Ball head decision

[oplous]

I need your opinion/help to decide on which one I should invest. I confess Im a bit confused .

Lets say a big telephoto, plus a pro SLR (not owned yet) weigh 8-9kg max, would a 15-16kg ballhead easily support them? Im asking this, because some brands state that for big lenses a 30-50kg ballhead is prefered.

Would a Manfrotto 468MGRC3(16kg) / MH057M0Q5 (15kg) support this gear?

Any suggestions/advice is welcome. Im also interested for the Markins Q20.

[Muscat]

Re: Ball head decision

I don't use either of these heads but looking atthem on the web I would have said that any of them should be OK. Being hydrostatic designs they should be nice and smooth in operation.

I use a Giottos 15Kg rated ball head that happily holds my 50D with varius lenses etc. I haven't got to the 8-9kg weight but have used it with 4-5 Kg at some pretty strange angles with no problems. Just match the head with a suitable tripod

[oplous]

Re: Ball head decision

Thanks Muscat. I also dont have heavy equipment, but I want to be safe in future step up. The hydrostatic seems robust, but on the other hand a 40kg rated sounds great.
I wish I could get my hands on them, with some load to clear this up.

Muscat pls let me ask you, is the movement smooth for action shots, or is it better without a ballhead for this kind of shooting.

[Muscat]

Re: Ball head decision

Hi Oplous, If I am taking action shots I do not use a tripod as I find them to be a nuisance and restricting movement, if the action only requires a simple left > right type of panning then a tripod may be OK but I personally didn't use a ball head I used a tripod head that had handles and I used them to help with the panning.

I now only really use my tripod for static shots such as landscape and macro work and find that the ball head is ideal for what I want as I can pack things easily in the tripod bag and not worry about bending or breaking a handle, any action shots such, as the model aircaft, that I photgraph I hand hold the gear but having said that I am not hanging onto a 500mm or larger lens.

Others on this forum do much more action / wildlife work than I will ever do and I believe that they pretty much all hand hold their camera / lens I kow that some of the guys use the 500mm L lens on a 1D body whilst others use the 300mm F4L or 100-400L lenses on 1D and 7D bodies.

[Michael.K]

Re: Ball head decision

Others on this forum do much more action / wildlife work than I will ever do and I believe that they pretty much all hand hold their camera / lens I kow that some of the guys use the 500mm L lens on a 1D body whilst others use the 300mm F4L or 100-400L lenses on 1D and 7D bodies.

That's only good if you have steady hands,

talking about ball heads what about the Manfrotto grip ball head, 324RC2 are they any good to use? or a 484RC2.?

[oplous]

Re: Ball head decision

Thanks again Muscat. So I wont need a very expensive Ball head, cause big lenses is better to be used handheld or on a Gimbal head.

[colin C]

Re: Ball head decision

Most of my work is done with a 1D and a 500mm hand held. It seems a little daunting at first, but it's all about technique rather than strength and I can happily hand hold this combination all day if necessary, even though I am only a little fella!

I do use a manfrotto 501 video head if I spend any time in a hide, but that's not very often.

Colin

[oplous]

Re: Ball head decision

501 video head, great idea. Thanks Colin C.