Why do you want just horizontal or vertical adjustment only? That's, let me see: 1. Set horizontal; 2. set vertical; 3. set base (a gaggle of hand and camera movements, potentially repetitive until 'just-so'). Ballhead = all 3 tasks in one movement. It's an intuitive skill quickly picked up. I have used the 3-handled heads spoken of in this thread earlier for a number of years (putting up with rubber handles slipping off in hot weather).
And i have used ballheads for a long time too. Even though i don't like them, i still have a huge, old Arca Swiss ballhead.
So it's not about being experienced or acquired skills.
But thank you for assuming i don't know what i'm talking about.
The thing is that, just because ball heads do all 3 tasks in one movement, it is nigh impossible to nudge the camera in one direction (despite you asking why you would want to do that, needing to nudge it a bit in one direction
only is a very common occurance) while keeping it's position fixed in all other directions.
At first glance it may seem that ballheads are much quicker to use than 3D heads, with their three separate settings. But once you start using the thingies, you'll soon find out that they only are if you don't really care that much about your camera pointing in the exact direction you want it to. If you do, ballheads really will drive you nuts.
But to each his/her own, of course.
[...] Heads with adjustable ball friction can hold the head with a little stiffness to allow very precise alignment of the camera (a bubble level in my hotshoe provides this cue), then lock it in place — free to leave the base rotation as it is, or slightly stiff).
Again, you would think so. But i find the reality of it is quite different.
Friction brakes are perfect to prevent the whole thing flopping over when you loosen the screw.
But what it also does is make it more difficult to move the camera in a precise direction. You're pushing to overcome the initial friction, needing more force than needed to move the thing once it starts moving. And when the friction gives way, the thing shoots off with less control over its direction than you would want and need. What it does is the opposite of allowing precise alignment.
So if i need to change the position, i loosen the thing completely. Works much better, more precise, than with the friction brake still on, i find.
[...] There's just one left to try one day: micro-adjustable (thumbwheel) horizontal/vertical plane head (another gem from Manfrotto...
). This is the one I'd recommend
for a modest large format e.g. a Wista 45 (after all, you don't tilt an LF on its side, do you?
).
When considering the gear heads made by Manfrotto, better go for the heavier one(s). And even then test first.
The popular 410 works fine. But because they have a sprung brake, there is some residual play. Not a big problem with small 35 mm and the lighter MF cameras. But as the weight of what you put on the head goes up, the sprung brake has trouble resisting that weight, and the head will wobble a bit.
The best head for LF i have come across, ever, is the Sinar tilt head.
All it does is pan and tilt, leaving the other, third, direction up to the way you level the tripod and rotation of the rail in the rail holder.
Extremely solid.
Oh! a "by the way".
Sinars are/were famous for being "Torkelfrei" (one of the great words mankind has invented): they don't skew when the rotation of lens or film holder is used and the rail is tilted up or down to get more shift.
That is because of the order of the axes of the different movements.
Most, if not all other, non-"Torkelfrei" cameras will become "Torkelfrei" when you tilt them 90 degrees, changing the order of the axes.
So yes, it can be a good idea to tilt a LF camera on its side.