Arca-Swiss B1 Ballhead

Review Date
June 12, 2007

Overall Rating
 2 of 5

Value Rating
 1 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Reviewed by
Allison , Intermediate

Price Paid
$400.00 at Cant remember

Photography Experience
2-5 years , Outdoor

Summary
Bought this head 3 years ago. Worked great until a few months ago. Now it locks up erratically. Have done a lot of trouble shooting to no advail. Did a google search on issues with this ballhead and was suprised to see that so many people had similar problems. Also many people had said that the customer service of Arca Swiss left much to be desired. I have sent them an email about the problem and am awaiting a reply. I am really really dissappointed because I thought I was buying the best and it would be a one time purchase.......now I wish I would have bought a Kirk Ballhead..... :(

Strengths
Worked great for a couple of years

Weaknesses
Common problem of locking up, which makes the ballhead useless.

Review Date
April 19, 2005

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

Visitors rate this review
2.60 of 5, 5 votes

Reviewed by
sieracki001 , Expert

Price Paid
$399.00 at B&H

Photography Experience
2-5 years , Outdoor

Summary
Unbelievable quality. Perhaps the finest photo equipment made?

I love the feel of this very impressive ball head. I have owned various tripod heads over the years and have really not felt anything special about using them until I got this. What a difference. Now I want to use my tripod. It's a pleasure (although it isn't any lighter...) to use now that I have finally gone with this ball head. I'm amazed at how smoothly this head works. The fit and finish is extreme as are the operational characteristics. One knob controls how much tension is on the ball. The progression is very gradual so that any lens you might have on it feels right. The ellipical design of the ball inspires confidence. I just love to load a lens on this and see what I can do. It's a pleasure to have such wonderful equipment available since most people find using ball heads and tripods annoying.

Strengths
Wow, the quality feel. Superb craftmanship.

Weaknesses
None, except that it probably isn't at your local photo retailer to try out. You have to try this out to believe it. The price may seem high but this will make you want to use your tripod.

Similar Products Used
Various Bogen pan and tilt heads, Gitzo ball heads.

Customer Service
None needed.

Review Date
December 31, 2003

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
1.83 of 5, 6 votes

Reviewed by
Trevor Ash , Casual

Price Paid
$500.00 at Forgot

Photography Experience
6-10 years , Other

Summary
With the exception of an even smaller, lighter travel head this is the only tripod head I will ever need. I hope to never have to buy another one. And if I do, I'll instantly purchase another B1.

Personally, I don't think it can get much better than this. The Arca QR system is the best thing about it all too.

Strengths
* Smooth
* Strudy
* LIGHT!!!! (compare with others that call themselves lightweight)
* High precision
* Arca QR system

Weaknesses
* I'm starting to see a couple rusty areas after a few years use. Mostly on the small round ring behind the plate tension knob.

Similar Products Used
Tons of heads, all junk compared to this one. I remember thinking they were nice at one point too :)

Customer Service
Never used.

Review Date
March 28, 2003

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Used product for
Less than 1 month

Visitors rate this review
3.00 of 5, 2 votes

Reviewed by
Kevin Won , Professional , from Portland, OR, USA

Price Paid
$420.00 at B&H

Photography Experience
11-20 years , Fine Art

Summary
Arca-Swiss Ballhead w/ Sinar X1 in the field

Strengths
I just put together this B1E on top of Gitzo MK2 1500 Legs because I just upgraded to a Sinar X view camera which was too heavy for my current Bogen setup (I have the beefy bogen largeformat legs (cant remember #) and a three way bogen head (# escapes me--but it's not their large format one).

I broke down and upgraded my tripod because (1) my current tripod head was not large-format grade, and (2) If I was going to upgrade the head, I wanted go ahead and get the legs that were rated for the weight (21 pounds or so).

Using the B1E with the Sinar X is sorta iffy in some ways --I'm not too confident about the lock, and the different friction levels are never quite right to get the camera perfect. I do a lot of stepwise panoramic shots so I probably would have done better by getting the next ball head up that allows panning. . . but it has pointed out that the ballhead which is supposedly the best in the biz isn't exactly the most fine-tuned of instruments when a heavy monorail 4x5 is on top of it.

However, I love the simplicity and am so thankful not to have another knob to keep track of (ever used a monorail before?), and I feel so much safer with the locking QR on the B1E.

The simplicity and design of the unit are wonderful.

Weaknesses
see above

Review Date
December 20, 2002

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

Visitors rate this review
3.67 of 5, 6 votes

Reviewed by
gazzza , Intermediate , from NYC

Price Paid
$432.00 at B&H

Photography Experience
2-5 years , Fine Art

Summary
To cut to the quick this head is excellent. Most importantly it preforms! It's not perfect, cosmeticly I would have liked an easier to get at friction screw, and would have thought it would be cute if the numbers for reading your pan angle and tention glowed in the dark, but I'm picky; at thier price you tend to be a little. Funtion wise it's tops.

Strengths
She's light and strong, she can't be wrong.

Weaknesses
Price. $432 ain't easy to lay down for a pretty piece of equipment weighing only 1.7 lb. but when you consider the long term investment of owning this head it does put it in perspective--best to get the right item once.

Similar Products Used
N/A

Customer Service
Don't think I'll need it.