So I don't see any information about anything Kaidan in the forums...not sure if thats a search failure or not, but what do people think about their new entrant into this panorama tripod head market?

Hmm.  How about a link?  
 
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.d [...] 0169232857
 
They have more info on their site, but this 1 page summary is a bit easier to get into in my opinion.

Perhaps some direct questions:  
 
Any users have experience with previous quickpan tripod heads?  
 
How do you think this device will stack up; it certainly seems to have a more solid arrangement than some solutions, and it's more flexible as far as cameras it can support.  
 
G

G
For a lot less money, you might look at the Nodal Ninja 3 and new Nodal Ninja 5 Pro.
 
The NN3 has always gotten good recomendations and is 25% the price of the Kaidan Professional Rotator

Interesting about the NN5.  Looks like it's in pre-order for some variants.  
 
Basically the models i'm familiar with are the NN's, the ones that badders sells, the kaidens, the old school and clunky manfrottos, and some secondary ones like the panosaurus, and the agnos styled Mrotators which are generally for the fc-e9's and e8's.  
 
The panosaurus is a great entry into the concept, but i've found it struggles under the weight of the R1 and some of the dslrs.  Touching the camera invariably introduces some degree of shift in the photo....it might be slight, but it can wreak havoc when precision is the name of the game.  
 
I'm looking for a 'this will work for 4 - 5 years' type solution instead of a smaller panosaurus style arrangement (although it's served me very well)  
 
I'm worried about the solidity of the NN's.  Anyone have their hands on a production model?  I certainly would be much happier paying 1/2 the price, but for what I'm getting ready to work on, I'd rather not have to replace the NN if it's not sturdy enough.

I'm waiting to get a shipment of NN5's over here in the UK to evaluate.

G
I've got an NN3, but I haven't got the Sigma 8mm yet.
 
I've played with it using my Canon XTi and Canon's 10-22mm and its pretty solid. The rotation stops seemed a little soft at first, compared to the Manfrotto 3414/300N rotator base I use, but after a few turns I got used to it and it hit its degree mark right on each time.
 
Once tight, the upper arm is solid as a rock as is the vertical arm when tightened on the base arm.
 
You don't really have much to loose since theres a 30 day money back return policy for the NN3 and 14 days for the NN5
 
http://www.nodalninja.com/returns.html
 
Two things that I do to stabilize the whole tripod/rotator combination is hang a 10lbs barbell from the tripod and always use a remote shutter release. Its amazing how solid 10 lbs of ballust makes everything
 
Go for it

The NN5 certainly seems pretty sturdy having reviewed the site now for a while, and with a money back guarantee, it definitely drives a fairly hard bargain.  I've gone ahead and bought one, I'll report back once it arrives!

G
We'll  look forward to your and Badders feedback on the NN5

I have several Kaidan products and have had leveling and axial precision issues with each model. Kaidan brushed my concerns aside as user incompetence but I know a wobble when I waste my time photograghing one. I purchased a NN3 and have found it to be much more precise and stable.

 
I had the same experience with Kaidan.

Hi radialstudios!
 
I have had a different experience with Kaidan products than those described above.
 
I use a QuickPan IV rotator base with a QuickPan I Spherical Bracket (i.e. the upper vertical component) w/Universal Mount. I originally owned the whole QP I system - the rotator base was an upgrade.
 
Using this set-up with my D70/10.5 Nikkor lens I have been able to achieve a pixel perfect No Parallax Point (NNP) - aka the "nodal point" - in the overlap zone of the images; and no wobble, axial or leveling issues.
 
I've never needed to call Kaidan Tech Support so I cannot offer a comment here.
 
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Some proof of the pudding:
 
From a spherical image (50% reduction; cropped) taken for the recent "Wrinkle in Time" pano event - panographers world wide creating QTVRs of a chosen environment during the Winter Solstice of 2007:
 
Please see this cropped example here - the center of an image overlap area of the spherical render.
 
