tripod head thoughts

John wells

John wells

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Evening all

Having had a very nice few days away with a mate in the highlands you try each others gear and decide that yours isn't quite as nice as you thought, i currently use a manfrotto small ball head which kind of does the job but was bloody fiddly especially when it was cold, so I'm looking at a few other "bargains" on Fleabay and wondered if there were users of them on here who could give me simple pros and cons of them.

comments appreciated

Manfrotto 115
Manfrotto 168
Gitzo GH178QR
Manfrotto 460MG

Camera is a 6d and lenses mainly 24-105 but wanting to get a 70-200 later in the year

John
 
If the budget allows, the 410 Junior head will be the only one you need. It is quite heavy though but with a 6D and 70-200mm you'll require something sturdy. I bought mine second hand which saves a few pennies.

Cons - heavy
Pros - excellent engineering and can be used with reasonably thick gloves if required. Easy, fine precision for levelling.

Oh - there's nothing junior about it either!
 
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Thanks Edward

it looks very similar to the 460 but appears to be geared so greater control? also appears to be a lot more £££

John
 
I'm with Edwardl on this John. The 410 is a brilliant tripod head for anything from landscape to portrait work. I would not recommend it for birds in flight or similar but that's about it.

There is an old cliché that goes something like, "buy expensive but buy once" meaning there is no real saving when you purchase cheap items. I wouldn't trust a cheap tripod head to support up to £3k worth of gear, would you?!

Andy
 
No i do understand the principle, economics can get in the way….

I guess having used a ball head for so long these types of heads might not appeal, i can see a trip to a camera shop to have a play is in order
 
I'm another fan of the 410 Geared. Small ballheads do have there place, usually when I'm hiking high and can't be bothered with the weight of the 410.
 
If accuracy is important, a 410 is as fast as a ball head to get aimed right. Needs a bit of playing before you get quick with it but saves loads of fiddling about doing little adjustments with a ball head.
 
The 410 head....... Buy one!!!! Enough said!!!

I would buy a tripod that weighs one gram.....


But would still fit the 410 head! It's indestructible
 
I guess I'm in the minority this time... For general purpose work I would not get a geared head. I would get an arca swiss compatible ballhead (i.e. not manfrotto or gitzo). Hoppy and others can point you towards some of the better low cost options (there are previous threads on the topic).

FWIW I do own/use a geared head (Manfrotto 405), but not for general purpose...
 
Manfrotto 410 is not just heavy, but very heavy. And pretty much useless for anything that moves.

I'd suggest a Manfrotto 803 as a good 3-way head. Half the weight of the 410. Unfortunately, the lighter Manfrotto X-Pro geared head is rather too wobbly. I've not tried the new 290 3-way with cleverly folding handles, and light, but that's probably worth looking at too.

Like Steven though, for general use a ball-head is the popular choice.

Edit: I used to have a 410, now the even heavier 405 for studio work where I need fine precision. Otherwise an 803 when out and about but needing 3-way control. Otherwise, it's a ball - Arca-Swiss P0, though there are plenty of very good ball heads to be had for less.
 
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HoppyUK said:
Manfrotto 410 is not just heavy, but very heavy. And pretty much useless for anything that moves...
Click to expand...

Very true (though at 1.4 kg is a lot less than it's big brother the 405, which is 2.25 kg!) - it's also quite big compared to a ball head.

For landscapes, however, it's great - quick to get the scene framed generally how you want, easy to then fine tune your composition as required.
 
In general use, I never frame/compose anything so exactly/tightly that I need the precision of a geared head... IMO, composing that exactly will more often hurt/limit you later.
 
Thanks guys, got myself an old 3way head to try as its sounds like it will feel different to use in comparison to a ball head and may look after at something better if I get along with it but not sure if the "accuracy" of a geared head is needed for me
 
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