By herman y from new york city on 7/2/2008

I've been looking for a ballhead for almost 3 months. I was considering the Arca Swiss Z1 and the Arcatech Ultimate but after reading the reviews (not too many reviews on the Cullmann yet), I decided to take a chance and buy it. I must say wow. The craftsmanship is very good and love the friction control. For under [$], you can't go wrong buying this. Even if the price is double, I would buy it. I would definitely recommend getting it especially at [$].I just noticed Adorama is already out of stock. Pick one of these up if you can get your hands on one.

[1 of 1 customers found this review helpful]

[...].I do a lot of available light indoor portraiture and moved up to a D300. With my f2.8 telephoto I had to get serious about camera support and stabilization. I bought this ballhead along with a Slik Pro 700DX tripod after much web browsing. The combination of this tripod and head is rock solid and costs less than a ballhead alone from the prestige names (Arca Swiss, Atratech, Really Right Stuff).My initial nit-pick is that when the ballhead arrived the quick release plate was stuck shut and I had to force the tough plastic locking lever to a point where I was afraid it would break, to get the first release. Once it did, it now locks and unlocks perfectly. This initial forcing was unnecessary and due to impatience: the mechanism has an allen wrench socket which I could have used if I had had the patience to wait until I got home. The allen socket is there should I ever need it, but the release mechanism has been flawless after the initial unfreezing, and I don't think I ever will.Fit and finish are absolutely first rate - a beautiful piece of industrial machinery. The head is big and heavy, but I expected that with a 66 lb handling capacity (that's not a misprint, by the way). The friction control is smooth as silk and the lock-down in any position can only be described as vise-like. No fear of any kind of creep once set.The only downside to this ballhead is the flip side of its strength: size and weight. If you're going backpacking for a week, maybe you can justify paying double the price for a prestige brand ballhead at half the weight, but you will gain nothing in effectiveness or ease of use. Even though this is my first pro ballhead, I can't imagine a better functioning tool for quickly positioning a heavy camera and lens combination at any angle, and then holding it absolutely steady. The camera mounting mechanism's double release with safety pin adds to peace of mind that accidental drops should never happen if decent care is taken.Five stars for performance. I would give ten stars for value, if possible, as this ballhead has to be right up there with the prestige brands in materials, build, finish and effectiveness, at half the price. Most highly recommended.