When it comes to photographic accessories, there is no greater aid to composition than the fine and precise control of a geared head. This field of tech stagnated a lot during the 2000-2015 period when options were limited to one or two manufacturers’ outdated options. Over the last few years, however, there has been a renaissance of geared heads, with a lot more tripod manufacturers and engineers working on improved designs. This has brought lighter, more compact geared heads to the market that are a dream to use. Pricing ranges from Leofoto’s G2 and G4 at R4999 and R9999 respectively to something like the Arca Swiss Cube which will cost close to R40k with VAT and shipping. Forty thousand rands for a tripod head? That is not a typo, in case you were wondering!
Geared heads are not cheap, but if you’re someone who composes their images slowly, carefully and with great thought, then a geared head is one of the best purchases you can make.
Size - The G4 is the larger of Leofoto’s two offerings at 680g in weight. It measures 115mm at its widest point and 102mm top to bottom, displacing about a 10cm cube of space. More simply put, it is about the size of a large ball head. It looks perfectly at home on tripods 3-series (Leofoto 32) and larger. On 2-series, (Leofoto 28) or smaller, it will look oversized and the tripod will be dangerously top-heavy. The main (local) competition in geared heads is not only 30% more expensive, but weighs 2.4x more and will displace about twice the amount of space when it has to be packed. While the G4 is not exactly a travel-friendly tripod head, it dominates every parameter such as weight and size in its class.
We recommend pairing the G4 with one of the Summit range legs and a YB-75L in-apex leveling base for the ultimate tripod setup.
Quality - The G4 looks and feels incredibly solid. There is no excess material and every component has been machined away to trim down excess weight. All external components are machined from aluminium and the internal mechanisms are made of brass and stainless steel. The head mounts to tripods via a brass 3/8” screw hole. There is no compromise in the materials used.
Controls - For those who don’t like to use a tripod, the seven controls on the G4 will be overwhelming, but operation is extremely simple once you’ve had a few minutes to play with the head.
- The two large round knobs control the geared X- and Y- axes of the head. The gearing is high and buttery smooth, which ensures ultra-fine control of the composition.
- The two large tap-style levers are the clutches, which disengage the gear mechanisms of the X- and Y-axis. This is for when you’re in a rush and you need to make gross adjustments. These aren’t really used much and many geared heads don’t even have a clutch for the geared axes.
- The bottom lever controls the primary panning function of the head.
- The small lever on the clamp controls the secondary panning function.
- The screw on the clamp is obviously a standard clamp screw for securing your camera.
Load Rating
The manufacturer’s load rating of 20kg is a bit ridiculous. The load rating depends greatly on the range of movement you need; If you keep the camera fairly balanced (atop the head), with about a 20-degree vertical movement range, then it can handle the likes of 10-20kg. If, however, you go past a 20-degree angle, in order to get a very slanted shot or to shoot up or down at an extreme angle, then it will probably struggle with a load of more than 4kg. Keep in mind that we always try to be honest about the performance of our products. Firstly, you will likely almost never need to shoot at those angles. Most landscape and architecture work is done with the horizon in the frame, meaning that you’re panning at most 10-20 degrees up or down. Secondly, 4kg is extremely heavy; unless you’re mounting an 800mm on a pro body, you simply won’t come close to that kind of weight.
We put a Fuji GFX100 with the massive GF250mm and 1.4x TC on this head (mounted via lens foot) – this is a truly monstrous combo in size and weight. People are normally shocked at the weight if they pick it up, yet it barely gets the scale past the 3kg mark. The head handles it very comfortably in a tilt range of about 30 degrees, but once the camera really starts hanging on the head, it requires a fair amount of input to move it back up against gravity. Have you ever weighed your favourite body + lens combos? A Canon 5D4 with the heavy 24mm TS II, batteries and L-bracket weigh under 2kg. So while our conservative estimate of 4kg might not sound like a lot compared to the manufacturer’s 20kg, it is more than 99% of people need.
Shooting in Portrait
As we’ve said a million times on this website and will say a million times more, get an L-bracket. Tripod heads aren’t designed to shoot in two orientations.
Specifications
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Weight: |
690g |
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Max Load: |
20kg |
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Height: |
108mm |
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Ball Diameter: |
N/A |
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Base Diameter: |
60mm |
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Plate Model: |
NP-60 |
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Panning Clamp: |
Yes |
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Clamp Release: |
Screw Knob |
Do you have the item in stock?
Products are either in stock, out of stock (sold out) or special order.
- In stock: We have stock at our local warehouse. You can see how many we have in stock, add these products to your cart and check out.
- Sold out: We usually carry stock of this item but it has sold out. Please get in touch to get an ETA and reserve and incoming product. Or use the "Email me when available" button to get an email when new stock arrives.
