Hank, I subscribed to your channel because of all your Canon RP videos. I've enjoyed all of them. Good to see this older video on the Sirui. I've been upgrading my gear to dab into photography professionally. I purchased an FLM tripod, but got the K-30X as an affordable match. Thanks for another excellent video!
Having seen your video twice in the past, I finally decided to buy this ballhead. It is beautiful. It fits my L-plate fine and my other lens plates. It securely held my D7200 with Tamron 150-600 without dropping, although I only tested that to be convinced myself. I have a good budget gimbal for that set up and wanted this ballhead for my other types of photography. So thank you for such a thorough review, it was what finally persuaded me to buy this ballhead.
Thank You. Your practical approach covers subject parameters that answer questions other reviewers ignore. The difference between a static load and live load, aside I had little idea how to tension a ball head. Or if a ball head would work for me. Looks like a yes on that! Chris
@@TonghoPhotography Yes definitive help. After film dwindled, I gave up photography. This summer my wife and I adopted MFT cameras. It has been great. When 'waking up' the old glass the 2X factor brough revelations. My longest 1960s Takumar 200mm put me into a different mind set. A 400 , 300 and a 150 followed suit. After going through my venerable 50+ year old Star-D PRO , it is apparent an up grade is due. Playing with the compression of an effectively 800mm lense, and the thin depth of field at various working distances, opened a door. The unit you reviewed looks like a value point. Thanks Again. Chris
Thank you for presenting a practical review of this ball head. It is much better watching you eloquently, practically, and articulately presenting this, rather than trying to understand the manufacturer and B and H spec sheet. Well presented, very helpful. Watched the whole thing! Cheers!
Thanks for an excellent review. I wasn’t sure if the K-20X is strong enough for my equipment, with your demo I can see this thing is more than capable handling my spotting scope without any issue. Cám ơn nhiều, a Hiền!
I could not find any serious presentation talking about this product, but a German or Chinese one, which did not understand. I found it very helpful to decide which Ball Head is the one for me. Only one note: " black ball head with black background not a good match for the product to stand out in your video". I ended up ordering the K-20x instead of the K-30x. For the Spanish speaking audience: No he podido encontrar una presentación seria que presentara este producto, excepto una Alemana y una China, las cuales no entendía. Me ha parecido muy útil para decidirme por la rótula que tenía en mente. Sólo una nota: "Rotula negra con fondo negro no una buena combinación para la presentación del producto en su video”. Finalmente opte por la “K-20x en vez de la K-30x”
Thank you for the great explanation of how to use and set up the ball head. I just bought a k-10x and haven't had much time to work with it but, after watching this, I feel I'll be so far ahead of trying to figure it out myself. Thanks again!!
Thanks for the review, I was looking for a travel ball head to match my Sirui travel tripod and didnt realize how big the k20x head is. I may go for the smaller K-10x.
Thanks for this great review, Hank! I am looking for a less expensive alternative to Arca Swiss, RRS, etc. and the Sirui seems to fit the bill. The only other options I'm still considering are Oben BE-117 and Desmond DLOW-55. After watching this I'm leaning toward Sirui K-20X ;-)
Hank, thanks for a very descriptive review. Unfamiliar with the K-10x and the K-20x, for my monopod. I am mounting a Nikon 200-500 G ED on the D810 , possibly adding the grip, seldom. This will be on my sturdy mono pod. Best to you and family......jc
Thank you gill bates. I think the K-20X would be perfect for your set-up as far as sturdiness is concerned. However, you might want to consider a gimbal head for this set-up if you're going to use your 200-500 for action and BIF shooting. I find that for BIF, ball head use is OK but not optimum in tracking a moving object unless you had it adjusted perfectly. A gimbal head is much more positive...the downside is that it's bulkier and heavier than a ball head. I use an Opteka gimbal for my monopod to shoot hummingbirds with my Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L II and Tamron 150-600mm f/4.5-6.3 lenses. I use the K-20X for landscapes and night photography work.
Hi Hank, This is a very good video about a very good ballhead. I have been using this ballhead for many years now and I'm still convinced it's a very good ballhead. I use it with anything up to my 150-600mm lens. I'm just looking for a lighter alternative for traveling. One small thing is that you could explain a bit more about the safety knob: when you configure it with care, your big lens won't be able to suddenly fall, as you cannot make it loose enough for it to get out of control. You should also configure this knob for your biggest lens. What is your opinion on stabilizing the weight front-to-back?
Thank you. The tripod in the video is a Velbon El Carmagne 635. This model is no longer available except in the used market. I also had a Sunwayfoto DYH-66i leveling base mounted on top of the tripod.
