Which is better ball or pan head? Last week I asked you for advice on which head is best for my Manfrotto 055XPROB Pro Tripod. What I failed to ask first is, which is the better head...

Dziadzi Loc: Wilkes-Barre, PA

Last week I asked you for advice on which head is best for my Manfrotto 055XPROB Pro Tripod. What I failed to ask first is, which is the better head, ball or pan head? So I ask now which is better and why?

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

I prefer a pan/tilt head. It does everything anyone would need.
--Bob

Dziadzi wrote:

Last week I asked you for advice on which head is best for my Manfrotto 055XPROB Pro Tripod. What I failed to ask first is, which is the better head, ball or pan head? So I ask now which is better and why?

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

rmalarz wrote:

I prefer a pan/tilt head. It does everything anyone would need.
--Bob

Ditto.

SharpShooter Loc: NorCal

Dziadzi wrote:

Last week I asked you for advice on which head is best for my Manfrotto 055XPROB Pro Tripod. What I failed to ask first is, which is the better head, ball or pan head? So I ask now which is better and why?

I think a pan head is better but a ball is smaller and more compact and convenient, for say limited space travel.
I own both and prefer to use my old pan head!!!
SS

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

Dziadzi wrote:

Last week I asked you for advice on which head is best for my Manfrotto 055XPROB Pro Tripod. What I failed to ask first is, which is the better head, ball or pan head? So I ask now which is better and why?

It depends on what you are shooting, what you are shooting with, and your budget. A Linhof or Arca geared pan head is a real pleasure to use. Most cheap pan heads are not stable enough for my purposes. In studio pan heads are fine, I prefer ball heads for just about everything, including in studio - and with long lenses a gimbal. For specialized macro and pano work, the products from Really Right Stuff are hard to beat.

orrie smith Loc: Kansas

Dziadzi wrote:

Last week I asked you for advice on which head is best for my Manfrotto 055XPROB Pro Tripod. What I failed to ask first is, which is the better head, ball or pan head? So I ask now which is better and why?

It will differ with each person you talk to. I prefer a pan head, but I have a friend that swears on a ball head. It depends on what you are comfortable with. If you have a camera store in your area, see if they will let you mount your camera on each to see which one you prefer.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

orrie smith wrote:

It will differ with each person you talk to. I prefer a pan head, but I have a friend that swears on a ball head. It depends on what you are comfortable with. If you have a camera store in your area, see if they will let you mount your camera on each to see which one you prefer.

Best answer.

pesfls Loc: Oregon, USA

I can't answer directly as they both have their place & neither is without its own hassles. Owning each, imho, is best for your own convenience. Sort of like vehicles. It's snowing so I'm going in the 4X4 truck. It's summer, roads are dry, why not save gas & have some fun, take the car. More seriously, what's your primary most used setup & subject. Go with the best choice for that. Pretty straightforward really.

CO

You have to try both. Pan/tilt heads give you more precise control. Geared 3-way heads are extremely precise and stable but are slow to use. They have a fast release and engage mechanism but you still need to make final adjustments with the knob which is slow. Someone finally put an Arca-Swiss clamp on a 3-way pan/tilt head. Benro just released the HD1A (5kg capacity), HD2A (8kg capacity), and the HD3A (10kg capacity). I don't know how stable they are but it's an interesting design.

Benro HD1A, HD2A, HD3A
Benro HD1A, HD2A, HD3A...

(Download)

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

Dziadzi wrote:

Last week I asked you for advice on which head is best for my Manfrotto 055XPROB Pro Tripod. What I failed to ask first is, which is the better head, ball or pan head? So I ask now which is better and why?

Heads are very application specific - there is no better or best - they are just DIFFERENT !

So, give us your application and we can respond with more accuracy.

..

mikegreenwald Loc: Illinois

Multiple replies have said that "it depends"...on the application. I agree .
Personally, I prefer the pan/tilt heads because they are better suited to panorama shooting, and studio use for portraits. For panos, the need to keep the camera level through a sometimes wide range of rotation makes the ball head slow and clumsy without special additional equipment. I own a Rollei rotating level device that can be mounted between the camera and any head including ball heads - and works great. It is slow to set up though, and unnecessary with a good pan/tilt head.
Further, unless shooting with a very heavy lens, modern stabilized lenses and bodies make hand held viable most of the time.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Dziadzi wrote:

Last week I asked you for advice on which head is best for my Manfrotto 055XPROB Pro Tripod. What I failed to ask first is, which is the better head, ball or pan head? So I ask now which is better and why?

I've tried tilt & pan and ball head with the knobs and also the squeeze release. I prefer tilt & pan. I can set one level and forget it. Then I set the other. With a ball head, I have to get everything right before I tighten anything.

wapiti Loc: round rock, texas

I consider a pan/tilt tripod head worthless for my photography, which is wildlife. It's probably OK for landscapes. I tried one about 40 yrs ago and found them great for paper weights and door stops. Ball heads[RRS] and Gimbals for me.

Dziadzi Loc: Wilkes-Barre, PA

imagemeister wrote:

Heads are very application specific - there is no better or best - they are just DIFFERENT !

So, give us your application and we can respond with more accuracy.

..

I am planning to take portrait photos of my family and friends.

Dziadzi Loc: Wilkes-Barre, PA

Thanks for all the responses, I appreciate everyone's reply.