Leofoto LH-47LR BallHeah Review
INTRODUCTION
Hello my friends, as you know I have my first Leofoto Ballhead LH-40PCL+NP-60, which was the one I fell in love with, and it is still my favorite ballhead, for the versatility it presents, a year ago I had the opportunity to acquire the LH-55 the so-called "Ferrari" of the Leofoto Ballhead, but as I only have LS tripods at the moment, this head is too disproportional for this range of tripods, so the door was opened to receive the LH-47LR, this one is the intermediate ballhead, which seems to be the right fit for the LS tripod range.
About Leofoto
Zhongshan Laitu Photographic Equipment Co., Ltd was founded at the beginning of 2014. It is located in Zhongshan, beautiful Pearl River Delta area in China. Leofoto team has been designing and manufacturing series of camera support systems by comparing and studying the high-end photographic accessories made in China and abroad and combining different suggestions from professional photographers for over a decade. Leofoto has become China specialized photographic equipment producer in only 4 years.
They are a young company with hi-tech equipment and creativity, for many years, they have been supplying the whole world with high quality professional tripods, ball heads and other support accessories.
They have 1 assembly workshop with 4 assembling lines, 2 CNC machine centers（including 80sets of CNC precsion machines）, high and low temperature testers, corrosion resistance testers and other high-precision devices.
They have more than 20 management employees and 130 dedicated workers.
Current production capacities can yield quotas of 1000 tripods per day. Besides, they highly automated production lines enable us to supply the best quality products at competitive prices.
Leofoto's high skilled management team ensures a solid compliance program, while maintaining the official trading standards. Leofoto's constant growth is due to their research & development team. They are the foundation stone of our business. At Leofoto, they always strive to provide the best quality products and service for photographers and videographers from all over the world..
They are a young company with hi-tech equipment and creativity, for many years, they have been supplying the whole world with high quality professional tripods, ball heads and other support accessories.
They have 1 assembly workshop with 4 assembling lines, 2 CNC machine centers（including 80sets of CNC precsion machines）, high and low temperature testers, corrosion resistance testers and other high-precision devices.
They have more than 20 management employees and 130 dedicated workers.
Current production capacities can yield quotas of 1000 tripods per day. Besides, they highly automated production lines enable us to supply the best quality products at competitive prices.
Leofoto's high skilled management team ensures a solid compliance program, while maintaining the official trading standards. Leofoto's constant growth is due to their research & development team. They are the foundation stone of our business. At Leofoto, they always strive to provide the best quality products and service for photographers and videographers from all over the world..
THEIR AMBITION
Be dedicated and enthusiastic to meeting and leading user needs. They focus on photographic support system and will keep an eye on related industry, their mission is to help professional photographers to finish their works by supplying the most profession support systems. Meanwhile, they will combine our skills and customers’ needs perfectly and assist their clients in promoting our brand in channels, forums, fairs etc to achieve the best commercial values of their brand. They will always believe in our clients and thank them for their recognition and support.
PACKAGING AND UNBOXING
- Leofoto LH-47 Low-Profile Ball Head with Quick Release RH-3 Clamp (Black);
- Quick Release Plate;
- Carry Pouch;
- 3/8"-16 to 1/4"-20 Busing Adaptea;
- Allen Wrench;
- Multi-Tool.
Description
The Leofoto LH-47 47mm Low-Profile Ball Head with QP-70N Quick Release Plate is a mid-sized ball head that will support weight up to 48 lb. Crafted from aluminum and hard anodized, the LH-47 has all the qualities you would expect from a professional-level head. An over-sized, ergonomic locking knob allows 45° tilting in all directions and a 90° drop-notch facilitates quick and accurate switching from the horizontal landscape position to vertical portrait orientation. A separate tension knob is provided to apply the appropriate pressure that safely corresponds to the weight of your camera, and a third knob loosens and locks the panning base which is laser-engraved with markers every 2.5° from 0 to 360°.
Specs
Key Specs
- Head Type: Ball Head
- Base Mount: 3/8"-16 Female
- Quick Release Plate Type: Arca-Type
- Friction Control: Yes
- Load Capacity: 22 kg
- Materials: Aluminum Alloy
- Weight: 625 g
Head
- Head Type: Ball Head
- Base Mount: 3/8"-16 Female
- Quick Release Plate Type: Arca-Type
- Number of Bubble Levels: 1
- Ball Sphere Diameter: 47 mm
Pan & Tilt
- Friction Control: Yes
- Vertical Tilt: 90°
- Panning Range: 360°
- Independent Pan Lock: Yes
- Independent Tilt Lock: Yes
General
- Load Capacity: 22 kg
- Diameter: 62.00 mm
- Materials: Aluminum Alloy
- Weight: 625 g
BODY
This ballhead chassis is very-strongly and precisely CNC-machined from aircraft aluminum.
