Introduction

After years of using the Arca-Swiss B1, usually with my Linhof Technikardan 45s, I started to get frustrated with it.  On occasion (especially when using the head in humid conditions (like the beach) the action became slightly 'sticky', and it's always been quite difficult to pan the camera by loosening the ball.  Worst of all, the main control knob is on the right hand side of the head, and with my increased use of the Canon EOS-5d, that's a significant hassle.

So, just recently, I thought I'd try a different head, purchased specifically for use with the Eos-5d. After reading quite a bit about the current crop of ballheads, I selected the Really Right Stuff BH-55.

Specs:

Really Right stuff specify the height and weight of the BH-55 as:

Weight: 861g / 20.4 oz.

height: 92.7mm / 3.65"

base diameter 72.6mm / 2.86"

The BH-55 that was delivered to me weighs 894 gm / 21.6 oz.

Overview

Really Right Stuff BH-55 Ballhead - clockwise from upper left: front, left-hand side, back, right-hand side

The specs on the RRS website are fairly impressive, and the ballhead has several innovative features, the most obvious of which is the dual drop-slot design.  In addition, it has a lower platform height than the Arca-Swiss B1, and the claim is that it has a much better locking mechanism for the pan collar.

The BH-55 also has a separate knob for setting the minimum drag on the ball, and the knob for adjusting drag and for locking the head is a whacking big, textured knob that's easy to grab even with my stiff finger problems (my fingers get very stiff when cold, and they get cold easily).  The main drag knob is on the LEFT side of the ballhead as viewed from the back, which is optimum for SLR use, since it lets you adjust the camera position with the right hand on the SLR grip, and adjust the ballhead drag (or lock the head) with your left hand.  The knob is tapered, 40mm in diameter at the wide end and 33mm in diameter at the narrow end.  The width of the knob gripping surface is a wonderfully generous 30mm, and the surface is knurled just enough to provide good grip both for finger and gloves.  Heck, you could work this knob while wearing mittens.

To my great delight, this is the first tripod head I've ever owned which had a real, positive, easy to adjust pan collar.  The knob to adjust the drag on the pan collar is not the usual tiny knob that other tripod heads have, and it's not necessary to grip the knob with a pair of pliers and tighten it with all your might to positively lock the pan collar.  I don't know what the heck RRS have done inside the head, but they've performed a miracle as far as I'm concerned.  The pan collar lock knob is 20mm in diameter and has a 12mm wide knurled surface.

Naturally, the BH-55 doesn't have the patented eccentric ball design of the AS B-1, but the minimum tension knob more than makes up for it.  Unlike the minimum drag adjustment on the B1 (where the adjustment is with a little, impossible to adjust in the field with cold hands knob embedded in the face of the main drag knob), the minimum drag knob on the BH-55 is a separate, large knob on the other side of the ballhead.  Even better, it's got a little window that shows the current setting on a numbered scale, and the adjustment is repeatable - that is, setting the knob to a given number produces the same minimum drag each and every time.

The BH-55 is available with three different clamps - a regular, Arca-Swiss style clamp with a lead screw to tighten the clamp, an Arca-Swiss style clamp with a lever/cam arrangement to tighten the clamp, and a lead-screw Arca-Swiss style clamp which incorporates the RRS pan collar, for shooting stitched panoramics. 

I chose, with some anxiety, the lever/cam arrangement, and prepared myself to return the head if the clamp didn't work out.  My biggest fear was that the clamp would not really clamp securely.  But when the head arrived, I was delighted to find that with all my RRS plates, the clamp locks perfectly, smoothly, positively, and securely.  RSS point out that the dimensions of the lever style clamp are adjusted to match only specific plates, so I took the precaution of buying a new, six inch long plate for my TK45s, but it turns out the clamp works nicely with my old Kirk Enterprises plate for the TK45s.  Still, the quality and finish of the RRS plate is so much better than the old Kirk plate, I'm happy I finally ordered the new plate.  Best of all, when the lever is flipped all the way open, the jaws of the clamp open wide enough that you can drop the plate directly down into the clamp from the top.  This is a real time saver, and it allows using plates with retainers at both ends to prevent the plate from sliding out of the clamp if the tension is too low.  As you can see from the photo, there's a circular bubble level on the clamp top surface, where it will be hard to see if you put a wide camera (like a flatbed field camera) on the clamp.  The bubble level is not visible at all from the side.

Field Experience and Conclusions

Now, all we've established so far is that the RRS BH-55 looks really good on paper.  But that's not the real test - the real test is using the ballhead in the field. 

Usually, when I buy a new piece of equipment, there's a little adjustment period, where my working habits adjust to the new bit of gear.  I expected to go thru the same adjustment period with the BH-55.  But, to my surprise, the BH-55 turns out to be that rarest of things - a piece of equipment that harmonizes.  The knobs are in the right place, and are sized just right.  Things adjust smoothly, even when cold.  I actually found that there was no adjustment time at all - I went out in the morning, photographed for two hours, and only when I was driving back to my house did I give the ballhead a single thought.  In contrast, the Arca-Swiss B1 that it replaced would usually earn at least one nasty thought during a two hour session.

In practice, the lever clamp is great.  The clamp opens wide enough that I can drop the plate down into the clamp from the top, as opposed to sliding it in from the side; this is considerably faster.  Once you've got the plate set in the clamp, you flip the lever across, and bingo, the camera is completely secured.  No more fumbling with knobs, tightening and loosening with cold, stiff fingers.

Even better, I love the arrangement of the controls.  The big, easy to grip knob on the left-hand side of the ballhead makes it easy for me to adjust the position of the camera with my right and and control the setting of the ballhead with my left, and this is my preferred arrangement with an SLR.  The big main control knob is easy to find without looking, easy to grip, and has great feel. 

The minimum drag setting knob is easy to set but is semi-recessed, so that it doesn't get 'unadjusted' when I through the tripod into the wayback of my car.  Best of all, it's easy to adjust, and if it becomes 'unadjusted', the numbers and 'setting' window make it easy to set back to the setting I want.  Because the minimum drag knob is so accessible, it's easy to find and remember the settings I want for different camera/lens configurations and set the knob when I mount the camera.  This more than compensates for the BH-55's lack of the eccentric ball that the Arca-Swiss B1 has.  Proper minimum drag setting is the thing that makes ballheads work, and the independent knob arrangement of the BH-55 is just vastly superior to all the ballheads that have the minimum drag setting done through a knob hidden inside the main drag knob.

And finally, the pan collor locking knob is large enough to grip easily (unlike the stingy little damn knobs on the pan collars on my Linhof and Arca-Swiss ballheads) and the pan collar locks securely without resorting to histrionics in tightening the locking knob.

All rolled together along with the beautiful construction and finishing, this makes the BH-55 such a standout performer that it's replaced the Arca-Swiss B1 as my favorite.  Since I was pretty fond of the Arca-Swiss B1, that's a heck of a big statement.

There's one minor gripe - my BH-55 weighs 861 grams/just shy of two pounds, 90 grams/five ounces more than the Arca-Swiss B1 it replaces.  But I'm more than willing to accept the weight penalty to get the nicest tripod head I've ever used.