Yoshiaki Kobayashi | Markins BV-HEAD

The Markins gave me a unique satisfaction as an easy-to-use ball head that stops well. The moderate friction makes it easy to make subtle composition adjustments, making it an indispensable tool for landscape and macro photography.

But the Markins's greatness goes beyond that: it's also easy to use and versatile. I moved to Hokkaido because I wanted to photograph wild animals, and for that kind of photography, a super telephoto lens is essential. The best head for using a tripod with a super telephoto lens is not a ball head, but a 2-way or 3-way head. A ball head that allows you to freely change the angle is convenient for landscapes and macro photography, but when following a moving subject with a super telephoto lens, the horizontal often becomes tilted with a ball head. For that reason, I used to carry two tripods in my car: one with a ball head and one with a 3-way head. If I expected to shoot both, I would often have to compromise and take one with me, which ended up being inconvenient.

However, if you combine the BV-HEAD with the Markins ball head, you can switch from the ball head to a 2-way head with one touch. Moreover, the BV-HEAD is so compact that you don't even notice it's attached, and it's easy to carry. A typical video head is quite bulky in terms of size and weight, so you need a tripod of a reasonable size. With the lightweight and compact Markins, you don't need to use a very large tripod, and you can build a tripod system with excellent mobility. Also, when shooting moving subjects, you may want to switch to handheld shooting in an instant, but you can quickly detach the camera with the knob, so you won't miss a shutter opportunity.

Since I got the BV-HEAD, I have been using the Manfrotto 755XB tripod. The reason I chose this tripod is to maximize the characteristics of the BV-HEAD. The 755XB is a video tripod that has a leveler function in the elevator part of the 055 aluminum tripod, and it is light, easy to carry, and works well with the Markins. The key point is that it is equipped with a leveler; tripods equipped with general levelers tend to be large and lack maneuverability. However, without a leveler, the head cannot be set horizontally, and the image will tilt when panning. The true value of a 2-way or 3-way head can only be realized when the head is properly level. It may seem flimsy compared to large tripods such as Gitzo, but it is sufficient since it is mainly used for super telephoto zoom lenses such as 200-500mm.

Using a tripod when shooting moving subjects can actually be inconvenient. The reason is that the camera moves around the tripod, so you have to move around the tripod yourself. Therefore, if you move the camera widely, your movement cannot keep up and you cannot track the subject smoothly. With handheld shooting, you become the axis, so you can track a fairly wide range.

When shooting moving subjects with only the BV-HEAD, I held the camera in a handheld shooting style with my left hand on the lens. However, in this position, I felt that it was difficult to move my body when panning because I was holding the camera in my arms, and I felt that my movements were not smooth.

So I tried the new PB-10 BV-HEAD pan bar, and by bringing my left hand forward, my body position became more comfortable and I was able to operate it smoothly. The length of the bar is just right, so it is comfortable to use without hitting your body when zooming. The attachment angle can be adjusted, so you can set it to your preferred position. If you do not need it, you can remove it with one touch.

When panning, I found that tightening the screw on the pan side a little to create a moderate amount of friction helped me to track the subject well. Also, although I'm not doing this right now, if I attached a remote switch to the pan bar, I could release the shutter with my left hand, which would allow me to shoot with one hand and use my right hand to operate the zoom.

This time I tried using the pan bar to take panning shots of swans and red-crowned cranes. Birds don't move in a straight line like trains or planes, so they are difficult subjects to stop, but the ability to track them stably increased my success rate.

The versatile Markins is an excellent tripod head that can be used for any type of photography.