I was going to write big head for big heads, but I don't want to offend the readership. Besides,
I have ambitions to be one of those big heads...
I always approach Gitzo equipment with a sense of respect - respect born of experience with it for the last 25 or so years. I've used an enormous Studex tripod in my studio for this time and have not been able to fault it. Indeed, I probably couldn't break it with a sledge-hammer... As a set of legs, it is far better than the ones I walk on.
The larger Gitzo legs need heads, however, and this is where the
GH3382QD comes in. I wish they had easier numbers to remember them by but that has always been Gitzo - you need a code sheet to know what you've got. This one is a big fat ball head with 3/8" socket on the underside to mate with the bigger Gitzo legs. It is well able to cope with medium and large format cameras as well as the little digital stuff.
The head has several refinements: Arca-Swiss size clamp and shoe, large ball, friction adjustment on the clamp, integral bubble level, and a horizon line on the ball.
And a surprise - a padded storage bag. That's a puzzle - once you screw this on on the Studex legs, why would you take it off?
Needless to say, this head is rock solid once you lock it. I could take sequential pictures for focus stacking while manipulating the camera between shots and I don't think anything moved a pixel. I was saddened to unscrew it from the legs and pack it back for the trip to the shop - it's not too expensive on the Gitzo scale, and I have the ambition to make a return journey with it. The other Gitzo pan and tilt head I own will be jealous...
