Advice on a Head for photo and video

[theMac]

I will start by saying I am a complete idiot when it comes to photography...it is my wife's thing. I am trying to buy her a Christmas gift and I need some help since it is a lot more complicated than I thought it would be. I thought I would get her a tripod...

For the tripod I have narrowed it down to either the Manfrotto 055XPROB or the 190XPROB.

She has a Canon Rebel XTi, a Canon SD4000IS P&S (look at that lingo I am using...stops to pat self on the back) and a Canon HF11 (I think) HD Video Camera. The video camera is one that just has flash memory I think.

I was thinking the tripod would be great for her picture taking and would work well for the video camera as well. But this is where I have been getting all confused. I would like a single Head (lingo again..damn I am on fire) that can be used for both photography and the video camera. It would seem I would need a Head that has a little handle to swivel the video camera, but maybe I am missing something. Do most people have two different Heads that they change depending on what they use the tripod for?

Can someone make a recommendation for a Head that works well for both video and photography and is intuitive to use.

Thanks in advance for any help that anyone can provide to give me a clue. I went from a base of zero knowledge on this stuff two days ago so my head is spinning a little.

 

[tirediron]

Generally you want a tilt-pan style head (Manfrotto 079) for video work, and while that will do the job for still photography, I prefer a ball-head along the lines of a Manfrotto 488 or 468 head.

 

[table1349]

Get the Manfrotto 055XPROB with a ball head for still photography.

Get a 190XPROB with a fluid head/pan tilt for the video camera.