BALL LOCK KNOB
The ball lock knob is the part that you will spend plenty of time with it in your hand. These knobs are generally rounded or in a lever configuration. In this ball head is not round but a machineted in a lever knob. While round knobs are generally easier to roll with fingers, they cannot be made large enough on a compact head. The extra length is needed to comfortably provide the torque necessary to lock a ball tightly and this head gets the lever.
BALL TENSION CONTROL KNOB
When we talk in mid larger size ballheads models the Ball tension control knobs are a common. A tapered, rounded design makes the knob easy to roll in the fingers.
As alluded to, I typically find that the ball tension should be comfortably-tight for the least amount of ball movement on lockdown. The movement is most-readily seen in longer focal length lenses and these larger lenses are typically more usable under stronger tension than smaller ones. So, that issue mostly works itself out naturally.
DUAL DROP NOTCHES AND LOW HEIGHT PROFILE BALLHEAH
Ergonomic large main locking knob gives easy handling. Low height proffile gives better reliability. Preisely machined ball makes the movementsilky smooth. Dualdrop - nothes allow you easy change from andscape mode to portrait mode or other angle shots. Laser-engraved scale on the panning base for easy and precise control during panorama shooting.
The front-positioned drop notch is most common and shooting upward means that the ball lock knob is going to feel like it is on the wrong side of the head for most photographers. If not using an L-plate or lens-plate-equipped lens, visualize the camera and main knob positions when the camera is in vertical orientation to assess the design of a ball head.
PANNING BASE AND CLAMP
Now a days almost good tripod ball heads are equipped with a panning base, and the LH-40PCL remains the tradition, but with improvements, they assembed a clamp panning at the top of the ball, allowing the head to be rotated regardless of the position of ball adjustment keeping the tripod leveled without a level base.
Both the base and the upper clamp include the orientation of the ball lock button for comfortable use, for panorama capture and to simply move the object's frame from side to side.
The Leofoto LH-47 Ball Head's panning base measures 72 mm. Another common feature on the panning base is an index. Indexed bases are most frequently used for precision panorama captures and this head has this feature with marks laser-engraved at 2.5 degree intervals.
What I think is missing in this part is stop knob to give audible and tactile clicks every 15˚.
Locking System with Lever
COLD WEATHER BEHAVIOR
Not all ballheads behave in the same way on mild days and on days with negative temperatures, sometimes the operation of the ball head is negatively impacted by very low temperatures.
Leofoto did exhaustive tests to make the material behave in the same way with the various meteorological conditions, they submitted the material to negative temperatures to make sure it would work the same way.
GEAR CAPACITY RECOMMENDATIONS
Generally, ball head manufacturers provide load capacity specs for their heads and expect you to figure out what gear will play nicely together with their respective heads. While that can work, I'm generally not comfortable using weights approaching max load capacity with vibrations and load manageability being primary issues.
Can be easily assembled 600mm F/4, 800mm F/5.6, 200-400mm F/4, 500mm F/4, 400mm F/2.8, 300mm F/2.8, 100-400mm F/5.6, 50-500mm F/6.3,
PRICE AND VALUE
Leofoto can be purchased for its value and great performance and also for the great looks, i think for the quality they offer in this ballhead, is not expensive, you can buy this ballhead in Fotima.
Those who understand and appreciate the value of quality buy Leofoto products without hesitation.
MY CONCLUSION
As I've told you before, I have the Lh-40 ballhead, and I've always dreamed of having the Leofoto Ferrari LH-55 and I have, the problem with the LH-55 is that the base is too big for LS tripods, and as I only have LS tripods, it's too proportional, so this LH-47 is in the middle, it's perfect on the LS364C, tripod, I find this head very robust.
The Ballhead, is a very complete head, also very robust, withstands a lot of weight without any type of problem, easily withstands the weather of the most complicated countries.
Both the tripod and the ballhead have been tested and work perfectly in minus temperatures.
I can say more, I really like this set, and I can tell you that it will be my photography company for a long time.
WHAT I LIKED
- Light but Robust Ballhead
-The controls are smooth and glides around with ease!
-The Top Clamp with new lever sytem
WHAT I FEEL COULD BE IMPROVED
- Could have a stop knob to give audible and tactile clicks every 15˚
