Linhoff, Foba, Kaiser and Kirk. The Acratech ballhead has several major advantages over these: it doesn't need lubrication, it can carry more weight, it weighs significantly less than its competitors (a big plus when hiking), and it can be maneuvered to almost any reasonable angle relative to the base. I decided to buy mine without Acratech's own quick release clamp and opted for a Really Right Stuff toggle clamp instead. A drop of Loctite 271 will hold the clip to the base. Better use of the Arca-Swiss style quick release also requires adding plates to lenses and camera bodies (I got them from Kirk and Really Right Stuff) as well as quick release clips to any mini pods you might be using. set to a frame that fades quickly or when working with macro photography. I was already used to adjusting the horizon on the Dreipfanneskopf and doubted if I could level the landscape easily, but with the Kugelkopf it was easy. After a year of working in the field, I am very satisfied. with Acratech ball head.