The Leofoto G20 3D Geared Head is the big brother of the G2. The G20 is a fantastic tool, but it is critical that you understand what it is designed to do as it is far from a conventional tripod head. If you don’t consider yourself a tripod nerd, then this product probably isn’t for you.
The G20 is a centered geared head. Normal heads allow compositional adjustments by allowing rotation of the camera, with the center of the ball as the rotation point. As the radius between the rotation point and camera is quite big, when changing composition, the point of view changes drastically. For those obsessed with perfect composition, this is unacceptable. With centered heads, the camera moves in an arc, which if completed, would make a virtual circle around the camera, the center point of which should be the focal plane of the image, meaning that your point of view remains identical regardless of how you change the composition. In short – with a normal ball head, the camera moves around the head. With centered heads, the head moves around the camera. The downside of centered heads is that in order to provide a large movement range, the head has to be massive, so a compact centered head like the G2 will have a limited range of movement.
At 680g and 75mm diameter by 80mm height, it is not as travel friendly as the G2, but still quite compact. Finely geared X- and Y- axes offer precise geared adjustment of your composition, but in a limited range of 10 degrees up or down on each axis. By combing the two axes, a range of about 15 degrees is achievable, which is sufficient for most uses.
Panoramic Use – A panning axis at the top allows panoramas with a central horizon. Doing panoramas with an off-center horizon requires another panoramic axis below the head, which can be added by mounting the G20 on the RH-2L panning clamp.
Specifications
- QR Plate: QP-70N
- Panning base diameter: 75mm
- Height: 81mm
- Mounting hole: UNC3/8"
- Max load: 20kg
- Weight: 680g
