Ball Head or 3-Way Head
- Thread starter nabshot
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3 way is meant for panning and tilting. Ball head is for fast adjustment. Depends on what you wanna do honestly. Get a 3 way if you're doing landscapes.
I just got a ballhead recently. Not the fastest but fast enuff for me. Easily tilts the camera in any position i need it to be. I dont pan with a tri/monopod though.
i have a Tilltall tripod with a three way head it served me well but for macros it is a pain to use. just recently i bought a Arca-Swiss Z1 and a Benro tripod, using the ball head is a breeze, so much better to use... i dont think my tilltall will see much action anymore.
get a ballhead
get a ballhead
Get a ball head nabshot, it is fast and easy to use. And if u were to ask me for brand and model i would say PPCP Pro V2. My decision of why choosing this tripod is because ballhead can withstand 5kg of weight, weight of tripod is 1.3kg and can operate at low height. Not many tripod with the kind of price can offer those mentioned features.
A 3-way head should be able to give your more precision. However, the ball head is much easier and faster to use. It depends on what type of photography that you need. If you use a ball head without a spirit level, it may be a pain to get a ball head completely horizontal.
ballhead is much faster.
recommend it over the 3 way pan unless u r seriously only doing landscape shots
recommend it over the 3 way pan unless u r seriously only doing landscape shots
Sion
Senior Member
I've been using Ball Head for 15 years for outdoor scenics and studio still life. I will never use anything else for speed and convenience. Always get a heavier and solid one.
I am newbie to ball head.. please advice on what is heavier and solid meaning... one that can take more weight and load???
Thanks.
Personally I use a Manfrotto 029 pan head for what I currently do but it is quite heavy
If you go with a ball head, don't get a cheap one as the motions will be jerky (not fluid).
A good ball head is also lighter than many 3 way tilt/pan heads of similar quality and price.
Cheers
If you go with a ball head, don't get a cheap one as the motions will be jerky (not fluid).
A good ball head is also lighter than many 3 way tilt/pan heads of similar quality and price.
Cheers
I am doing macro/micro shots and i have a Markins M10, and though it served me really well, i find that movement wise it lacks precision movements in planes when it goes down to little insects and tiny flowers.
I am actually looking for a pan head. Does it not provide more precision in movements?
Ryan
Hey just to clarify, is a 3-way head a.k.a. pan head?
I keep hearing photographers preferring ball heads to pan heads. Why is that? From initial hands-on, I seem to be able to point the camera in the intended direction more easily with a pan head. Ball heads don't seem to pan very well. (or maybe I haven't seen "real" ball heads/don't know how to use them)
I keep hearing photographers preferring ball heads to pan heads. Why is that? From initial hands-on, I seem to be able to point the camera in the intended direction more easily with a pan head. Ball heads don't seem to pan very well. (or maybe I haven't seen "real" ball heads/don't know how to use them)
yup... 3 way is often referred to as pan heads as it allows for panning very well as opposed to the ball heads.
Tuning of the ball-heads are also easy to overdo as it turns on all axis. But the speed of change is why some like ball-heads.
For me, it's depends on my budget. I can't afford a good ball head so I settled with a pan head which I am satis with it so far.
Actually for you, you should be considering a macro-adjustment plate.
Manfrotto 454 Micrometric Sliding Positioning Plate
So basically, there isn't any real issue with pan heads except that they set slower (haven't really noticed that) and that they have handles sticking out (I love those handles =p)? 'coz I haven't noticed any stability problems since my tripod is fairly sturdy and I'm using a light kit lens so equipment weight isn't an issue either. Are ball heads any steadier than pan heads?
There's less moving parts involved, so theoratically they can be much lighter and smaller than pan heads. As for steadier, I believe they are the same when used properly.
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