Do I want a Ball Head or 3 Way Head?

A ball head can move in any axis, a 3-way head needs each axis adjusting seperately. I have a manfrotto 322 ballhead on my wish list.
 
from another site:

. Pan/tilt head. Pros= Probably the most stable of the three types of heads. Cons= generally the most cumbersum to use. Three different axis points each with it's own control. I use my Pan/tilt head when I am doing technical work such as macro or small product shoots. It is the easiest to adjust exactly where you want it and with a macro focus rail on top it makes those minor focus changes easy to do.

2. Ball head. Pros= Most compact easy to carry head. Especially if you are going out into the field. Virtually no protrusions. Cons= Touchy to adjust. Not all have an individual pan feature built in and they tend to have just a hair of sag once you tighten the ball and let loose of the camera body. I use mine whenever I am out and about for general photography. It is the most versatile of the three heads for general use.
 
3-way (cheap ones) has loads to sag, like the standard ones you find on most of tripods.

i got a redsnapper ball head. it's great, very easy to use, very solid, supports D90 + tamron 70-200 no problems. very little sag when released. I would personally say go for ball heads due to the ease of operation and definitely get one that can pan 360 cos it's so much easier to use and smooth...
 
Landscapes and especially panoramas would be "3-way" territory....much easier to setup and, for panoramas, one axis can remain fixed.

Bob
 
Canon Bob said:
Landscapes and especially panoramas would be "3-way" territory....much easier to setup and, for panoramas, one axis can remain fixed.
Click to expand...

My ball has a separate 'lock' for rotation so panoramas would be very easy. Not that I've tried. Giottos MH1301.
 
If you can stretch your budget look a geared heads too. eg Manfrotto 400/405 and 410.

I've got the 400 Manfrotto, its a monster handles everything I've thrown at it, its awesome, you can make very small movements in all 3 axis's. I've used it with a D2x fitted with a 70-200 2.8 zoom no problems.

In my experience ball Heads are OK but as soon as you put a bit of weight on them they can be troublesome, they tend to slowly sink towards the centre of gravity unless you really tighten them, then when you *** to make a small adjustment the shear weight makes it hard to do.
 
i tried doing a panorama with a very basic tripod I was given (Think it was an ex-camcorder one actually) and it was impossible to maintain the horizontal straight.....

from what i am hearing its sounding like both types of head would be nice!? - when in reality the 3-way would suit my needs for panoramas/landscapes and a ballhead would be useful for more generic things!?

currently looking at red-snapper line as people seem to say good stuff about them on here?
 
Precision = 3 way

Portability = ball head

You can go for a compromise like a very light 3 way, which will still move a bit or a really big solid head but the general principles stay about the same. :)
 
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