Thank you. This ball head is rigid enough, it won't droop on you so it should be great for macro work. Keep in mind, you'd still need a slider for macro especially if you want to take multiple shots for focus stacking
I am having trouble removing the ball head from the plate. The plate is bigger in diameter when compared to the ball head, very similar to your tripod that I see in the video. Any tips on how I could remove it ? Its really tight now.
Surui clamps and plates are proprietary. They are NOT Arca Swiss compatible. I bought a Surui L-20 monopod head. The clamp will accept neither a 60mm Arca Swiss plate nor the plate on the L Bracket for my D7100.
Can't speak for the L-20, the K-20 is compatible as I had shown in the video. I never use the K-20 plate that comes with it - always with my Arca Swiss plates.
@@TonghoPhotography The L-20 clamp lacks the safety screw slots found on Arca Swiss clamps. As a result the dovetails on 60mm plate and on the 65mm vertical plate of the L bracket do not fit into the clamp. I jury rigged a solution by attaching a Sunwayfoto Mac-14 Arca Swiss clamp to the L-20 plate.
Thanks for the honest straight forward review with the closeups and no stupid music and dramatic video editing 5 minute enter
I am glad you liked it. Thank you for viewing!
Thank you for going through the tensioning process, I had no idea 😂
Hank, I subscribed to your channel because of all your Canon RP videos. I've enjoyed all of them. Good to see this older video on the Sirui. I've been upgrading my gear to dab into photography professionally. I purchased an FLM tripod, but got the K-30X as an affordable match. Thanks for another excellent video!
Thank you for this video. I purchased the k-30 ball head and your video is wonderful. Totally much easier to understand seeing it in action.
Thank you Hien for your demo video. Best demo of this ball head I've seen. The close-ups and the way you explain awesome. I subscribed and liked.
Having seen your video twice in the past, I finally decided to buy this ballhead. It is beautiful. It fits my L-plate fine and my other lens plates. It securely held my D7200 with Tamron 150-600 without dropping, although I only tested that to be convinced myself. I have a good budget gimbal for that set up and wanted this ballhead for my other types of photography.
So thank you for such a thorough review, it was what finally persuaded me to buy this ballhead.
Thank you! Glad that you liked the ball head. It had been my favorite.
a fantastic review that answered all my questions. I like your calm way to explain things! thank you.
Seriously one of the best reviews i have ever seen on yt, very well done. Greetings from the UK
Thank you :).
What a brilliant review, honest and straight forward. Well done Hien and thank you.
Thank you very much, Parrish!
Thank You.
Your practical approach covers subject parameters that answer questions other reviewers ignore.
The difference between a static load and live load, aside I had little idea how to tension a ball head.
Or if a ball head would work for me.
Looks like a yes on that! Chris
Thank you! Glad it was of help :)
@@TonghoPhotography Yes definitive help.
After film dwindled, I gave up photography.
This summer my wife and I adopted MFT cameras.
It has been great. When 'waking up' the old glass the 2X factor brough revelations.
My longest 1960s Takumar 200mm put me into a different mind set. A 400 , 300 and a 150 followed suit.
After going through my venerable 50+ year old Star-D PRO , it is apparent an up grade is due.
Playing with the compression of an effectively 800mm lense, and the thin depth of field at various working distances, opened a door.
The unit you reviewed looks like a value point.
Thanks Again. Chris
Thank you for presenting a practical review of this ball head. It is much better watching you eloquently, practically, and articulately presenting this, rather than trying to understand the manufacturer and B and H spec sheet. Well presented, very helpful. Watched the whole thing! Cheers!
+delasantos Thank you delasantos.
Thanks for an excellent review. I wasn’t sure if the K-20X is strong enough for my equipment, with your demo I can see this thing is more than capable handling my spotting scope without any issue. Cám ơn nhiều, a Hiền!
I could not find any serious presentation talking about this product, but a German or Chinese one, which did not understand. I found it very helpful to decide which Ball Head is the one for me. Only one note: " black ball head with black background not a good match for the product to stand out in your video". I ended up ordering the K-20x instead of the K-30x.
For the Spanish speaking audience:
No he podido encontrar una presentación seria que presentara este producto, excepto una Alemana y una China, las cuales no entendía. Me ha parecido muy útil para decidirme por la rótula que tenía en mente. Sólo una nota: "Rotula negra con fondo negro no una buena combinación para la presentación del producto en su video”. Finalmente opte por la “K-20x en vez de la K-30x”
Thank you for making this in depth review, you provide all of the information I needed.
