One head to do them all? Need suggestions! (2 Viewers)

[Akhil O]

Hello everyone! I'm foraying into the world of using scopes with an incoming 86mm, heavy scope. Reading a bit has made it plenty clear that I need a solid tripod head. I currently own the Promaster XC525c tripod and default head which I quite like, it's been stable for me albeit on a much lighter camera.

I'm looking for recommendations on a head, not too expensive, so I can spend around $100 used.

I like to switch between different modes of activities on the same tripod, to allow bird photography on my Sony 200-600, watching marsh birds at a distance with the scope, using my smaller p950, or a shorter lens to do astrophotography. I do intend to hike and keep the weight down. I've also never used any other head than a ball head.


Any recommendations for a one-size-fits -all would be greatly appreciated, bonus points if that size is small

Thank you and happy birding!

 

[Akhil O]

Any opinions on using a Arcatech ballhead-gimbal or long lens for scopes? It's used for about twice my budget but if it works great I would love the weight and ease of ball heads..

 

[Hermann]

A video head: Manfrotto 500AH.

Hermann

 

[jring]

Hi,

forget about using a ballhead with a full size scope... if the ballhead has a notch (or can otherwise be used as a gimbal - failung to understand from the webpage how the Arcatec GXP achieves this, though) and your scope has a rotating collar - a poor man's gimbal might work, provided you can balance the scope (a long plate helps with that).

The default head for a full size scope is the 500AH fluid head, which works very nicely and does not break the bank.

Joachim

 

[tenex]

Any recommendations for a one-size-fits -all would be greatly appreciated, bonus points if that size is small

Gitzo has made several heads like my 2271M which I think is the smallest (others like 2270 have a larger plate and/or QR) whose "fluid effect" is stable enough for our 82mm S2 scope while its third axis is convenient for photography as well. I like it very much and being discontinued, it's probably affordable used.

 

[forent]

Been there, done that: I have owned and tested literally dozens of tripod heads in the past decades, always searching for the "one for all". Until recently I would have said: It doesn't exist. Buy a 2-way fluid head for scope use and a ball head for your camera, period. And by all means buy quality stuff.
But my current head is - for me; YMMV! - a game changer: it is a very special ball head made in Hungary, the FlexShooter Mini (FlexShooter Mini Arca). It is flexible, well damped, small, light, sturdy, easy to operate, and does work equally well with my 82mm scope and my heavy bridge camera (and before with a DSLR and a 400mm tele lens). Unfortunately, it is also darn expensive. But the FlexShooter Mini really is the only "do it all" head I could recommend (and yes, I know the Arcratech, Markins, Novoflex, Cullmann offers). If you want to go cheaper, buy two heads.

 

[fazalmajid]

But my current head is - for me; YMMV! - a game changer: it is a very special ball head made in Hungary, the FlexShooter Mini (FlexShooter Mini Arca). It is flexible, well damped, small, light, sturdy, easy to operate, and does work equally well with my 82mm scope and my heavy bridge camera (and before with a DSLR and a 400mm tele lens).

I bought one on your recommendation. While it doesn’t have the full range of motion of a gimbal, maybe +/- 30° (for more, you need to adjust the outer ball), it works remarkably well for such a compact head, at least with my Nikon Z8 with 100-400 zoom. Thanks for the recommendation!

 

[wllmspd]

How heavy is your scope, which model? At elevated powers (>40x) you’ll be wanting a solid tripod, I find my mid range aluminium one (manfrotto 190) gets less than great for heavier scopes at high powers, looking for a reasonably affordable and carryable alternative.

Peter