Monday, August 10, 2009

My Review of Giottos MH1004 Mini Ball Head with Single Knob for Ball and Pan

Adorama

Giottos MH1004 Mini Ball Head with Single Knob for Ball and Pan

Excellent little ball head

cmh Doylestown, PA 8/10/2009

5 5

Pros: Good Stability, Large Range of Motion, Attaches Firmly, Strong Clamp

Best Uses: Photography, Reducing Noise (ISO Reduction), Long Exposures

Describe Yourself: Photo Enthusiast

I picked this ball head up to go with the Flashpoint handlebar mount, thinking that it was required. Turns out it wasn't necessary, but I'm still happier with this ball head than with the handlebar mount, and will probably get more use from it. It's quite small, and fits nicely on top of my compact gorillapod, but even when mounted on top of my tripod, it can handle my Nikon D80 SLR with a fairly heavy 18-200mm VR lens with no problem. The knob quicky and easily unlocks it, allowing you to reposition any which way you want, and then lock it down again quickly. This ball head is an absolute must-have for use with a Gorillapod, as it gives you flexibility on the final aiming that can be quite difficult with the Gorillapod alone.

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My Review of Flashpoint High-Grade Alloy Bicycle Bracket for 31.8mm Handlebars, Allows the Mounting of Ballheads

Adorama

Flashpoint High-Grade Alloy Bicycle Bracket for 31.8mm Handlebars, Allows the Mounting of Ballheads

Nice design but transfers too much shake

cmh Doylestown, PA 8/10/2009

3 5

Pros: Lightweight

Best Uses: Casual riding

Describe Yourself: Photo Enthusiast

First and foremost, Adorama says you need a ball head to use this. You do NOT need a ball head. It can help and make the mount more flexible, but it is NOT necessary, as the mount comes with both a 1/4" and 3/8" thread. If you're just going to mount the camera pointed forward, you can save the money and skip the ball head.

I came across this camera mount on Adorama, and looked at it for a while before deciding to buy it. My plan was to use it to mount my Canon SD800 (small point-and-shoot) and shoot video. When I got it, I was impressed with the build quality, it does not look cheap at all, and the hardware is quality. Installation is very easy.

The problem, however, is the same with a ball head or without. At moderate speeds, the camera works very well, with only moderate shake, as can be seen in the following short video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wHd3yhPFJU

However, on the mountain bike (with front suspension) or on the road bike (carbon fiber frame and fork) once you start reaching any type of "interesting" speeds, the vibration is such that my camera winds up shutting itself off, and even if the camera was recording at the time, the file that was recording is lost.

For example, I rode a course at casual speeds, and got 10 minutes of good quality footage. During a race on the same trails, however, I got nothing, because the higher speed and sharper bumps caused the camera to shut off. On the road bike, I could cruise around town, but when I headed for a high-speed downhill, it would shut off soon after I started.

It is possible that other cameras would have better results, if they are more resistant to vibration. Understand - I'm not talking about the shake reduction feature in the camera (the SD800 has this) - I'm talking about being bolted to your handlebars and shaken pretty hard.

For cruising around the beach, a casual bike trip, or really smooth roads, it'll probably work pretty well, but for anything more interesting, you'll have to look elsewhere.

For my use, though, I'm saving up for a proper sports camera.

Mounted on mountain bike.

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: Picture of Product

Short test video using the mount

: Mountain, Handlebar, Using Product, Road, Doylestown, MTB, Flashpoint, Mount, Bike

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