So just a quick update on this situation…
After playing around with the tripod, and going back to a store to check out some Bogen and other brand equivalents again, I’ve determined that the tripod head is defective.
After calling Tiffen (twice actually) I’ve had the second most rude customer experience of my life and still haven’t received the RMA email they promised me (it’s been almost 2 hours by now… I’ll give them a full day though to be fair).
I’ll keep posting updates has this really annoying situation develops…
