A VERY, very good value. This head is rock-solid, with smooth movement upon loosening the ball. I had originally ordered the SBH-250, but returned it because it was very greasy, too stiff (though it loosened up), and the QR plate release button was extremely hard to push. This head was much better out of the box, and I feel confident the plate release will continue to function properly, unlike with the 250. I think the SBH-250 is almost just as good as the 300, just that my copy was a little funny. The differences are mainly size and weight capacity (but the 250 can hold a LOT of weight . . . keep in mind, weight capacity is NOT measured the same from manufacturer to manufacturer, so the numbers should be taken with a fairly good amount of salt grains).
For example, I ordered the Sirui K-10X initially after returning the SBH-250. The head was rated for the same weight, but I'd bet several of my appendages that the Vanguard holds up to two times the weight, meaning most importantly to me, that it won't sag while at extreme angles (i.e., partially down in the groove for downward or portrait orientation shots). I believe that you'd probably need a K-30X (maaaaybe), or more likely a K-40X to get the same weight holding capacity. The Sirui is a good head, and it did have smoother movement, but no matter how tightly it was locked down, you could move the camera. That isn't necessarily a bad thing; it took some leverage and decent force to do it, but with the Vanguard's, it would take a force that would risk damaging something, and you'd never even think of doing it. If you want to adjust your camera, you'll have to loosen the head adequately.
The friction control works, but I'm not very interested in using it. I do think the Sirui is designed better in that regard. I think it is easier to just loosen the main knob just enough to be able to adjust the camera without it flopping around. There may be times when the friction control will be useful, but generally I don't see myself using it. It's good to have, though. It was a better design on the Sirui as I said, but less needed because, as I also already said, the Sirui could be moved regardless of how tightly you locked it down.
There is a slight amount of creep when tightening the main knob; if you have the camera leveled and then tighten down, the head will shift slightly. In practice, this means going just a little off to the left of level (slight sag to the right), and then tightening which brings things back 'round to level. No real problem. The level on the Sirui was off somewhat it seemed. I don't think it was squared properly with the head.
The biggest and most important difference to the 250 model is the much bigger QR plate.The 250 plate is just too small for my setup (D800 w/Tamron 24-70 2.8), and the camera was way too prone to twisting on the plate. I could have made the 250 work, but it was a bit pitiful really and I'm sure there would have been some frustrating moments had I continued to use it. That said, the 300 plate is better, but not twist proof either! While out shooting last week, I noticed after taking several series of exposures that I in fact had twisted the camera on the plate! Now, this didn't affect any of my shots; it twisted while I was framing the shot, but didn't come *loose*, and so when I locked the head down the weight of the camera didn't allow any twisting to continue to happen. It twisted as I applied some force to get the camera into position while it had some tension. This is something I will need to be more careful of in the future, and I don't expect it to be a big deal.
This issue of twisting on the plate is the reason for 4 instead of 5 stars.
*** Note: The Sirui has two plastic "stoppers" that can be popped up to keep this from happening, and while they didn't seem very robust to me and I think they'd have eventually broken off, it was a welcome feature. It would be nice if Vanguard did something similar, preferably with metal stoppers.
It would also be a welcome feature to have a QR plate screw with a swing out tightening mechanism. Since I'll mostly leave the plate on my camera (a bit heavy, but not bothersome mostly and it helps my rig sit flat on a flat surface without the lens tipping down) it isn't a huge deal, but it's such an easy thing to implement. Why not??? It looks like these types of screws can be bought and used as replacements if one wants to. Changing the screws will be very easy on the 300 which has an easy area to allow the larger screw to be removed and stored in the top of the head. I think changing them on the 250 is also easy, but not 100% sure on that. It looked as if there was a place to allow that screw to be screwed out.
I think that's about all. Vanguard seems to do a lot of little things right, i.e., little spaces to store extra screws while not in use. A "key" for loosening/tightening screws, etc. I like what the company is doing and will continue to look at their products when in need in the future for more gear.
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Sean Stephens
Good, but not as heavy duty as I had hoped.
Reviewed in Canada on January 29, 2014
