Product Review: Acratech GV2 Ball Head

The Acratech GV2 Ball Head
The Acratech GV2 Ball Head

For years I’ve been using the Manfrotto 488RC2 ball head with only one complaint: when used with a large lens, the single screw quick release plate tends to spin because it has insufficient strength to support that much weight. For landscape work the Manfrotto has been fine. It pans and holds all of my gear from the 70-200 f/2.8 on down with no trouble. But its tendency to lose its grip when I’m lugging a large lens around the racetrack finally became bothersome enough for me to switch to something else.

I decided to get a ball head that uses the Arca-Swiss style connecting plate because this style not only allows the use of more than one screw to attach the lens to the ball head, but clamps down into the connecting plate more securely, offering two levels of slip resistance. I’ve heard great things about both the Really Right Stuff and Kirk ball heads, but was intrigued by the Acratech and its claim that while weighing only 1.1 pounds, it can support up to 25 pounds. I’ve been suing the Acratech GV2 ball head for some time now and am very happy with it. At first I had only one complaint, but that turned out to be due to my own inexperience with the product, which I’ll describe shortly.

The GV2 is a bit odd looking in that the clamping bits are all exposed rather than concealed inside a case. Four clamps control the position of the ball, the amount of force needed to move the ball when the main clamp is loose, the plate clamp, and the panning movement.

The first improvement over the Manfrotto is that the panning gauge numbers are noted with white paint, making them much easier to see than the numbers on the Manfrotto, which are merely etched into the gray panning ring. Those are easy enough to read when the light is good, but as it gets dark, they become nearly invisible without putting a light on them. The Acratech’s panning movement is very smooth, and like all of its other movements, makes clear that the item is expertly machined and assembled. The GV2 is made here in the USA, by the way. Yay!

The friction control clamp stays pretty much where I set it, and requires only occasional adjustment to keep the same tension on the ball’s movement inside the main clamp. This turns out to be a more important part of the ball head’s operation than I first understood, because not only does the this small knob determine how much force is required to move the ball when the main clamp is loose, it also determines how tightly the main clamp secures the ball when fully tightened. In other words, if the friction clamp is too loose, allowing the ball to move freely inside the main clamp when the latter is backed off, then the main clamp doesn’t hold the ball really tightly when it’s fully tightened. This is where my initial complaint cropped up; because I had to crank it so hard to get it to hold a large lens I felt that the knob on the main clamp was too small. But I’ve since realized that the only time I’ve had trouble with undesired ball movement has been when the friction control clamp has been set too loose. So I’m learning to adjust it to different settings depending on what size lens I’m using. When I’m at the track and have a long telephoto lens on the monopod, I tighten the friction control knob, which makes the main clamp really secure the ball. As long as I remember to do that, I’ve not had any problem with the ball moving. When I go back to landscape work and am using nothing larger than the 70-200mm, I loosen the friction control clamp a bit and all is well.

The quick release clamp is smooth and secure when tightened. The Arca-Swiss design is much more secure than the Manfrotto quick release plate, and now that I’m using a ball head with the Arca-Swiss style plate, I see why manufacturers like Acratech, Kirk and RRS have gone with Arca-Swiss’ design rather than create their own as some other companies, like Manfrotto, have done. It works beautifully and I see no way to improve it. A huge benefit of this style of plate is that the clamp can work with mane sizes of plate, from small single screw plates to long multi-screw plates for huge lenses. It will also work with the L-shape brackets for camera bodies that allow you to change your camera quickly from landscape to portrait without having to re-align the ball head itself.

The GV2 model also functions as a kind of gimble head due to the 90 degree slot on the side of the ball head. Have a look at Acratech’s video on YouTube to see how this works. I have not yet used this function, but it’s nice to know it’s there is I ever need it.

I give the GV2 high marks for lightness, strength, quality of design and construction, and overall workmanship. Its design makes it a bit bulky for packing, but it works very well and holds a lot of weight considering how light it is. If you’re considering an Arca-Swiss style ball head, definitely give the Acratech products a look.

Scott

Posted on August 11, 2010 in Gear Stories Share

  • Thanks for this write-up. I read it a while back, and while recently considering a change myself came back to it again – the GV2 is a leading contender for me as well. Out of curiosity, what made you opt for the screw-type closure system rather than the level-type? I like the lever closures on my Manfrotto ballhead, but would consider the screw closure if there was a compelling reason. It’s my understanding that the GV2 is available with either.

  • In fact I thought I’d ordered the lever style clamp and was surprised to find the screw clamp. I’m not sure what happened, but as it has turned out I’m perfectly happy with the screw clamp. Oddly enough, I can’t even find the lever type on the Acratech website now. Perhaps I was thinking of the RRS clamp. I can’t offer a compelling reason in favor of the screw over the lever, not having used the latter, I can only say that the screw works very nicely. It doesn’t take much pressure to tighten the clamp onto the mounting plate very securely.

    The one thing I wish I HAD is the bubble level on the to plate:

    http://acratech.net/product.php?productid=55&cat=3&page=1

    I will upgrade to this at some point.

  • Ben

    I’ll echo Scott’s feelings re: the screw QR plate vs. the lever. I had a 488RC2, and always wanted to use RRS lever clamps (I think RRS is the only company that makes lever clamps). But when push came to shove and I needed to switch to dovetail plates for my 70-200mm, I couldn’t see paying ~2x as much as Kirk’s screw clamps. Turns out, the screw clamps work great and fast, to my surprise. It only requires about a full turn to remove a plate, less if you don’t have stop screws and you slide it out. I’ve also noticed people complaining about how hard they have to squeeze the lever clamps to tighten or loosen them. If you want a lever release, you can order the GV2 without a plate and add an RRS plate.

    Scott, have you used the gimbal mode much yet? I tried using my 488 in the same way today, and was surprised how well it worked- I had never even thought to try it. It sounds like a great feature, and I’m curious if the GV2 does it well enough to warrant upgrading.

  • Hi Ben, thanks for your comments. As for the gimbal feature, I have not tried that yet. I will try to do so and post an addendum above.

    I think you’re right about RRS being the only lever-clamp maker. For some reason I had it in my head that Acratech made one, but as I can’t find it now I must’ve been thinking of the RRS model.