Really Right Stuff

[wapitispokes]

I'm a little late on this post, but also a new member. Thought I should offer up my experience with bullheads, in case it is helpful to anyone.

I've had 3 over the years and I'll comment on the RRS. I too love RRS "stuff" and I have had a BH-40 ballhead for over a decade. Far and away the best bullhead I have owned. It is a keeper. But I do not recommend it for spotting scopes.

I have used it with light spotters, heavy spotters and for general photography.

The BH-40 has its advantages in terms of form factor (minimal bulk), reasonable weight (about a pound). Plus, it does have a pan feature which works fine.

However, IMO, it is a PIA using it with a spotting scope. The friction adjustment is inadequate for a long heavy object and the scope will "flop" whenever you loosen the ball to move the scope and you'll have a very hard time moving the scope a small amount without either no friction and flop risk, or jerky movement. At least I do. It is nearly impossible to find a friction level that provides the user with smooth movement and enough friction to avoid the "flop". I call it being "sticky" or "grabby".

For my use, if all I'm going to do is quickly look at a single animal that is not moving and if it is easy to point the scope at the object, the head would be adequate. It works fine for range work (but most anything does). Great for cameras. Should work fine for binos (but probably still "floppy" depending on Bino weight). That's just my experience. I am baffled that RRS markets it as ideal for spotting scopes on medium weight tripods.

I have not used a fluid head yet, but that is what I am moving to for the spotter. I'll be ordering the Va-5 fluid pan head soon and I'm looking forward to the comparison. The Va-5 is reported to are in the same weight range as the BH-40, but it is bulkier.

 

[AkMtnRunner]

The whole set up. Don't get me wrong RRS products are second to none. But for glassing, you can do the same thing with a much cheaper tripod. Some of those "China" made tripods are pretty damn nice on the checkbook and in the field(Gasp). Hell a medium or tall Outdoorsmans tripod would work well if you want to try an Anvil head on them and stay all American. With the leftover money, you can buy a tag.

I have tried to use the Anvil for glassing and it's not for me.

I can say that I fully appreciate the RRS quality for spotting at 60x. Wind can wreck havoc on the picture but the steadiness of TF33S has been incredible. I often wonder if people know what they're missing by not fully stabilizing their 80+mm spotter.

 

[BBob]

I often wonder if people know what they're missing by not fully stabilizing their 80+mm spotter.

I doubt it from what I've seen and experienced. Until you try it you probably don't know what you are missing. I bought an Outdoorsmans fluid head to try last fall and it's by far way more stable than the VA5 I was using with big optics. It's more ergonomic than the VA5 which makes it faster to use but at a weight penalty. The RRS and OD fluid head is a dream to glass with when using the big guns in the wind compared to any other setup I've ever owned to date. I made some awesome finds this year and I doubt I'd have found some of them without that combo due to wind.

 

[Dobermann]

I have a RRS tripod and anvil head, IMO they are worth it if you are shooting off of them. If you are just glassing I think it's a waste of money.

Apologies for the threadromancy, but to keep this in one place - Ryan, what RRS tripod do you shoot off in the field / do you backpack in?

 

[Ryan Avery]

It’s the smaller diameter ultra lite. I also had the ascend(I think its called) with a center column but I sold it.

 

[Calgarious]

Just to chime in a recommendation, I was a working travel photog for 12 years, I bought the best ball head RRS made in 2005 (don’t remember the model number), it has survived literally hundreds of flights, dozens of days IN the water as I stabilize tied down with rocks, taken on thousands of working days and been smashed who knows how much. Other than opening it to clean every 5 or so years it has endured absolute hell and is still smooth. It had a slightly oval ball so that resistance increased mildly when too far off centre, it was perfect) I also have a bunch of their camera/lens brackets which are also solid but simpler, their machining is excellent and they are worth it, it outlasted 2 top tier Gitzo tripods