Vanguard BBH Series Professional Ball Heads Hands-On

In addition to the new GH-200 pistol-grip ball head, Vanguard also had its new BBH Series of pro ball heads on display at CES 2012.
I’ve been a big fan of Vanguard ball heads since I picked up the SBH-250 a couple of years ago.  The new BBH Series builds on the good stuff from the SBH Series and then adds some more oomph for the professional touch and feel.

With the BBH Series, Vanguard has introduced a new auto-centering “Rapid Level System.” Essentially, it feels like there is some kind of notch at the center point for the ball head.  Just wiggle the ball around a bit and you it notches right into the center position.
There is also a big notch in the side of all the BBH models for quickly adjust to 90-degrees for portrait orientation.

The new design of the BBH models offers significant material cutaways from the sides of the head, which reduces the overall weight of the heads.  Notably though, this does not appear to affect the capacity of the BBH heads.  The BBH-100 handles 22lbs., while the BBH-200 and BBH-300 have a max capacity of 44lbs. and 66lbs., respectively.

All models sport dual bubble levels and a 360-degree panning function.  Additionally, Vanguard has listened to some of the critics and provided an Arca Swiss compatible head/plate on all of the BBH models.

The Vanguard BBH Series range in price from $169 to $249 and are available from Photography Bay’s trusted retail partner, B&H Photo, at the following links:
Vanguard BBH-100
Vanguard BBH-200
Vanguard BBH-300