Pros/Cons of Different Tripod Heads

[Rodéo]

Wondering what everyone thinks about the advantages and disadvantages of using certain types of heads vs. others. I suppose it depends primarily on the use, I glass with 8x42 bino's and a 65mm spotting scope on a tripod with a fluid pan head. I enjoy the smoothness of the head (manfrotto 700rc2) and how stable in locks into place when needed but I'm considering trying out a pistol grip since I tend to grab the handle of the pan head pretty close to the base anyway, plus it would cut down on weight/bulk.

What types of heads do you use, what optics are you using, and what are your likes/dislikes for different purposes, i.e bino's vs. spotter. Does anyone take two heads out into the field and switch depending on which optic they're using? Anyone go from pan head to pistol grip or vice versa?

 

[Low_Sky]

Acra Tech Nomad. Worth every penny to have a head that works perfectly each and every time.
I use mine to support my spotter, binos, camera and great big camera lens. My optics move smoothly and don’t move when lock them down.

Nomad Ball-Head by Acratech Strong, Light and Versatile

The Nomad Ball Head is lightweight and rugged. Designed for the active outdoor photographer. A strong, light and versatile unit at a more affordable price.

www.acratech.net

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Ben RT]

With a pistol grip, it can be difficult to pan through a grid accurately, unless there is an actual "pan" feature built in (or you ad one - like with the Outdoorsmans). I believe most pistol grip/joystick heads function basically as a basic ballhead with a pistol grip to quickly adjust tension (I have time with a Manfrotto 324RC2). They're quick and easy to rotate to wherever you want to see; however, they're free-moving equally in all directions. With fluid heads you can set a tighter friction on the vertical plane, and set a touch lighter on the horizontal, so you can rotate through a grid more effectively (less skip/overlap). If you're looking at particular spots and not trying to grid, then the pistol grip is kinda neat -- I really enjoyed it for binoculars mounted on a car window. These days I use a ballhead with pan feature for the window, and a Sirui VA-5 on a tripod.

 

[TSimons9]

I spend the majority of my time looking through 12x50 and a 65mm scope. I have been using the benro s2 video head. I was really happy with it until I got a spotter. I don't like how the plates have to slide into the head, I find that it makes a fair amount of noise and if you are not careful it will move the head requiring you to find the spot you were wanting to look at again. I think I am going to switch back to a manfrotto 128rc. Its larger and heavier but the plates are much easier to change without knocking the head off of your spot.

 

[LaHunter]

I have been using the Surui VA-5 head for the past 2-3 years and have been happy with it. It’s very smooth and locks into place with no/minimal shift. With cheaper / lower quality heads you always get excessive sight picture movement after trying to lock the head.

 

[Brian Fahs]

Check out outdoorsmans. I own a bunch of their stuff. Their pistol grip with panner attachment can't be beat for glassing with binoculars

 

[Rodéo]

Check out outdoorsmans. I own a bunch of their stuff. Their pistol grip with panner attachment can't be beat for glassing with binoculars

I plan on stepping up to outdoorsmans at some point but I'm testing out some lower priced heads right now. Did some research on the system you're talking about and it looks ideal for the type of glassing I do.

Do you have any experience glassing/verifying with a spotting scope and the pistol grip/panner combo?

 

[Legend]

Outdoorsman pan head. Pistol grips are a nice concept.....but in the field you must have a grid system to really glass.

 

[Brian Fahs]

I plan on stepping up to outdoorsmans at some point but I'm testing out some lower priced heads right now. Did some research on the system you're talking about and it looks ideal for the type of glassing I do.

Do you have any experience glassing/verifying with a spotting scope and the pistol grip/panner combo?

Like I said I prefer the pistol grip with panner for binos. All my tripods have quick release adapters and I usually carry the pistol grip and a Pan head. I prefer the panhead for my kowa 884 do to its size and weight. I run the outdoorsmans panhead but also have and am really starting to like my gitzo 1720 fluid head. I have owned and used just about every less expensive head and sold them all.
To me it seems with optics and tripods and heads you get what you pay for and you pay for what you get. There are no shortcuts.

 

[RILEY L]

I have the sirui VA-5. It is incredibly smooth. I run everything on it, 10x42, 15x56s, BTX with 95mm and my AR10. It does a great job of stabilizing heavier optics at steep angles without the tilt needing to be fully locked down. The "sweet spot" isn't a finite adjustment like some other heads I've used.