best head (1 Viewer)

hi i have just bought a sigma 180mm macro which i will undoubtedly have to tripod mount ,i have a manfrotto 055xprob tripod ,but which is the best head for it without breaking the bank ,i have been told to get a large ball and socket any other ideas with a budget of roughly £50-£60 u.k pounds

The best tripod head for macro work is the Manfrotto Junior Geared head (don't let the junior part fool you its heavy and well built - the "superior" model is just adding weight so far as macro photography is concerned). This is by far the most popular choice for price and quality and it offers you what you need for macro work - that is fine control over each of the 3 axis and a rock solid lock on each axis as well.

The head axis move slowly by knobs that turn and move the plane slowly - or you can release the lock and turn faster for quicker adjustments. However this pressure release only remains in effect whilst you keep your hand on the pressure release - so it makes the head useless for wildlife or any area where you need fast adjustments to be made.

Ballheads are not recomended for macro; esp cheap ones (anything under a few £100) because they will suffer from 2 problems
1) Lock creep - when you engage the pressure to hold the ball steady and then release your hands from the setup the head will shift a very tiny amount as it really locks in. For regular shooting you never notice this; but for 1:1 macro you most certainly do and it can greatly affect your framing.

2) Regular creep - odd angles and such will again bring in a level of micro creeping on the ballhead even when fully locked down = again regular shooting does not show this, but macro is more demanding by far.

These two factors above are much better controlled with the top end ball heads, but they will cost far more than you're budget.


Myself I would say that you've three choices depending how you want to approach things:
1) Ballhead - its not going to be ideal for macro at all and might even be a right pain the neck - it is however well suited to wildlife and action photography.

2) 3 way regular head - not as well suited to action photographer, but these will suffer less of the creep problems that the ballheads will have. Also you can adjust each axis independent of the others which you'll need for adjusting macro compositions.

3) Save longer and go for the geared head for macro.


This is of course all aiming at things from the macro angle - if you've other areas of interest they'll have their own demands on what they need in a tripod head.

thanks for that i presume you mean the manfrotto 410 ,thanks for the info saves a costly mistake being made ,i already have a gimball head for my bird pics so no problems there

the black fox said:

hi i have just bought a sigma 180mm macro which i will undoubtedly have to tripod mount ,i have a manfrotto 055xprob tripod ,but which is the best head for it without breaking the bank ,i have been told to get a large ball and socket any other ideas with a budget of roughly £50-£60 u.k pounds

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I think you have to ask yourself what type of use you intend to put your 180 macro lens to. Are you going to do proper 1:1 macro with it? in which case the advice given by Overread is sound, as he knows far more about true macro photography than me.

I have the Sigma 180 macro too (excellent lens!), and almost always use it with a Giottos ball head, similar to the one in the link below:

http://www.warehouseexpress.com/buy-Giottos-MH1300-652-Series-II-Ball-Head/p1025891?cm_mmc=GoogleBase-_-Tripod-Heads-_-Ball-Heads-_-Giottos-MH1300-652-Series-II-Ball-Head_1025891

Actually, mine is the smaller model than that one, and actually has a lower max weight limit of about 10-12kg. I bought it a couple of years ago, really to tide me over until I could afford a proper ball head like an Arca Swiss, Markins or Really Right Stuff. However, I've been so pleased with the cheap Giottos that I haven't bothered to upgrade it yet.

I would never pretend to be a 'proper' macro shooter. My subjects are usually butterflies, dragonflies and the occasional reptile or amphibian, always under natural light (no flash) in the field. Therefore I would consider my subjects as 'close-ups' rather than true 'macro'.

The ball head allows me to very quickly locate the target in the viewfinder, lock it very quickly, then concentrate on manually focussing. Yes, there is a tiny bit of creep, but it's rarely a problem, especially once I discovered that with canon DSLRs like the 40D and 50D you can easily move the manual focus point away from the default centre of the screen using the rear 'toggle button', allowing you to fine focus on the head/eye etc.

I've tried other cheaper ball heads from Manfrotto etc, but none of them have the ease of use and smooth movements of the Giottos. It really is an under-rated bit of kit. Another pro-ball head feature, if using a tripod on uneven ground, is that it is so quick and easy to level, with the ease of just one knob!

I've also used mine with the Canon 100-400 IS zoom, very successfully, though mine is pushing its limit with this heavier lens. It also works surprisingly well with a travel scope. Mine has been modified by adding a Wimberley C-12 clamp, allowing use of Arca-swiss type plates which I have fitted to all my lenses & scope.

Something else to consider,

Steve

cheers steve ,you have actually sussed out my needs and uses fairly accurately ,getting a fair idea of what to go for nowB