p.1 #1 · What is setting drag on a ball head good for?
The manual for my RRS BH-55 ball head describes how to adjust the Drag Set (tension/drag on the ball) to "to prevent the camera from suddenly flopping when the Main Lock Knob is loosened". I tried this with my RF 70-200 and my RF 100-500 mounted on the ball head, and in both cases I had to set the drag really high to prevent the camera/lens from flopping when it is tilted up or down. Does anyone find setting the drag on their ball head useful? If so, what do you use it for?
p.1 #3 · What is setting drag on a ball head good for?
I have a BH-55 if that is what you mean. The tension control for the ball became unreliable after a year or two so I left it loose. Now it doesn't move at all. Fortunately the ball is not very smooth and the locking knob is quite large, so you can control the tension well enough without it.
The tension control is more useful if you have a high quality ballhead with a smooth ball, but that's not what the BH-55 is all about. It's a heavy duty head with an excellent panning base that handles offcenter loads and has 2.5° increments all around.
p.1 #4 · What is setting drag on a ball head good for?
"Sudden flop" is such a dumb way to explain the function. Ballheads are always very unbalanced unless pointing straight up, and they often carry an unbalanced load - trying to fight it with drag to the point of preventing flop will only lead to difficult handling.
The drag knob is there to help you find a good feel and control for positioning the camera. If there's too little drag, you might not be able to hold the camera in place while locking. If there's too much drag, movements are jumpy, making small adjustments impossible.
p.1 #5 · What is setting drag on a ball head good for?
I adjust the drag on my Foba SuperBall all the time when I change lenses. It allows the 'just right' amount of drag to prevent the load from shifting on its own when the clamping lever is loosened.
I don't own a BH-55 but assume RRS would have designed their drag knob to function in a similar way.
p.1 #6 · What is setting drag on a ball head good for?
EB-1 wrote:
I have a BH-55 if that is what you mean. The tension control for the ball became unreliable after a year or two so I left it loose. Now it doesn't move at all. Fortunately the ball is not very smooth and the locking knob is quite large, so you can control the tension well enough without it.
The tension control is more useful if you have a high quality ballhead with a smooth ball, but that's not what the BH-55 is all about. It's a heavy duty head with an excellent panning base that handles offcenter loads and has 2.5° increments all around.
I have the same ball head (and a few others) and mine developed the “not very smooth” issue eventually. As per instructions on the RRS website, cleaning the ball with alcohol and a q-tip or similar will resolve that issue nicely.
I mostly think of the tension knob as a way to keep the ball centered when it is on the tripod and no camera is attached.
p.1 #7 · What is setting drag on a ball head good for?
The BH-55 is not a very smoothly moving head period, in comparison to other ball heads that are smoother. Just look at the surface under magnification. RRS stuff I spend a fortune and it always has problems. I stopped complaining after a while because that Steve guy (RIP) was always so defensive and protective of them.
Anyways, the purpose of the tension has been explained correctly.
p.1 #10 · What is setting drag on a ball head good for?
EB-1 wrote:
The BH-55 is not a very smoothly moving head period, in comparison to other ball heads that are smoother. Just look at the surface under magnification. RRS stuff I spend a fortune and it always has problems. I stopped complaining after a while because that Steve guy (RIP) was always so defensive and protective of them.
Anyways, the purpose of the tension has been explained correctly.
EBH
My RRS heads work very smoothly. My BH-55 had gotten rough and occasionally hard to move where I waned it. The alcohol cleaning fixed i right up.
p.1 #11 · What is setting drag on a ball head good for?
vbnut wrote:
... I had to set the drag really high to prevent the camera/lens from flopping when it is tilted up or down. Does anyone find setting the drag on their ball head useful? If so, what do you use it for?
My main ballhead (Gitzo GH1382QD Series 1) has a friction control that I intended to ignore. However, I've come to find it indispensible for exploiting a range of motion where I don't need to lock the ball—it just stays where I move it. The range of motion is determined by a rail so I can critically balance the fore/aft weight. Unlike gimbals, there remains a risk of flopping, so operational attention is required.
p.1 #12 · What is setting drag on a ball head good for?
gdanmitchell wrote:
My RRS heads work very smoothly. My BH-55 had gotten rough and occasionally hard to move where I waned it. The alcohol cleaning fixed i right up.
I suppose mine could have been a lemon, but I'm curious what you are tracking with it and what lens? Maybe I should get a newer one.
p.1 #13 · What is setting drag on a ball head good for?
EB-1 wrote:
I suppose mine could have been a lemon, but I'm curious what you are tracking with it and what lens? Maybe I should get a newer one.
EBH
Mostly used for landscape photography. Using a 5DsR and lenses up to 100-400mm plus TC.
I photograph wildlife (mostly migratory birds) but I most often shoot that subject handheld if the birds are in flight. I have used the setup with his subject, too.
