I bit the bullet and went ahead and purchased this ballhead. It was either this, or the Kirk BH-1. In the end, I wanted a lever-based quickplate, so I went with thie BH-55. The other thing is that I also decided this was much lower profile, and that would add to the stability of it all. The ballhead came in a nice bag. It was much bigger than I expected but the quality and craftsmanship was first rate. I tried a friend's Arca Swiss B-1, I was not impressed. It felt a bit like a kluge. I await my tripod to try the ballhead on.
I also purchased a L-plate for my D90. I am sold on not flopping my camera over to get a vertical shot. It puts the mass out of center of the tripod, making it susceptible to falling over if your camera is heavy. Better to keep the weight vertically over the center of the tripod.
