Tripod Head Help

[jbylake]

I'm looking to upgrade from my crappy but servicable tripod to a Manfrotto (I think, still researching). My question is, tilt pan head vs. ball head. Advantages/Disadvantages. I shoot indoors and outdoors equally. Any advice about which type of head to buy, and why, would be appreciated. Also seeing a lot of "micro fluid" heads. Really not even sure what they are.

Thanks in advance for any help.

J.:mrgreen:

 

[TJ K]

I would say a ball head would be easier to use. For a head I would recommend the manfrotto 488 RC2 it is a ball head but you can also pan from left to right which is very convenient. GL
tj

 

[jdag]

Very happy with my Manfrotto 488RC2 on my 055XPROB legs. Easy to adjust and very stable.

 

[mtfd635]

I've had my 488RC2 two years - perfectly satisfied in every situation, every kind of normal or oddball shoot !

 

[jbylake]

Thank you all for your input.....

J.:mrgreen:

 

[nateMN]

I purchased a basic Manfrotto ball head 486RC2 and ended up returning it. It was probably my impatience, but I found it to be rather cumbersome to adjust.

I ended up replacing the 486RC2 with the Manfrotto 322RC2 because of all the great reviews. It's basically a ball head with a quick release handle.

Things to note...
-It's DOUBLE the price compared to the 486RC2, but I'm ok spending the extra money to save my sanity.
-It's big in size compared to the ball head (if size matters)

 

[battletone]

For my first tripod and head I got a 3 way panning....thinking it would be better for panoramas, which was my immediate interest. I figured a ball head would be better most other stuff. Well, unless you have a way of leveling everything, I was wrong on the panhead being better for panoramas. I would just assume have gotten a ball head to start with, because of how much work it is to get it level enough to just pan. That said, my next head will be a pistol grip ball head.

 

[jbylake]

I purchased a basic Manfrotto ball head 486RC2 and ended up returning it. It was probably my impatience, but I found it to be rather cumbersome to adjust.

I ended up replacing the 486RC2 with the Manfrotto 322RC2 because of all the great reviews. It's basically a ball head with a quick release handle.

Things to note...
-It's DOUBLE the price compared to the 486RC2, but I'm ok spending the extra money to save my sanity.
-It's big in size compared to the ball head (if size matters)

Thanks all, been researching this for a long time now.
Ended up ordering the Manfrotto 055XPROB Tripod and the Manfrotto 322RC2 Head.

Hope I didn't screw this one up!

Thanks again,

J.:mrgreen: