Thanks to Mr. Csaba Karai, CEO and Founder of Hungary-based Uniqball, I recently received a Uniqball UBH45 for field testing and evaluation.
According to their website, "Uniqball is a revolutionary new type of ball head, combining all the attributes of a traditional ball head, a gimbal head, a pan & tilt head and a fluid head. It has all of the great advantages of these established heads but without any of the drawbacks. And here's the best bit, it has an integrated levelling ball so you can always shoot with a perfectly straight horizon."
I will be testing this support for my various imaging applications - telephoto action photography (BIFs and surfing), static birds, astro, macro and nature filming. The supports I currently use for these are a 3421/393 gimbal head, a huge 516 fluid head and a 410 geared head, all by Manfrotto.
According to their website, "Uniqball is a revolutionary new type of ball head, combining all the attributes of a traditional ball head, a gimbal head, a pan & tilt head and a fluid head. It has all of the great advantages of these established heads but without any of the drawbacks. And here's the best bit, it has an integrated levelling ball so you can always shoot with a perfectly straight horizon."
I will be testing this support for my various imaging applications - telephoto action photography (BIFs and surfing), static birds, astro, macro and nature filming. The supports I currently use for these are a 3421/393 gimbal head, a huge 516 fluid head and a 410 geared head, all by Manfrotto.
I'm hoping that the Uniqball will be a one-solution approach to all my tripod head requirements. Very compact and light, it has the potential to reduce considerably the support baggage I bring to the field.
Let's see how the product performs in the coming days.
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| My surfing workhorse (1D MIV + 500 f4 L IS + 1.4x TC II) sits atop the compact and light Uniqball UBH45, as I prepare to shoot surfers at San Juan beach. Shooting info - 7D + Sigma 10-20, 11 mm, f/8, ISO 100, 1/200 sec, fill-in from onboard flash, manual exposure, hand held. |
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| Shooting info - San Juan Beach, La Union, Philippines, November 16, 2014, Canon 1D MIV + 500 f4 L IS + 1.4x TC II, 700 mm, f/6.3, ISO 640, 1/1600 sec, manual exposure in available light, Uniqball UBH45/Manfrotto 455B support. |
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| Shooting info - San Juan Beach, La Union, Philippines, November 16, 2014, Canon 1D MIV + 500 f4 L IS + 1.4x TC II, 700 mm, f/6.3, ISO 800, 1/1600 sec, manual exposure in available light, Uniqball UBH45/Manfrotto 455B support. |
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| Shooting info - San Juan Beach, La Union, Philippines, November 16, 2014, Canon 1D MIV + 500 f4 L IS + 1.4x TC II, 700 mm, f/6.3, ISO 800, 1/1600 sec, manual exposure in available light, Uniqball UBH45/Manfrotto 455B support. |