Thanks. I'm glad it can be of help :)
Thank you for the explanation of the friction adjustment dial by the way, I couldn't find out what it did from any other source.
Thank you for the great explanation of how to use and set up the ball head. I just bought a k-10x and haven't had much time to work with it but, after watching this, I feel I'll be so far ahead of trying to figure it out myself. Thanks again!!
+Ralph Ellis Thank you Ralph. Glad it helped :)
Thank you for your time. Very well explained.
Glad it was helpful!
Thanks for the review, I was looking for a travel ball head to match my Sirui travel tripod and didnt realize how big the k20x head is. I may go for the smaller K-10x.
+yang4evr Yes, the K-10X is a better head for travel... :).
Thanks for this great review, Hank! I am looking for a less expensive alternative to Arca Swiss, RRS, etc. and the Sirui seems to fit the bill. The only other options I'm still considering are Oben BE-117 and Desmond DLOW-55. After watching this I'm leaning toward Sirui K-20X ;-)
Hank, thanks for a very descriptive review. Unfamiliar with the K-10x and the K-20x, for my monopod. I am mounting a Nikon 200-500 G ED on the D810 , possibly adding the grip, seldom. This will be on my sturdy mono pod. Best to you and family......jc
Thank you gill bates. I think the K-20X would be perfect for your set-up as far as sturdiness is concerned. However, you might want to consider a gimbal head for this set-up if you're going to use your 200-500 for action and BIF shooting. I find that for BIF, ball head use is OK but not optimum in tracking a moving object unless you had it adjusted perfectly. A gimbal head is much more positive...the downside is that it's bulkier and heavier than a ball head. I use an Opteka gimbal for my monopod to shoot hummingbirds with my Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L II and Tamron 150-600mm f/4.5-6.3 lenses. I use the K-20X for landscapes and night photography work.
Thank you so much. Helped me decide to decide on this ball head
You're very welcome :)
Great video Hien! Very clear and well explained.
Excellent review, thank you.
Really good practical review.
Very helpful indeed. Thank you for making and posting this review.
Hi Hank, This is a very good video about a very good ballhead.
I have been using this ballhead for many years now and I'm still convinced it's a very good ballhead. I use it with anything up to my 150-600mm lens. I'm just looking for a lighter alternative for traveling.
One small thing is that you could explain a bit more about the safety knob: when you configure it with care, your big lens won't be able to suddenly fall, as you cannot make it loose enough for it to get out of control. You should also configure this knob for your biggest lens.
What is your opinion on stabilizing the weight front-to-back?
Thanks for this. I have the same setup and have been having some issues. I think perhaps redoing the tension may have solved it, we'll see.
Thank you. Helped a lot.
Thank you so much! Excellent review! Curious... which tripod did you mount the K-20X ball head on for this video?
Thank you! I used a Velbon EL Carmagne 640 in this video
Thanks Hien! What’s your tripod model you are using?
Thank you. The tripod in the video is a Velbon El Carmagne 635. This model is no longer available except in the used market. I also had a Sunwayfoto DYH-66i leveling base mounted on top of the tripod.
very good demonstration, mr Tongho. You would think this ball head would work well for macro work?
Thank you. This ball head is rigid enough, it won't droop on you so it should be great for macro work. Keep in mind, you'd still need a slider for macro especially if you want to take multiple shots for focus stacking
I am having trouble removing the ball head from the plate. The plate is bigger in diameter when compared to the ball head, very similar to your tripod that I see in the video. Any tips on how I could remove it ? Its really tight now.
Hi, may I know which series of sirui tripod you are using for this video? For serious landscape photography, which series would you recomment? Thanks.
Takeshi?
Amigo, con un jersey blanco se vería mejor (8-))
Thank you for your feedback. I will wear white next time :)
Surui clamps and plates are proprietary. They are NOT Arca Swiss compatible. I bought a Surui L-20 monopod head. The clamp will accept neither a 60mm Arca Swiss plate nor the plate on the L Bracket for my D7100.
Can't speak for the L-20, the K-20 is compatible as I had shown in the video. I never use the K-20 plate that comes with it - always with my Arca Swiss plates.
@@TonghoPhotography The L-20 clamp lacks the safety screw slots found on Arca Swiss clamps. As a result the dovetails on 60mm plate and on the 65mm vertical plate of the L bracket do not fit into the clamp.
I jury rigged a solution by attaching a Sunwayfoto Mac-14 Arca Swiss clamp to the L-20 plate.
I have returned the L-20 and purchased a Sunwayfoto tilt head, which is fully Arca Swiss compatible.
I have this exact same ball head and the k30x they both work fine with my Arca Swiss third party L Bracket