Tripod Ball heads

[Chris_Johnstone]

Hey everyone,

Straight to the point. I'm just about to buy a new tripod, most likely the Manfrotto 190XPROB.

I'm interested mainly in wildlife photography and my heaviest/biggest lens is a Canon 100-400mm on a 350D. Will a 484RC2 or a 486RC2 be a good option? These are ball heads, are these recommended for this kind of photography?

Cheers,

Chris

[yellowhammer]

Chris, I've got the 484RC2 and I don't think it would be man enough for your needs. The 486 is a noticeably more robust head so that might well do the job. I haven't tried it myself though.

[Deer Hunter]

I would go for the large Benbo head, the ones you mention would struggle a bit I think with that size lens

[Ollie]

Hi Chris, I haven't any experience of the heads you mention but I have been using a 488RC2 ball head for around a year. My combination is a 400D and 400mm Canon lens, often with a 1.4 tc and a Bigma (Sigma 50-500mm) and I find this a very versatile easy to use head and so far it's stood up to it very well and can't see any reason why it should not carry on doing so
Roger

[zharca]

Hi, i used the Benbo/Manfrotto 190 combination mentioned above for years for general studio and location work. It's rigid enough for quite heavy medium-format cameras and stands up to rough treatment. Probably the best ball head around.
Not exactly light though and I found that ball heads don't really work for me for long-lens wildlife work. Here I much prefer a pan/tilt head, though it's bulkier. Just a personal preference, but I think the ball head works better with a waist-level finder because the way you hold the camera on each side suits it. A SLR on a ball head for me alwys tends to flop over sideways.

[richardkm]

I hate ball heads, you loosen off to move the camera in one direction only and the thing wobbles all over the place. I prefer either the pan and tilt (701 RC2 for example) or the three way head. The latter is excellent for macro work as allthree directions can be moved independantly to get the image exactly where it's wanted in the frame.

[David Hyde]

I love ball heads. A good one will have a separate friction adjustment that will stop the thing wobbling. One knob adjustment for pan, tilt and levelling is much quicker and more positive than the time spent operating three. It must be a good ball head though. I don't know the Manfrotto heads so I can't comment there.
I would have thought the 190 tripod is a bit lightweight for a big lens.
David

[eeyore]

personally ilike the manfrotto joystick heads with the squeeze release grip - i have a 190DB tripod and have the 222 head which is a joy to use - the only draw back is that it adds about 4" in height which can be an issue for macro - but you can get the 322 which is more traditionally shaped yet still with a squeeze grip

i also use the 222 on my monopod and find it great for that also - it will easilly take a 100-400 ( I use mine mostly with a 170-500) but you do need to rememember to screw the quick release plate onto the lens bracket not the base of the camera

[Sam Conway]

I've got the 322 and its pretty good, unless you want to do more than one thing at once, can't pan and zoom or focus at the same time, a small piece of string tied round it which you slide up the trigger when you want to rotate freely works well for me, the other problem is using it in the vertical position, you can only tilt up OR down, I still love it though

[Hindpool]

Hello Chris,

My Manfrotto 055Pro is fitted with an Arca Swiss B2 Monoball on which I usually mount a Wimberley Sidekick, of which I cannot speak too highly. The combination has no difficulty with the Canon 100-400 L zoom. The downside is that I have age-related problems humping this lot around! But do consider the Wimberley Sidekick whatever else you opt for.

Hindpool