Comments on: Ballhead or Panhead?

By: The Ultimate Ball Head Guide

The Ultimate Ball Head Guide — Tue, 13 May 2008 03:13:59 +0000

[...] recent poll here on Epic Edits indicates that 60% of you are ball head fans when it comes to your tripod heads. But for those of you who aren’t on board already, read [...]

By: What Should I Write About?

What Should I Write About? — Tue, 06 May 2008 14:31:08 +0000

[...] remember to check in on the results from last week’s poll that posed the question “Ballhead or Panhead?” when it comes to your tripod. I’ll give you a hint… over twice as many prefer a [...]

By: Gregg

Gregg — Mon, 05 May 2008 22:02:40 +0000

I forget the model number, but I have a ball head from Manfrotto that also has a pan with a degree scale in the base. I tend to use the ball first and then the pan second.

By: Susheel Chandradhas

Susheel Chandradhas — Mon, 05 May 2008 04:54:52 +0000

Well, I cant say that I’ve used a ball head… but from what I’ve seen of them they dont look like they can pan and not tilt at the same time… Need to look into the pistol grip thingie though! Sounds like it could be fun “shooting” with it…

By: Brian Auer

Brian Auer — Mon, 05 May 2008 00:30:47 +0000

Yeah, the thing about ballheads is that they can’t support as much weight unless you get one that’s built for that kind of thing — and those are pretty spendy.

About panning… I don’t know how other ballheads are, but mine has the ability to pan or lock the pan. Then again, mine’s not a traditional ballhead — it’s one of the pistol grip ballheads.

By: Susheel Chandradhas

Susheel Chandradhas — Sun, 04 May 2008 17:24:52 +0000

I’ve always wanted to have a ball head for general photography, but have never been able to splurge on one.The equipment that sits atop my tripod tends to get a bit heavy, and I like the security of the pan/tilt model for that.

Having said that, I to use the spirit level a lot, and tend to take a lot of panned shots, so the pan head suits me more.

By: Dominique

Dominique — Thu, 01 May 2008 01:08:28 +0000

I’m with you guys, ball heads are more flexible and quicker. I don’t regret buying mine. I have a Manfrotto 486RC2 and a Manfrotto 190 pro tripod.

By: Royston

Royston — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 20:00:30 +0000

Looks like I will be adding a ballhead to the to be bought list. I am still using a $40 Ambico special from 1993.

By: libeco

libeco — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 09:36:33 +0000

I have a Manfrotto 322RC2 pistolgrip (I believe that’s the word?) ballhead. It replaced a Giottos ballhead with three different scres for all directions. The Manfrotto is so much better, not only with the ease of use, but also much stronger. Two screws broke off he Giottos head in 1 year time…

By: the_wolf_brigade

the_wolf_brigade — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 08:38:48 +0000

I’ve never had enough money for a ball head

I do like my panhead though I wish I had gotten the size up. It’s struggling with my bigger medium format cameras.