- Special order: We don't carry local stock of this item. Get in touch to confirm stock availability and ETA to place an order.
Delivery options and what they cost
We pride ourselves on lightning fast shipping, FREE on all orders over R1000. For orders under R1000 a courier fee of R120 will apply. Apart from large f-stop gear orders and large tripods, most of our items ship overnight and the daily cutoff is 13:00. You can read more on the deliveries page.
Can I collect my parcel?
Yes, you can collect your order from our warehouse in Saxenburg Park, Blackheath (08:00 - 14:00). Just choose the collection option at checkout- we'll follow up with the specifics. Please note that we are very strict about payment if collecting. We will not release any goods if we are not 100% comfortable about payment. We accept the following as payment confirmation in order to release the goods.
- Payfast Card Payment (any customers, new or returning)
- EFT from FNB to FNB, pending fund clearance (any customers, new or returning)
- Normal EFT from other banks to FNB (return customers only)
- Instant EFT from other banks to FNB, pending fund clearance (Any customers, new or returning)
- Cash (any customers, new or returning)
What payment options are available?
What is your policy on returns and or exchanges?
We are more than happy to exchange any product for something else or a full refund* if you feel that the item you chose isn’t quite right for you. See our Return Policy page for more.
*If paying with any card, 4.5% of the transaction value goes to the credit card payment facilitation company. "Full Refund" means that we will return the full amount we received after the credit card service fees. If you are at all unsure that what you're buying is ideal for you, rather opt for EFT payment to be safe.
Where is my order? How can I track my order?
You will receive an email with your tracking number once your order has been collected by our couriers. You can also find tracking number for your orders under "My account"
Shop 5 Roeland Square, Cnr Roeland and, Upper Canterbury St, Cape Town
0214653573
Victorian Towers, 2 Palm St, Bellville, Cape Town
Fritz, 0219101380
Boskruin, Randburg
Deon Truter, 0823148308
Stonemill Office Park, Greenstone House
300 Acacia Rd, Johannesburg
Wilhelmus Möller, 0118802885
28 Pearce St, Berea, East London
043 726 2200
Kloof, Durban
Emil, 0844849959
Shop 5 Roeland Square, Cnr Roeland and, Upper Canterbury St, Cape Town
0214653573
Victorian Towers, 2 Palm St, Bellville, Cape Town
Fritz, 021 910 1380
Kloof, Durban
Emil, 0844849959
Durbanville
Bernard Kotze - 0727156743
Ivan Fourie - 0825290593
1032 Silvergrass St, Montana, Pretoria, 0182
Wayne Lesch – 0798834407
Damien Bradshaw
Eastern Cape (Hunting Products Only)
0835749134
Approved Arms
Pretoria
Dirk Pio – 0730556726
We have a no-nonsense approach. If a product breaks due to a manufacturer defect, we will replace it without asking any questions. If we have any reason to believe that the product was put through unreasonably heavy usage, we will have to follow the manufacturer's standard warranty procedure.
Leofoto
The manufacturer offers a 10-year limited warranty on all products and we extend that warranty to our customers. Please read the below very carefully, so you understand your position when something breaks or doesn’t work ideally anymore.
It is critical to understand that this warranty only applies to factory faults and not to standard wear and tear. Tripods are subject to a lot of gray areas in this regard as tripods used outdoors, particularly in sand and sea water, are subjected to extreme wear and tear. We will e.g. replace the affected part of your tripod if a carbon tube snaps or cracks without much pressure applied to it or if the apex breaks. We will not replace your tripod or the affected part if e.g. a joint locks up due to sand or salt build up or if a hinge becomes corroded or stiff/floppy and unserviceable due to corrosion or salt build up.
In sum, if we see that you took good care of your tripod and something went wrong, we will go out of our way to fix or replace it for you. If we see that you dragged it through the mud (literally or metaphorically), then we are unlikely to fix/replace it for you. How you handle your tripod and take care of it, is all the difference between 3- or 20 years of service.
The best of tripods will not last longer than 2/3 years if used regularly in the sea, INCORRECTLY, and never serviced. Always make sure to extend the lowest leg section first, so you keep the joints out of the water/sand. Always rinse with freshwater after use in the sea, wipe down with a wet cloth, leave extended to dry and ENSURE YOU KEEP THE HEAD AND APEX DRY. If your tripod’s joints start feeling sandy/gritty, open them up, give them a proper clean and lubrication and fine-tune the tension on the joints.
If travelling on dirt roads, ensure that your tripod is in its carry-bag when not in use.
Your tripod will not take care of itself – it is up to you to do so. All our tripods ship with an info-sheet on taking care of your tripod. We also offer a full tripod disassembly and service for R1000, including shipping both ways.
