Manfrotto 410 Junior Geared Head

Mini-Review

In my pre-ball-head days I used this Manfrotto 410 Junior Geared Head for a while. I liked the idea of having precise control in each plane just by turning a knob and bought this thinking it ideal for panoramic stitches. It’s an extremely well constructed and solid piece of kit but what annoyed me is that it came with a different type of Quick-Release plate (410-PL) to the RC2 Manfrotto plate I’d been using at the time (why don’t Manfrotto make a standard plate?). I found the 410 Junior Geared Head, awfully heavy though, and rather difficult to quickly revert from portrait to landscape orientation and vice-versa; something I never really quite mastered. In the meantime I’d discovered ball heads and Arca-swiss quick-release plates which make things so much easier. I really ummed and ahhed over whether I should keep this head, but to be honest I never felt particularly comfortable with this model. In the end I got fed up with it’s weight and bulk and sold it.

Since then Live-View has become pretty standard on all cameras and I have a friend who uses the Manfrotto 405 Geared Head which is the next one up and a beast of a head, getting close to 4lbs. However, watching him simply rotate the knobs to get his image perfectly framed on the rear LCD has made me think again about the usefulness of geared heads. The weight is still off-putting for me, so I don’t think I’ll return here. If you don’t mind the weight, bulk and Manfrotto’s dam awful quick-release plates, then the 410 Junior Geared Head maybe for you. I’d recommend trying it out before you buy though.

John R. Birch (28.06.2013)

410 Junior Geared Head

Manufacturers Description

Extremely compact, this unique head offers gear movement in three directions, pan, tilt and side to side tilt. The head incorporates a quick release camera plate system and is suitable for 35mm SLR and medium format cameras.

	attaches by	1/4″ and 3/8″ screws attachment type
	attachment	3/8″ female thread attachment type
	bubble spirit level (no.)	1 number
	Colour	black colour
	degrees of rotation for each full turn of handle	7.2 °
	front tilt	-30° / +90° tilt range
	lateral tilt	-90° / +30° tilt range
	material	aluminium
	panoramic rotation	360 ° 360 °
	patent	patented
	plate type	410PL
	quick release	yes
	secondary safety system	yes
	safety payload	5 kg (11.02 lbs)
	weight	1.22 kg (2.69 lbs)
	working height	13.0