Choosing a tripod head (Manfrotto?) - too many choices

[Bravotwofive]

I'm with Gryphon on this. Both of my "main" tripods have ball heads; a Manfrotto 468 and 488 respectively. I've got a couple of Tilt/pan heads as well, but they rarely see the light of day. As for a ball head on a monopod? Ummm... WHY?????

Stability, less camera shake. Even if you don't tighten down the ball completely it allows for freedom of movement, and a stabil shooting platform. Works really well when shooting fast action.

 

[Joves]

I'm with Gryphon on this. Both of my "main" tripods have ball heads; a Manfrotto 468 and 488 respectively. I've got a couple of Tilt/pan heads as well, but they rarely see the light of day. As for a ball head on a monopod? Ummm... WHY?????

Stability, less camera shake. Even if you don't tighten down the ball completely it allows for freedom of movement, and a stabil shooting platform. Works really well when shooting fast action.

Thank you!

 

[Sn00bies]

Here are a couple of nice head in the same price range that is well built that has all the feature of the 488 with a friction control knob.
Vanguard SBH-200 Welcome to Vanguard USA

Giottos MH 100 is in the same range I believe.
MH-3 Professional Heads

Giottos | MH-1000 Large Ballhead with MH-652 Q.R. | MH1000-652

These heads look great actually... far more impressive than the ones I've seen so far. I'm guessing even though they're not Manfrotto, they're a universal fit to Manfrotto's legs? I'm not familiar with whether or not different companies have proprietary heads or not...?

Anyway, I was looking at the SBH-200, which is nice, but the SBH-300 is only slightly more expensive and no doubt better. I know it might be over kill to have a 70lb. weight limit, but for the price, if nothing else, it should provide more assurance that the camera will never budge, plus it's probably built of thicker/sturdier material.

The SBH-300 is just a few tenths of an inch bigger, but actually 1.8lbs less than the SB-200...? Interesting.

 

[Sn00bies]

Figured I'd resurrect this thread instead of making a new one.

So I think I mentioned I have some Velbon legs... the AEF-3 model. At first I thought it was a really cheap tripod (looks cheap, since the previous owner didn't take very good care of it, or just used it like crazy) that didn't have a replaceable head, but then I actually looked and found that the head is replaceable. My question is, does anyone know if the Vanguard SBH-300 head (Welcome to Vanguard Europe) will screw on to these legs? Are all brands of heads/legs typically interchangeable? I can't find any info on the head thread on the legs or the Vanguard head, the only size shown is the camera screw. Any help would be appreciated! I might actually be able to upgrade if I can just get the head first.