I've been committed to Ball and Socket heads for many years and through a gradual process of trial and error have arrived at items from Really Right Stuff (RRS) for my two larger tripods and a matched Gitzo model for my smallest Traveller. In my terms they are unsurpassed in reliability, security and seamless operation. I've neither used nor seen anything at any price that touches them.
However I've always been curious about geared heads and their ability to finely and incrementally adjust position. This incremental adjustment is the key: to only adjust only in one plane while being certain not to change in others ( in so far as is possible).
When working with clients and meeting other photographers in the field, I'd already eliminated most of the models currently available and had produced a shortlist of just three possible choices. The Arca D4 and Cube are both things of beauty, highly desirable and work flawlessly. There are also both well beyond £1k which is steep for someone who has yet to decide whether they are certain want a geared head or not.
This then left the original Sunway GH - Pro II. I'd dismissed this as it only had geared adjustment in two planes. The recently released + version added a third geared adjustment in the horizontal plane and with this enhancement, I decided to investigate.
At the time of purchase, this model was unavailable in the UK and so after the usual process of daily tracking refreshing, my sample duly arrived from China. The supplier kindly refunded both the import duty and VAT. The final cost was roughly 1/7 of the cost of the best available. My sample weighed 740g
There are a few things to note about geared heads in general. There are a great many moving parts inside and as one might expect multiple gears that need to mesh together. This has a number of consequences. Firstly these gears have to be well designed and well engineered in order to work well in the first place. A great many bits of metal must move past a great many other bits of metal with exactly the right amount of friction. They must be smooth, linear in operation and neither too tight nor too loose. Secondly the unit needs to be sufficiently well designed and engineered to resist wear for as long as possible. Sadly although the cheaper models are, by and large, the first to show wear, the top end models are far from immune from what I see and hear.
There is a limited amount of data on the top end models. At c.£1400 a go, not that many people own them and only a portion of those are landscape photographers. Therefore the anecdotal evidence that I have is necessarily limited and by no means conclusive. This is not an issue as I’m reviewing the Sunway, the other models are mentioned by way of context. As always, I'm not prepared to unbox and review in a single afternoon as seems to be the practice in some quarters. Equipment such as this needs to bed in, needs to be used in multiple situations, multiple environments and perhaps most crucially of all needs to be learned. Frequently I see reviews where the key outcome is that the reviewer hasn't taken the time to learn to use or understand the piece of kit properly.
I've now been using this geared head for six months and a number of themes are emerging. I've yet to use it in winter conditions but I think given my findings, I may add those experiences as an appendix
In short, this is a very fine piece of engineering. It is beautifully made and so far works flawlessly. I've enjoyed using it immensely. It does, as they say, exactly what it says on the box and does it exceptionally well. Within the short time frame of ownership (which effectively removes some aspects of longevity), it performs as smoothly and precisely as the market leaders. Having the third plane of gearing also gives an advantage over the market leaders from Arca which only offer fully geared movement in two planes.
The advantages of a geared head are that it allows for very precise adjustments in composition to be made in exactly one plane. With a ball head, while adjusting to raise the camera slightly, you may also very slightly move to the side or slightly incline. With a geared head, only the adjustment you desire is accomplished. There is an oft quoted parallel benefit of slowing the photographic process down. I’ve never been convinced when I hear this and I think if you find that you rush your photography, there are other places to look besides equipment.
The Sunway allows the adjustments to be made very smoothly and precisely. Careful (obsessive) composition is an end itself for some of us and I’ve no doubt that this head is a positive aid to that process. There is some learning to do and there are some caveats. Practice makes perfect and there is no substitute for hours spent acquainting yourself with the equipment you use. Until you build up that experience, there are a lot of bits to twiddle and at times you will turn the wrong one first..
The concept of three planes of adjustment only works well if the null positions of one of those planes is precisely horizontal and another vertical. This means ensuring that your tripod platform is pretty much level to start with. A levelling base certainly helps here. I’ve found the head works well with my Kingjoy C85 tripod which comes with a levelling base included as standard. Without a levelling base, a little effort to ensure the tripod platform is horizontal is worthwhile.
Secondly some of the finely engineered gears are exposed to the elements through a narrow gap in the outer shell. In my view this therefore requires a little more care to be taken in protection from the elements and against ingress of dust or grit.
Given the general complexity and degree of fine engineering, I’ve felt the need to give the head a greater degree of protection that I’d normally afford a ball and socket head. It comes supplied with a neoprene padded cover and I’ve found that I’ve used that all the time during transport and when the tripod is on my backpack.
I’ve not used this head around the coast but having heard a number of stories of issues with others, I don’t think I’d be comfortable exposing it to salt spray or the risk of sand on a regular basis. I did attempt to make contact with Sunway to get a view on all the above factors but got no response.
