how can I determine if my ball head shifts when locking?

erotavlas

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I've read around the web that some people after framing their shot, they are experiencing the camera shift slightly when they lock the ball head, messing up their shot. Is this movement a large shift or something small? How would you test for this?
 
With some ball heads you can see it move when you tighten it.

Another way would be to look in the camera viewfinder as you tighten the locking lever.
 
i tried this by using the grid lines in the viewfinder to intersect with some object. then as I tighten the ball head I looked to see if it had moved much from its initial position. However I'm not sure how much of a movement is bad or expected. I noticed a very slight deviation, like in the live view it looked to be 1mm or less. When others are complaining of this how much movement are they typically experiencing that would cause a problem?
 
I've got (or at least used) some cheap tripods where the camera will 'sag' a good 1/4" after you tighten it and let the head take the weight of the camera. It's a real PITA because you have to aim higher when you tighten the knob, then hope it settles into the position you want.

I think there will always be some amount of movement...but if it is not enough to bother you, then it's not too much.
 
Lots of ball heads have this issue. Even some ball heads that are pretty pricey.
It's somewhat difficult (and expensive) to make a ball head that doesn't shift when it's tightened

Which is why I still rely on 3-way tripod heads in critical situations instead of ball heads.
 

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