I took my QTVR exactly on the Solstice (10:08 pm Pacific Standard Time) under a near full moon. These images theoretically pushed my D70 sensor over the edge of reliability regarding exposure times (ISO 400). I let my camera cool to the outside ambient temp of 32 degrees F (0 C) before shooting - and the noise in the RAW files was minimal as a result.
 
The images stitched perfectly under less than ideal circumstances. Granted the software (Stitcher v5.6.0 & enblend 3.0) was important - but if your panohead is off you've got your work cut out for you. I did not have to do any corrections at all for ghosting, etc. Spot on - three bracketed images composited.
 
And you've got to have a rock solid tripod (!!!) - perhaps the least appreciated part of the hardware set-up. You will find endless discussions about panoheads, cameras & lenses, but precious few about the critical foundation supporting these components. Doug mentions several posts above about adding 10 lbs. of ballast... your tripod should be able to take a whack without vibrating the panohead (not including tripping on the lower part of the tripod leg!) - what ever is needed - give your gear a solid foundation.
 
 
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The NN5 sure looks like a great value.
 
 
 
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Side Note to other QP IV users:
 
If you are having trouble getting precise "pixel perfect" results here are some possible solutions...
 
1) There is a "false seating" that can occur when mating the top and lower halves of the rotator base components. You need to ease the two together and then give the top section a pop with the heel of you hand - there is an unmistakable "thunk" that occurs - then lock it tightly.
 
2) The detente disks - the single biggest problem. The disks should have been made out of brass not plastic (maybe now they are brass). However even if you are using plastic disks not to worry - it just takes a bit more "feel".
 
There are two adjustments for the disk - the "click-stop" screw and the "drag" or "friction" screw directly opposite the "click-stop" screw. Of the two the click-stop is the most important (but you can not get a good click-stop if the rotator halves are not securely mated as in #1 above). Once you have a solid click with the click-stop screw you will need to adjust to adjust the friction screw to match the pressure of the click-stop screw. If you do not, the plastic disk will flex slightly, and the panohead might sag accordingly. You may need to go back and forth a bit here with the two screws' pressure to find the right match.
 
A slight disparity between the pressure of these screws is not that critical but they should be close - a matter of feel and checking your dual-axis bubble levels. I have one on my camera's hot shoe, one on the panohead's rotator base, plus the built-in bull's eye level on my tripod.
 
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On the other hand considerations of precision, vis-a-vis stitching accuracy, I think are overblown. I take handheld panos that turn out fine with Stitcher; monopod QTVRs of high quality. My NPP & "stability" with these type of QTVRs are certainly suspect compared to a tripod, but they still work - a major limiting factor is exposure time and the fact you can not use bracketed images reliably (especially with handhelds).
 
Two of my own experimental examples with handheld QTVRs (laser assist) using Stitcher v5.x:
#1 - no cap shots - my first handheld, spherical format, here.
#2 - w/cap shots - QTVR, here.

Jim
You make a good point; that often the problem with misalignments in stitching isn't he rotator but the tripod.  
 
Photographic equipment has gotton so light that its easy for a very gentle bump to move it. In a recent small kitchen, I really had to watch my feet stepping around the tripod legs as I rotated the camera.
 
I got the idea for the 10lb barbell/ballust from the movement I could see when I rotated on carpet with a very thick pad underneath. First I tried to just buy a bigger tripod, but there was very little difference, then got the idea for the barbell. At first I used one that was all exposed metal with removeable metal weights, then it dawned on me that if I dropped it, it would crack a ceramic tile floor. So I bought a one-piece 15lbs weight with a foam/neoprene coating. Later I moved down to 10lbs that I bought at Sears for $9. A short chain and a couple "S" hooks is all it took.
 
I don't really need to use it on hard floors but I'm so used to how solid the setup is, I just use the weight all the time. The weight also helps on outdoor shots where the gound is soft. A little wiggling and the tripod settles solidly into the dirt/grass.