The problem of buying a product (Novoflex Classicball 5 II) due to a lack of marketing (slight rant)

I recently purchased the Classicball 5 II, Q-Base quick release, Q-Plate 70mm QPL-AT2 anti-twist plate and QPL-VR Pro Angle bracket (L bracket) and I have to say that I am generally impressed by the build quality and practicality of all the system (I have just ordered the Q-Plate 50mm QPL-AT1 anti-twist). Though because I have been ill for the last week I haven't been able to use it in the field.

As of this moment, I am stuck in bed trying to think of things to do, so I started to wonder why Novoflex's marketing was so bad and how it made deciding to buy the Classicball 5 much, much harder.

I first heard about the Classicball 5, when I started doing research for a new ball head on the internet. It came out in the top 3 during a review of large ball heads done by DP Review, with particular emphasis put on how innovitive the ballhead is. One of the things that attracted me to the ball head was that it didn't have several similar looking knobs . So I then decided to do some more research into the ballhead and that is where I started to run into a few problems.

Normally, when I buy something online, I like several reviews, the more the merrier. It also helps if there are video reviews as well as written reviews as it is easier to see the product in action.

As I guess most people do, I first typed in 'Novoflex Classicball 5 review' into google and found at the top, the Novoflex website, the first thing I found was that Novoflex had updated the Classicball 5 but apart from that it was a bit hard to find decent information. There were a couple of review but very few, when compared to other ballhead manufacturers such as, Really Right Stuff with their BH55 or Arca Swiss and the Z1 The only company which seemed to do as bad was FLM FTR 58 (which had also been rated in the top three of the D P Review).

Going onto various photography forums, thee were quite a few comments about the Markins Q20 and Acratech GP but again little about Novoflex.

So then I checked YouTube and to my delight I found that Novoflex did have various videos up. Unfortunately my enthusiasm dwindled when I found that all the videos were in German, which I suppose isn't surprising considering Novoflex are a German company. The problem is that whilst some of the videos had OK translation subtitles on a few videos, often I had to rely on You-tubes translate subtitles, which are hilarious to watch at best but from a informative stand point a bit of a nightmare, so gleaning information was not as easy as I had hoped.

Now, some might say well they are a German company but in the world we live. the language of commerce is English (fortunately for me, otherwise I would be screwed), so for international customers, having videos in English (as well as the existing German) would probably be much more practical.

Now, this might be much less important if there were lots of reviews of Novoflex products in different laguages but there isn't, just one in Chinese (I think). So it is much harder to make an informed decision. Again there were a lot of reviews of the Really Right Stuff BH-55, Arca Swiss Z1 etc.

So this leaves a problem, why should I spend hours trawling around the internet looking for a ball head with very little information available, when I can just look up lots of glowing reviews about a product like the BH-55 or Arca Swiss Z1? It is quite stupid. Fortunately, I am A: Quite stupid, and B: rather determined when I get an idea in my head, and C: Occasionally willing to take a bit of a risk, which some times works out but occasionally left me thinking I am a huge idiot.

It almost feels like Novoflex does not want customers but they do have a website in English, so they must know that they are more likely to sell products internationally if they have product information in English and they also have a large network of dealers around the world, which they sell through, so they are set up for international sales.

So, if I was Novoflex what would I do. The first thing would to make sure there are some videos available in English, this could be by making new videos (I know a company which would do a good job) and get the videos you already have made translated better on YouTube, so people can understand what is being said.

Another option, which has been exceptionally well done by companies such as 3 Legged Thing would be to make sure that professional photographers are using the products. I first heard of 3 Legged Thing when Jared Polen of Fro Knows Photo made a video about them. You also have Matt Granger using 3 legged Thing after he was introduced to the product via a trade show and Scott Kelly now uses 3 Legged Thing after being presented with one during last years London Photo walk.
All these people are recognisable names in online photography and people do listen to their opinions and will be influenced by what equipment they are using. I ended up buying 3 Legged Thing Eric tripod because of the video by Jared Polen (though he has a different one). As more people buy the product more reviews go up and the better the reputation a company or product gains.

A company like Really Right Stuff has it and it is always noticeable that Joe Mcnally is using their ballhead, as well as various other products from Nikon, Lastolite, Profoto, Gitzo and Pocket Wizard. Branding matters and it pays in the long run.

Unfortunately, we see very little of this and hear even less. It is know use having a great product, when nobody know about it. Hopefully, I will eventually do a written or maybe even a video review but a company shouldn't be aiming at one or two reviews, they should be aiming at dozens.

Fingers crossed we see something change from Novoflex because from what I have seen their products are very good and it would be a shame for the world to miss out.