Arca Swiss d4 Geared Tripod Head with Quick Set Classic Device (Plate Not Included)

So, she isn’t cheap, and I am not a professional photographer, but this head is amazing, stiff action when it arrived and took a minute to dial my brain into the controls, as soon as I figured her out she started to loosen up and now- BUTTER, or SILKY… smooth at any rate, if you are curious about this ARCA SWISS head you probably need it, and that NEED justifies the price, it’s not a manfrotto or benro so there’s a reason why it’s pricey the build quality totally reflects pricing, I haven’t put it away since I quickly received it, every time I walk by it it makes me smile and wonder why I waited so long, if you are using a ball head to do the job this should be doing for you put $20 in a jar every time your ball head disappoints you and soon enough you will have the money to buy the D4, or save yourself the frustration and just buy once cry once, how much money do you have perched on a head that just barely works?(Compare the weight ratings for the manfrotto and benro to these specs…)

The head was received (head is of course excellent), but was obviously an open box item (not advertised as such) not appropriately sealed/wrapped. Minus 2 stars for the seller - bad form!

It is probably the best mount ever made. It does everything they say it does and does it well. Very sturdy too.

This item is very well made, and performs exactly as expected, providing a very stable platform for holding my various camera/lens configurations which way up to around 10lbs. Leveling the camera is wonderfully simply and quick...much easier to accomplish than with a traditional ball head, which can be "fiddly". This is just the opposite. And it is very useful that there are two adjustments for rotating around the vertical axis ("pan" roation), one at the lowest point, for initial adjustment, and one at the top, for adjustments after the camera has been leveled; since the upper rotation happens in the leveled plane, the camera stays level throughout the rotation. The only negative is that it is difficult to just look at any of these larger adjustment knobs and easily predict how turning them will influence the tilt of the camera (left or right vs forward or back). You have to essentially memorize which knob does what, or look very carefully to figure it out. This is fine for periods when you are using the head every day. But if you take a break it can take a while before you get it right reliably again. Maybe it's just me... This seems to be one of the main weaknesses of this head's design vs. the Arca Swiss C1 Cube, whose knob placement and operation seem much more intuitive. I got this D4 unit instead of the C1 primarily because it seemed to do everything I needed for $500 less, and I am not disappointed. Still, if money is no object at all then I do suggest you look further at the C1 (which I only know of through online video reviews).

I guess you get what you pay for... this tripod head is a joy to use! Very smooth operation, very sturdy, and easy to use.

Best tripod head EVER.