I think the area where the jury is still out for me is on speed of use and this is one aspect where the Arca D4 has a distinct advantage. While we often aspire to a methodical, meditative process to composition in landscape photography, sometimes the elements don’t work that way and fleeting glimpses of light appear and disappear at different points in the landscape. With my RRS ball and socket head I can swing through 90 degrees, re-tighten and release the shutter in an instant. With most geared heads, there is a maximum speed with which that can be achieved. The alternative of dismounting the camera, increasing ISO, engaging VR, opening aperture a touch may also take longer than the light lasts. These situations don't happen often but when they do, they tend to be special. This head does have cranks that fold out from the adjusting knobs to speed up adjustment but there is no question that it is much, much slower than a ball head.
In the time that I’ve owned it, there has been no discernible degradation in the smooth or precise function of the gears. Six months is not that long but I’ve seen other low priced heads begin to fail in even less time.
The dilemma for me is that I very much enjoy the process of using the geared head and under predictable, static conditions, I’d much prefer to use one all the time. However, I’ve already missed a number of fleeting opportunities that would have been possible if I’d had the camera on one of my other Ball&Socket heads. This could largely be solved with the Arca Swiss D4s as it gives a single release lever to allow instant repositioning but I’m not sure that I’d be prepared to part with £1400 on the offchance. I’d need a very long term trial before I’d be prepared to make that leap.
The second hurdle for me with this particular model was that when heading off to the beaches of the outer hebrides recently, there was no possiblity that I’d be prepared to risk an exposed gear mechanism to the attack of sand and salt spray. It may be some time before we experience full winter conditions but given the exposed gearing, there must be the potential for the ingress of water and it subsequently freezing. Again I had no response from Sunway to my questions. I’ve absolutely no evidence but common sense suggestts it may be a possibility on a Scottish hillside in wet then freezing conditions.
A specific circumstance when I've missed the geared head is when working in the rain with an umbrella. Using a B&S head really requires two hands and managing an umbrella as well is tricky. Being able to use a geared head with only one hand while holding the umbrella with the other is much easier.
A very good piece of kit and if you want a geared head, I’d suggest its the best available at this sort of price. It’s better engineered and feels much better than any of the competitors that I’ve used around this price point. If you can accept the limitations of speed and the concerns about coastal or winter use I think it’s a bargain. It is significant that I’ve no intention of disposing of this head and will continue to employ it from time to time when conditions are suitable. It really is a joy to use.
Update: Since publishing, a number of owners of the previous version have been in touch commenting on loose operation. Generally this involved the geared head failing to retain the set position or being prone to wobbling slightly when shaken. I’ve not yet been contacted by anyone with a + version expressing any similar complaint.
Update #2: Another alternative head has been suggested, the Leofoto g4. This a pretty obvious copy of the Arca D4s but as approximately 1/4 of the price. These are not available in Europe, perhaps due to copyright infringements. They are available via Ebay however. I am generally against the copying of other manufacturer’s designs but I do feel the Arca Swiss products are significantly overpriced and so bring an element of such practices onto themselves.
IMPORTANT UPDATE
Having established that this particular example of a geared head did not satisfy enough of my requirements to replace any of my B&S heads, I decided to list it on Ebay. While checking it over I noticed that one of the adjustment knobs was angled in relation to the shaft and so wobbled as the knob was turned around. The angle can be seen in the image below. I’ve treated the head with kid gloves, partly knowing that an eventual sale was a possibility and partly just because I try to look after kit to prolong its life. I know the head hasn’t been dropped or received any form of impact. However, in order to be upfront on Ebay and to head off future dispute I listed the head as flawed and clearely showed the distorted arrangement. I’ve since been contacted by two other photographers who both informed me that their identical Sunway heads had both arrived straight from the factory with exactly the same issue. The shaft isn’t bent but the adjustment knob is set at an angle to the shaft. Function isn’t impaired in any way and I susppose I could have returned my geared head to Sunway but couldnt face a potentially long drawn out process. If you order one, do check the lowest adjustment knob.
ADDITIONAL UPDATES
Withing a few months of letting this head go, I found myself missing one very specific use instance. That was working in rain while holding an umbrella in one hand. There’s really no way I’m able to operate a B&S head with just one hand and I decided to try another more recent sample of this head. The new sample exhibited no flaw as seen in the first. Combined with the already identified enjoyment of the more precise compositional adjustment, this new copy has found a frequent place in my daily bag. Other users may be interested in one other finding from extended use. I have found over the last 12 months that the gear to the top section has loosend off slightly leading to some play. This is of course unacceptable and one of the reasons that customers are prepared to pay five times a much for a premium geared head. However, having noticed the allen screw head as shown below (and it truth without much hope) I inserted an allen key and found I could adjust and take up all the play that had appeared. Sadly there were no instructions that mentioned this or I would have been checking and retensioning on a regular basis. Having adjusted, the head is now back to exactly as it was when I first opened the box.
A further and completely unadvertised improvement, as can be seen in the image below, is that the once exposed gears have now been fully enclosed. Not only was this not advertised, there is no model number change so if you are considering this head, be sure to check that you are getting this latest, much improved variant.
