GP Ball-Head by Acratech with Gimbal and Pan Feature

Very nice. High quality but light. Operates smoothly. Looks very cool.

Wonderful head that replaced a Manfrotto that failed me in Hawaii during a milky way shoot. Light, grips easily and gimbal function is fluid and easy to use.

I've been shooting with Manfrotto gear quite some years, I've been using the 055CXPRO3 tripod altogether with the MXPRO-3WG 3-way-head. I loved the design and liked the high precision manufacturing and the reliable usage in the field. My expectations for better equipment were therefore quite high. But the Manfrotto had some flaws, that are bothering me. First of all: the number of degrees of freedom when using the 90-degree flipped middle axis of the tripod - for landscape photography with more sophisticated compositing techniques, this is a must-have, only being possible using ballheads. The Manfrotto also uses a lever-lock for fixing the camera, and I truly loved this feature, so it was a hard requirement for a ball head. Switching to an Arca-Swiss system, being compatible to a camera holster system was another driver for doing this - in the end, it has to be practical in the field with minimum time costs for equipping and getting the shot done. Manfrotto's proprietary plate system is exactly their weakness for that. Another factor is the weight: my former gear was roundabout 2.7kg for the tripod and since I switched to full-frame, I wanted to drop that to level out the increased camera weight, but w/o loosing stability. The total tripod weight is now a bit less than 2kg. All in all, together with a Benro GC257F, the Acratech GP ballhead meets all of those requirements and even fulfills wishes, I didn't expected to have (gimbal function). Ok, the panoramic function is probably only effective for one-row-panoramas, but it's a optional nice-to-have for me. The Arcatech GP-ballhead is a straightforward, reliable, high-precision product. Although the shipping fees and customs are quite expensive for me as European customer, I'm proud to recommend this Acratech product to anyone. Thanks for producing high class workmanship products and not kickstarted super-hyped snake oil like other companies do. And that says a lot about the great spirit of Acratech!

After a careful comparison all of the available pro ballheads on the market (reviews, blogs, forums, etc.) and owning some lesser brands, the clear choice for my tripod needs was the GP. The reality is that you are using a tripod for stability in the first place. Therefore, you need an equally stable ballhead that is easily adjustable regardless of weather conditions and is going to help protect your gear from accidental slippage. I use a Gitzo 1228 carbon fiber tripod and Nikon D500/Leica gear and do not want to trust my bodies or glass to an unstable tripod or head. The GP is a good trade-off regarding stability, flexibility, usability, weight, and open design. It fits the Gitzo well. I have been experimenting with intentional camera movement (ICM) for landscape photography to create fine art images (sunrises, sunsets, seascapes,etc.) The GP's panoramic function is quite smooth and is perfect for ICM. The GP has been tremendously useful for macro. If I were a wildlife photographer, particularly birds, I would invest in a more formal gimbal head. For my occasional gimbal use, the GP fits my needs well as well as my sense of efficiency (less weight vs. stability issue). It seems misguided to me to purchase very expensive photo gear and then trust it to an inexpensive, poorly designed, low quality head not made in the USA. Maxim of photography gear: you get what you pay for.

Bought this ballhead after reading that the company owner created this one since the existing ones didn’t work as expected and he decided to create the best possible ballhead. What was very interesting for me is the fact that the GP can be used also as panorama head as well as gimbal besides the normal intended functionality. Had the chance to test it and set the tension exactly how i wanted. It’s very easy to customize it to your needs and it’s very sturdy and stable. I am very happy with the GP ballhead and looking forward to years of pleasant shooting!

I took out the GP for the first-time last week in 14-degree Fahrenheit weather for some long exposure photography. Supporting a Canon 6D with a 16-35 F4 lens the GP was a joy to use! Very smooth and precise adjustments made framing shots a breeze, no unwanted slippage and very little if any position shifting when locking down the ball head. Whether shooting landscape or portrait, did not seem to matter; every adjustment was smooth and predictable. The engineering and quality of the GP are top notch! Really well designed! It is a practical design that is simplistic and when you really examine it, you realize there is not much that could go wrong – Time will tell, but I would expect the durability of this design to exceed all others. With the relatively light weight of the GP (nearly 0.5lbs lighter than my previous mistake) the GP is THE ball head to go with – just get it, you will be impressed.

I was looking for a light, high quality ballhead to go on a carbon fiber tripod, with the idea of having a lightweight system for hiking. I initially purchased the Ultimate Ballhead about 10 years ago, and ended up purchasing a GP Ballhead, and recently acquired a GPSS Ballhead to use on several different tripods. They are light, high quality and effective. I have used them on a Canon 5DM#, Canon 1Dx, Canon 6D, Nikon D810A, and Nikon 750, all very successfully. I do some teaching and keep more than one one tripod-bullhead setup with me when on the road. I frequently loan these out to others when their setup is ineffective, making our photo sessions go smoother. No reservations recommending this bullhead. BTW, this head is very hardy. It has taken lots of abuse and still works perfectly.

I've owned and used this for a few weeks. After a short time learning just how much tension to set and the general layout of the knobs I can do it in the dark now. Set the camera position and it stays. Need to change no thought or fumbling. Well engineered piece of gear.

I've been using the GP ball head and am amazed at the fine workmanship, versatility, ease of use and design of this ball head. I feel my camera is secure when using the Actatech clamp and ball head. Moving the camera is smooth and easy. The design allows the bullhead to stay clean, even at the beach. I haven't done any panoramas yet, but plan to soon. Best ball head ever!