Benro GD3WH Precision Geared Head Lightweight Magnesium Alloy, 3-Way Movement, Quick-Release Plate, and 360° Rotation for Professional Photography

I like the way you can make micro changes to the position of the camera quickly and very accurately, it is excellent for positioning star tracker units and aligning to Polaris with pin prick precision without having to twist a ball head screw tightly only to find it moves out of position when released, this geared head eleminates all those stresses associated with ball heads. Once you try this method you will never want to use a ball head again! The clutch release system is also a brilliant idea if you want a sudden large change in position without having to turn the gear over and over to reach the desired position, its fast and easy to do, though on a design point the spikey clutch grip piece i think would have been much design had it been based on a pressable locking button because they can be quite awkward to engage because the strong spring system they use, it has quite a lot of spring resistance (too much in my opinion) and a button system would not only make it easier but probably more compact too, which leads me onto the next dislike, the size! The unit is very bulky and i'm sure it could have been completely scaled down a bit so that it is less bulky in size, and finally my final dislike is that the camera swiss arca plate platform is slightly offset from the centre of the tripod which alters the centre of gravity to be more off balance, i would have much preferred to see the camera end up directly centred over the tripod centre for better stability and better centre of gravity.That all said and done with its pros and cons i can with no question at all definitely give it a 5 star review, i would still 100% recommend this geared head over any ball head system out there. Go buy it! It has made my camera tripod life a breeze.The Best camera related purchase of this year for me! It is a fairly expensive purchase but worth every penny its value for money, and compared to the competition it is actually very cheap by comparison.If a version 2 with these design amendments came out it would be totally unbeatable.

For the last 20 years I have been a big advocate of ball and socket heads on tripods because they are really quick to use and just work really well.However, I took the plunge and bought this after watching a few YouTube clips and I've got to say I'm really blowing away with how it changes my workflow.It's all about the precision at allows, You can set a landscape shot up with your ball head really quickly, but find tuning the composition is never that easy and quite often you find that when you let go of the camera, it always moves slightly as gravity takes over from your hands.But with this head, And it's gear knobs, You have a different experience, especially when using one of those articulated screens on your camera body.Yesterday I was in the Yorkshire Dales doing landscape and rather than having to kneel down and look through an awkward view finder to get a lowdown photograph, I could pretty much stand above the tripod looking down onto the articulated viewfinder and with the three knobs ease the camera into position and perfectly compose the photo I wanted. No longer having to Neil down and look through the viewfinder.I can't really compare this to other geared heads because I've never used them, but I found this simple and quick once used to it, It is Arca Swiss so You can get tripod plates for all your camera bodies. Very cheaply.Oh I have used it for kitchen and bathroom photography jobs and it was brilliant for those too, very easy to get the camera perfectly level using these control knobs and with a tilt shift lens. You can really blitz these jobs and speed up your editing because everything is correct when you shoot it.

Generally pleased with the item. It is obviously very well engineered. My main quibble is with the override knobs being very stiff. I struggle to operate them and when you thing about this item bringing precision to your photography, all that is lost when trying to operate these stiff knobs.

This is a very well made geared head and represents good value for money ,if it is a geared head that you are after. I've previously used Manfrotto 410 Geared Heads, and I did have a problem with one having 'play' in the head. The Benro I examined didn't exhibited this problem.However, I have been using Manfrotto Ball Heads for quite a few years and have always found them to be very well made and reliable. There is less to go wrong with a Ball Head, and the 468MG Ball Head with a Q6 plate weighs less that the Benro GD3 WH Geared Head, which I have been assessing. The Benro without a plate weighs 720g as against the Manfrotto at 674g.One problem I have encountered with the geared head (and this is specific to my particular tripod, which is a Gitzo GT2541, which has a centre column that needs to be swung into a horizontal position to take really low, close to the ground shots), is that the geared head ends up pointing to the ground and cannot be adjusted sufficiently, whereas this is no problem for the Ballhead,The geared head gives very precise movements in 3 directions, which makes getting the head absolutely level very intuitive, but after having said that, I've never had an issue with attaining the same with the ballhead.If you are set on a geared head, this one is certainly good value for money.