Product Description

Manfrotto ball hitch Midi with Schnellwechseladapter 488 RC 4

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #47868 in Consumer Electronics
• Brand: Manfrotto
• Model: 488RC4
• Released on: 2008-07-15
• Dimensions: 2.20 pounds

Customer Reviews

How did I live without it?
I finally got fed up constantly having to fiddle with the legs of tripods trying to get them totally level when using traditional pan & tilt type heads. When I bought my new Velbon Sherpa 600R, I finally decided to take the plunge and buy a ball head to replace the standard unit which came included. The Manfrotto ballhead has a larger thread in its base than the head attachment thread on the Velbon tripod, so you need an inexpensive 1/4" (female) to 3/8" (male) thread adapter to mate one with the other. I'd recommend getting a quality steel variety rather than a cheap aluminium adapter. Then simply screw off the old tripod head, screw on the adapter and on with the ball head. Job done. The Manfrotto ball head has a phenolic plastic ball (like a snooker ball) which works very well with the adjustment screw to allow you to angle the head quickly & easily to get the camera perfectly level in either orientation. Two built-in spirit level gauges help here. There's also a separate pan control to allow you to rotate the camera around the tripod with the ball locked. The ball locks very solidly. I have a Nikon D300 with battery pack and telephoto lens, and it's quite capable of holding this weighty lump rock steady at any angle. The base is a good fit for the base of the Nikon (though it does protrude very slightly) and its rubberised pad grips the rubber pad on the base of the camera meaning that they never slip round. I tend to leave the tripod base attached to the camera all the time now. The double release safety lock is a good feature, and will prevent you from releasing the camera accidentally. Altogether, great value for money, and I can't really see why a anyone who wasn't a full time photographer would want to spend more on a higher-end unit. It certainly does what it's meant to do extremely well. 4 stars only because the base could do with being more adjustable with regard to where the screw enters the base of the camera, which would allow me to get it positioned just right, but it's still perfectly usable.

Manfrotto = solid design and decent price
Purchased for use with 679B monopod/190XPROB tripod and 300mm f2.8 lens. Very well engineered and will last a lifetime. Quick release plate is rather large and more aimed at medium format cameras rather than an SLR fitted with a long lens and tripod mount ring. I bought the RC4 as it was a couple of quid cheaper than the RC2 which may have been more suitable.
A bit tricky to set the ball friction knob to allow just a little positioning/angling of the camera - loosen a smidge too much and a heavy lens will suddenly take control of the situation and flop about. Some practise will allow you to get things just right.
Plus register your Manfrotto gear with them and get an extra 3yr warranty.