Which Ball Head

ShawWellPete

ShawWellPete

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I have a carbon fibre Benro tripod, with a Benro J-2 head. The tripod I like, but the ball head does my head in (pun intended :eek:). I don't use it very much, but whenever I take it out of the cupboard it seems to be jammed and takes ages to loosen. I replace the arca-swiss style plate that came with it when it broke, and bought a Giottos MH658 but I think it is time I bought a new ball head. It is to be used with fairly heavy kit, D800 with grip and 24-70 for example, and tends to be used for shooting the odd video or timelapse as well as landscapes.

Any ideas? budget is flexible, but was thinking in the £100 - £200 range.
 
I have one of the smaller Photoclam ones and its very good, also have a Markins although I think the latter is a bit more than the upper end of your budget

Sunwayfoto are also worth a look, company in Norwich called CGUK distribute their stuff over here via Ebay and Amazon, never had a problem with their gear

Feisol is another brand that gets good reviews then there are the usual suspects such as Kirk, RRS and Arca, but they are getting ever more expensive

Nice RRS BH-55 available on the classifieds if you fancy an early christmas present
 
Not sure it always comes out top in reviews though, ARCA gets the edge from what I have read and its cheaper too

Personally like Markins and the Q20 would be more than man enough for your kit, I have the slightly smaller 10 and that holds a considerable weight too

Don't dismiss the other brands I mentioned, do a search on here for Ballheads because I know HoppyUK did a review of quite a few

This thread is worth a look http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/th...swiss-ball-head-question.471713/#post-5437830
 
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tijuana taxi said:
Not sure it always comes out top in reviews though, ARCA gets the edge from what I have read and its cheaper too

Personally like Markins and the Q20 would be more than man enough for your kit, I have the slightly smaller 10 and that holds a considerable weight too

Don't dismiss the other brands I mentioned, do a search on here for Ballheads because I know HoppyUK did a review of quite a few

This thread is worth a look http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/th...swiss-ball-head-question.471713/#post-5437830
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Yes, that's a good thread :thumbs:

But I'm a bit perplexed by the OP managing to break a standard Arca plate - it's a small square of solid metal that you could take a hammer to and it would still work. I also have Benro J-2 head, which is one of their better ones, and since I've been using another tripod recently it's been untouched for a month or two. I just tried it now, smooth as you like. But I don't put it away wet, or done up fully tight. Even the best tripods and heads will misbehave if you do that. And salt water can kill them pretty quickly.
 
ShawWellPete said:
I have a carbon fibre Benro tripod....
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If it's the C3770T systemic, then the B3 looks rather good on it...
DSC_3526.jpg


Mine is near 2 years now and runs as good as new... carrying same gear as yours btw. plus a heavy multirow panosetup. No problems! :wave:

Got mine from DC Stuff at eBay. Think it was some $110.
 
HoppyUK said:
But I'm a bit perplexed by the OP managing to break a standard Arca plate - it's a small square of solid metal that you could take a hammer to and it would still work. I also have Benro J-2 head, which is one of their better ones, and since I've been using another tripod recently it's been untouched for a month or two. I just tried it now, smooth as you like. But I don't put it away wet, or done up fully tight. Even the best tripods and heads will misbehave if you do that. And salt water can kill them pretty quickly.
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Sorry, I didn't mean the plate, I meant the clamp on the ball head which twisted open. I always try to leave the ball head loose so it is very perplexing how it manages to cease up in the cupboard. Not long after I bought it a few years ago I had to send it back to the ebay seller in Beijing for repair for the same reason. Maybe I had a bad one but I would rather not buy a Benro head again.
 
Maybe because of my bad experience with my head I am slightly turned off by all the Chinese brands and I'm tempted to go for better quality and pay more but pay once. The RRS in the classifieds looks good but is pretty pricey for second hand, would it offer much more than this brand new Arca one with a 5 year guarantee?
 
In my opinion no and would expect all of the premium ballheads to be more than up to the task
 
I had much the same issue and settled for a RRS BH-55 PCLR. Obscenely expensive but should be a ball for life.
 
For your budget you could pick up a Manfrotto 410 and a Hejnar Arca Swiss conversion.
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Would they be any good for video which the OP mentioned ? Admittedly never used a geared head, but imagine you might need more free movement.

I had much the same issue and settled for a RRS BH-55 PCLR. Obscenely expensive but should be a ball for life.
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Never bought RRS gear, price has always put me off and not convinced its that much (if any) better than the cheaper although still expensive competition such as Arca and Markins. Could well be wrong though and apologies if i am, only true opinion can come from those who have compared or at least owned one or more of the various products.

To that end I can whole heartedly endorse Markins and their cheaper Photoclam clones, the former is that bit smoother in operation, but should be for twice the price.
 
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