Tripod head - which do you use?

[Tom Smith]

Thanks again guys.

I'm trying to spot any patterns in the choices of ball-head or pan & tilt choices people make. How confounding!

Wooden tripods have a certain panache, although if stability is a compromise with the modern ball heads............I feel nervous with a ball-head although there's plenty of positives about these.

Maybe photographers who don't like pan & tilt because they are inconvenient. I daresay I'll settle for one - maybe the Manfrotto type with the hex plate as mentioned above......until I can afford one like Ole's

Cheers,

Tom

 

[Tom Hoskinson]

Ballheads like the Arca/Swiss B1 and the Kirk BH1 are fully pan and tilt capable. These ballheads also support very heavy cameras with no problems. In addition, they have an outstanding adapter plate/quick release system. The downside is that they are quite expensive.

 

[fingel]

I use a Bogan/Manfrotto 329 pan tilt head with quick release plate. It is very strong and holds my 8x10 very solidly.

 

[jovo]

Oh! I forgot to mention initially that I have an ancient wooden, collapsible tripod that my dad used in the 40's but may well date from an even earlier epoch. It isn't 'collectible' by any means and was most likely a very common choice in its' era, but it is very, very cool and still totally functional. I now use it with a thoroughly annonymous pan/tilt head for our wooden 4x5 pinhole camera. On the grounds of aesthetics alone, the two look terrific together.