I loved hearing the Telemark analogy. Thus, was the analogy applying to: the
monopod setup = skinny skis ,the tripod + head = fat skis ? I ski -way-
better on my fat tele boards than my skinny boards (25 yrs skiing tele).
Anyway, as a Manfrotto dealer http://www.channel360.com I am biased on this
subject. I have used -and- sold many of the heads out there (I have not used
the Precision) and through my own use and feedback from customers I would
have to favor the Manfrotto products.
- Yes, the Manfrotto heads are heavier. However if you have a $3000 camera
on a tripod it seems to make sense to have a stable platform. On shoots
where you don't have to hike, the full Manfrotto setup provides an accurate
and stable platform. If you were to hike with the 303SPH, you can strip out
the longplate on the bottom, replace it with one of the supplied shorter
plates then use a self standing tripod (with one hand on the monopod for
safety purposes)
- Manfrotto heads have interchangeable plates which enable a variety of
setups. A recently popular setup is using the 300N rotator, 3273 sliding
plate with a 357PLONG plate for partial panoramic high rez telephoto panos.
All of these components can be assembled out of the 303SPH (the spherical
head) and mounted on a monopod.
- The so called "sag" critique of the Manfrotto 303SPH no longer applies,
that anomaly was fixed years ago with a set-screw which corrects any sag
with larger cameras, yet there are a few reviews still out there on the WWW
which have not been updated.
- Nodal points are easily repeatable. All Manfrotto plates are engraved with
a calibration. Once you find the nodal point with a specific lens just mark
the setting with a pencil (or notate it). However, even though I know the
settings for my camera/lens combos (Canon) I prefer to do a quick nodal
point test every time I set up.
Regarding the portable hard drives, I feel that with the inexpensive price
of CF cards it is much better to buy a few extra CF card and make sure to
use the plastic cases to protect them from electro static discharge and
other possible accidents then to download to a portable. I have heard of
several of these download mishaps, though never experienced one myself.
My 2 cents
George H. Thomas
Digital Media Consultant
Redmond, WA
425 882 2196
http://www.Thomas-Media.com
http://www.Channel360.com
