Koji Nakano | Tripod Hub

The essential equipment for bird photography is a combination of a high-performance SLR camera and a large-aperture super telephoto lens such as 500mm F4, 600mm F4, or even 800mm F5.6, with a system weight of about 4kg to 6kg. To support this heavy equipment, a tripod and head of the same weight as the camera and lens are required, and in the past, one guideline was to choose a tripod and head of the same weight as the camera and lens. Since carbon materials became mainstream, tripods have become significantly lighter, and large tripods for super telephoto lenses are now nearly half the weight of aluminum tripods with the same load capacity.

On the other hand, when it comes to heads that can support super telephoto lenses, video heads, which weigh nearly 2kg, are still the mainstream. Video heads can certainly follow the movement of the subject smoothly, but they are not very good at preventing blurring during slow shutter speeds, and above all, their heavy weight significantly reduces mobility.

I was trying out various tripod heads at random, wondering if there was a light tripod head that had good stopping power, when I came across the combination of the Markins Q20iQ-BK ball head and the BV-HEAD. My current main system is a Nikon D500 with a 500mm F4 + 1.4x teleconverter or 2x teleconverter, which gives me an angle of view equivalent to 1050mm or 1500mm. Although the camera and lens combination is somewhat lighter than before, the system still weighs about 4kg. Not only is it heavy, but the lens is long, so the tripod head needs to be sturdy enough to support the equipment even when it is tilted back and forth and the center of gravity changes. The Markins Q20iQ-BK and BV-HEAD weigh only 800g, but they can easily support the weight of this super telephoto lens. The BV-HEAD limits the movement of the ball head to the pitch direction only, but the roll direction can be adjusted by loosening the tripod mount fixing screw of the super telephoto lens, so this mechanism that does not move the head more than necessary is ideal for handling a super telephoto lens.

What I particularly like is that even if you carry the tripod on your back with the camera and lens set on the tripod and head and walk around, nothing will loosen. A tripod head that is prone to loosening when a large load is applied not only lacks stability during shooting, but also poses the risk of equipment falling or hands or necks getting pinched. This Markins tripod head, which combines lightness, sturdiness, and ease of use, has become an essential item for my photography, and I have been traveling with it not only around Japan but also around the world for the past three years, but I have not seen any deterioration in its performance.

As a result of reviewing my tripod system in response to the update of my photography equipment and the change of my photography style, I decided to downsize my expedition tripod from the previous Gitzo Series 3 to the Gitzo Series 2. The tripod I chose for this expedition is the GT2542, which is the smallest and lightest model of the tripods I have used so far, but it seems to be stable even with a 500mm F4 lens. However, the only thing I don't like about this tripod is the tripod hub area. This tripod can be made lower-angle and lighter because the center pole can be removed, but I can't deny that it is a little high-waisted and the connection part of the head is wobbly. So I replaced it with the Markins tripod hub TH-230, which eliminated unnecessary moving parts, increased rigidity, and reduced the weight by about 200g. The minimum height for low-angle shooting has also been reduced from the normal 15cm to 9cm, which is a major advantage when photographing wild birds on the ground or water surface as it now allows you to aim for angles closer to the ground.

I also changed my BV-HEAD from the BV-22 to the BV-24. This was to allow me to attach the newly developed PB-10 pan bar. Not only can I change the attachment angle of the pan bar, but I can also attach it with the pan bar facing forward, whether the ball fixing knob of the ball head is facing forward or toward the lens. By attaching this pan bar to the BV-HEAD, I can now move the head smoothly when shooting video or using a spotting scope for bird watching.

Until now, I have had several tripod heads for different purposes, such as for photography, video, and spotting scopes, but it looks like I will be using the Markins tripod head system more and more often.