Poll: Do you use a ball head or pan head?

[azurebluee]

Do you use a ball head or pan head?

I have been using my trusty aluminiium Slik tripod for more than a decade. Its on a pan/3 way head. Used for shooting portraits/landscapes most of the time.

Looking at the threads, it seems most prefer the use of a ball head for various advantages over the pan head.

Gathering feedback for general discussion.

 

[hotwork77]

Do you use a ball head or pan head?

I have been using my trusty aluminiium Slik tripod for more than a decade. Its on a pan/3 way head. Used for shooting portraits/landscapes most of the time.

Looking at the threads, it seems most prefer the use of a ball head for various advantages over the pan head.

Gathering feedback for general discussion.

I used to use a manfrotto ball head. Apart for easy adjustment, I find that the grip is not too good when I use a heavy lens. Abandoned it for a normal pan.

 

[cleonbus]

Ball-head

 

[Zackt87]

i'm keen on getting Sirui G20 .. my budget ($100+/-) is it recommanded?

 

[mitsucolt]

quite good. got the level on the top. just make sure u lock the ball and pan in place tightly before mounting so that it would hit the tripod and damage the cam.

if you want panaromic pix, make sure the level is there and pan the stand ard at least 270degree to check. once u slip in the base clip to the camera, there's no telling if the base is still level as it will b covered by the base plate.

then perform a 1/2 turn to release it to the tilt you want, in one motion. and do the same again to lock in position.

 

[mod101]

i'm keen on getting Sirui G20 .. my budget ($100+/-) is it recommanded?

suggest you get Manfrotto 496RC2 for around $115...

 

[mod101]

Do you use a ball head or pan head?

I have been using my trusty aluminiium Slik tripod for more than a decade. Its on a pan/3 way head. Used for shooting portraits/landscapes most of the time.

Looking at the threads, it seems most prefer the use of a ball head for various advantages over the pan head.

Gathering feedback for general discussion.

Use Manfrotto 410 Junior Geared Head for portraits and landscape. For travelling, I will use Manfrotto 496RC2 Ball Head.

BTW, stumbled upon this pretty good write up on your mentioned matters...
http://www.juzaphoto.com/eng/articles/tripods_and_heads.htm

 

[azurebluee]

Use Manfrotto 410 Junior Geared Head for portraits and landscape. For travelling, I will use Manfrotto 496RC2 Ball Head.

BTW, stumbled upon this pretty good write up on your mentioned matters...
http://www.juzaphoto.com/eng/articles/tripods_and_heads.htm

Nice article. Thanks!

 

[wmayeo]

In fact the ball head attachment (Sirui G-20) has a 3rd axes for panning and with the ball head locked. I'm using both pan and ball head.

 

[night86mare]

i er, use a panballhead.

btw, it is more like a ballhead, a pantilt head is very very different in terms of operation.

 

[Sol81]

ball head for me... max degree of freedom just by turning a knob

 

[Treetrunk]

Am using a ball head. Sirui G-10 that came with my travel tripod.

 

[Dream Merchant]

They both serve different needs. I use both.

A ball affords speed and convenience at the cost of precision, but ironically, sometimes it actually ends up taking much longer to level a ballhead.

The 3-way pan/tilt is slower, but usually much more precise and stable (and at a much lower price as well!). For demanding set-ups like landscape, architecture, products, macros and still-life, it can be much faster to set-up precisely than a ballhead.

BTW, a 3-way can be adjusted to just about any position that a ballhead can, so the argument that it's less versatile than a ball goes out the window for me anyways.

 

[mimik07]

I use a ball head and agree with DM that it takes much longer to level a ballhead compared to a gearhead. After attending Kit's last outing and listening to his explanation on the pros and cons of each, I am very much inclined to getting a pan head for landscape shots.

They both serve different needs. I use both.

A ball affords speed and convenience at the cost of precision, but ironically, sometimes it actually ends up taking much longer to level a ballhead.

The 3-way pan/tilt is slower, but usually much more precise and stable (and at a much lower price as well!). For demanding set-ups like landscape, architecture, products, macros and still-life, it can be much faster to set-up precisely than a ballhead.

BTW, a 3-way can be adjusted to just about any position that a ballhead can, so the argument that it's less versatile than a ball goes out the window for me anyways.

 

[night86mare]

something to take note of as well, is that pan tilt heads generally weigh more, and take up more space.

something to think about when you are travelling - in which case i mantain a ballhead will generally be better.

 

[night86mare]

BTW, a 3-way can be adjusted to just about any position that a ballhead can, so the argument that it's less versatile than a ball goes out the window for me anyways.

i would agree with this statement for most conventional shots.

overall, i am still thinking that a ballhead will be better - i found it immensely hard to angle the camera downwards (extreme) in the vertical position easily with my giottos pantilthead.. and shooting upwards into the sky was also impossible because of the limitations of that particular pantilthead.

of course, if there are pantiltheads that manage to overcome this, then please ignore this statement.

 

[Foxshade]

i er, use a panballhead.

How does it look like? I can only find articles Pan vs ball head, but not pan ball head.:dunno:

 

[night86mare]

How does it look like? I can only find articles Pan vs ball head, but not pan ball head.:dunno:

foxshade, it is just a ballhead, just that got extra knob that only allows panning motion:

 

[chocnoodles]

I have both and tend to use more pan for landscape and portraits. Ball is used for macro shots with minor adjustments but may take more time adjust to the accurate spot..not sure, maybe its just me.

For pan head, need not hold the camera body for adjustments. Ball head need to hold both the camera and knob to adjust which I find abit ley cheh.

I have once forgotten to hold the camera body and loosened the knob. Heng it only creeped abit and no damage was done.

 

[egofufu]

i think the pan ball head mentioned above is the most versatile.. i use one too...