Posted by Daniel Akinin on February 1, 2013 at 4:41 AM
Hiyas,
I am wanting to get a new head for my Tripod as the one I currently have annoys me a bit, drops and moves position when you tighten the ball.
Would you be able to make some suggestions on what might best suit my needs, I am not sure whether to go geared, pan/tilt,3 way or ballhead.
And as I live in a country town, there are not really any shops I can just walk into to try them.
Posted by David Bostedo on February 1, 2013 at 11:43 AM
Daniel - More info is needed for good advice :
-- What kind of ballhead do you have now?
-- What do you need it to hold? How much wight and how long a lens?
-- And what is your budget?
A lot of folks will recommend either a Really Right Stuff (RRS), Markins, or Acratech ballhead - which are all great from the little I've seen of them. But they are way out of my budget, usually costing between $200 and $600 depending on model and options.
Then there are well regarded but less robust or full featured options like Manfrotto or Giottos or Feisol, amongst a few others. These will be in the $50 - $200 range generally.
But as with many things, you do tend to get what you pay for, so your particular needs are important to know.
Posted by Bill Chambers on February 1, 2013 at 1:41 PM
I've been using the Really Right Stuff BH-55 for a few years now and really LOVE it. Outstanding quality and performance. Expensive, but well worth it.
Dan, Look at the RRS BH-40 - if you don't use long telefotos, this should be more than adequate for landscapes. Much smaller and lighter than the BH-55, and I suspect you do some hiking to get to scenic places so weight is a concern.
Sandy
Posted by Daniel Akinin on February 1, 2013 at 10:53 PM
Thanks guys, some more details.
At the moment I have a Velbon Tripod with a Velbon Head QHD-61Q, It will hold a 5D MK III and Canon 17-40 f4L mostly, my budget is about 700 dollars, depends how much my old Crop Lenses sell for on ebay.
Most of my facebook group have recommended the RRS BH-55 so far, so am looking seriously into that now.
I too recommend the BH-55. Robust, sturdy and best of all rock solid. Before I had the BH-55 ball head I didn't do much tripod work, in fact I hated to use my tripod setup. I realized that my setup was really holding me back so I decided to go all out and get the BH-55. I haven't looked back and I would spend the money all over again if I had to.
Take a hard look at AcraTech. Harley Goldman uses on for his 4x5 and it's rock solid. You'll also save a pretty good chunk of change.
Geared heads like the ones from Manfroto are excellent, especially if you need to make very fine adjusments. There are releases on each axis that allow you to get rough framing, then you make the fine adjustments via the gears.
--P
Posted by John Mumaw on February 2, 2013 at 10:12 AM
For landscape photography, I think that a ballhead offers the most flexibility among the options you listed.
And I'm another (very) happy RRS ballhead user. For your setup, I think that the BH-40 and quite possibly the BH-30 would be perfectly adequate. Both are extremely rugged and durable with a long lifespan.
Note that you'll also need an L-Plate to match either of these ballheads. The L plate allows your camera to mount vertically on the ballhead right over the tripod axis, which is far superior than having your camera hang off of the side of the axis when it's in the vertical position. In many cases, you may just have to adjust your composition only slightly from the horizontal position. Whichever ballhead you end up choosing, I think that an L-Plate for your camera a must have feature.
Call it advancing geezerhood, but I've come to value the BH-30 for landscape photography over everything else in our large collection. It's absolutely creep-free and smooth as glass. It will support up to 15 pounds, but weighs a mere 11 ounces. I've mounted it on Gitzo 1542 Traveler legs for a total weight of just under 3 pounds. The rig is steady beyond my wildest dreams, even with a 80-200 f/2.8 or 300 f/4 lens, the largest I've tried so far.
For me the thing that makes this a "dedicated" travel and landscape combo is that light weight. When I can get great service from a rig so light, it means I can walk a lot further and stay in the field a lot longer. The extra time and distance have added up to more good photos than any extra measure of "image quality" that might come from heavier gear.
Discussion
8 repliesI am wanting to get a new head for my Tripod as the one I currently have annoys me a bit, drops and moves position when you tighten the ball.
Would you be able to make some suggestions on what might best suit my needs, I am not sure whether to go geared, pan/tilt,3 way or ballhead.
And as I live in a country town, there are not really any shops I can just walk into to try them.
-- What kind of ballhead do you have now?
-- What do you need it to hold? How much wight and how long a lens?
-- And what is your budget?
A lot of folks will recommend either a Really Right Stuff (RRS), Markins, or Acratech ballhead - which are all great from the little I've seen of them. But they are way out of my budget, usually costing between $200 and $600 depending on model and options.
Then there are well regarded but less robust or full featured options like Manfrotto or Giottos or Feisol, amongst a few others. These will be in the $50 - $200 range generally.
But as with many things, you do tend to get what you pay for, so your particular needs are important to know.
Sandy
At the moment I have a Velbon Tripod with a Velbon Head QHD-61Q, It will hold a 5D MK III and Canon 17-40 f4L mostly, my budget is about 700 dollars, depends how much my old Crop Lenses sell for on ebay.
Most of my facebook group have recommended the RRS BH-55 so far, so am looking seriously into that now.
Geared heads like the ones from Manfroto are excellent, especially if you need to make very fine adjusments. There are releases on each axis that allow you to get rough framing, then you make the fine adjustments via the gears.
--P
And I'm another (very) happy RRS ballhead user. For your setup, I think that the BH-40 and quite possibly the BH-30 would be perfectly adequate. Both are extremely rugged and durable with a long lifespan.
Note that you'll also need an L-Plate to match either of these ballheads. The L plate allows your camera to mount vertically on the ballhead right over the tripod axis, which is far superior than having your camera hang off of the side of the axis when it's in the vertical position. In many cases, you may just have to adjust your composition only slightly from the horizontal position. Whichever ballhead you end up choosing, I think that an L-Plate for your camera a must have feature.
For me the thing that makes this a "dedicated" travel and landscape combo is that light weight. When I can get great service from a rig so light, it means I can walk a lot further and stay in the field a lot longer. The extra time and distance have added up to more good photos than any extra measure of "image quality" that might come from heavier gear.