Ball or pan&tilt?

Hi

I am about to invest in a tripod and can't decide between ball or pan&tilt head. I will be mostly using it for landscape shots and a few food shots. Anyonye any suggestions as to which may be the better option

I think this is mostly a matter of personal preference, but for the type of work you suggest I would go for a pan & tilt with built in spirit levels. Manfrotto are particularly well engineered IMO. Undo the lock on a ball head and you risk losing that perfectly level horizon!

I'd agree with the previous comments regarding ball heads, slacken it off to tweak it in one plane and you will lose the bit you just got right in another plane. I'd suggest for your kind of usage a 3-way pan-tilt head such as the Manfrotto MN804RC2 or the MN460MG (very compact for packing and no levers sticking out to get caught/bent in transport).

When you said "pan&tilt" I immediately thought you were considering a two-way pan/tilt head such as those used for video work, I wouldn't consider these to be suitable for your kind of usage.

Duncan

I'm a big fan of the pistol grips. I have all three types (ball, pistol, video, all manfrotto), and for speed, acurracy, ability to pan after setting the horizon level, the pistol grip wins.

The only problem with most pan & tilt heads is that the handles get in the way! Think I'll be trying ball & socket next.

The handles are not a nuisance on my 190XPROB/808RC4 combo. You just tilt the long handle to tug it between two legs and you are all right. That combo is hard to beat for pano shots, since it has a level on the tripod itself and then there are three more levels on the head, so you are always level.

You should try to keep your mind above your belt!!!

hi i use a giottos mh100-652 ball head and a mt9251 tripod i have never came accross a better built tripod and ballhead. manfrotto tripods are superb but stand one next to a giottos and youll see the difference catch ya later..

Slik AF 2100 head maybe :

.. whose top can be freed to rotate independently of the ball/socket bit. So you don't have to lose that level horizon.

My vote goes with the MkII Benbo, high, solid construction, versatile like no other in operation, inverted legs (biggest tube on the outside at the base of leg) means water & muck proof up to 3 feet approx, smooth action BS head (I added extra revolving base for extra luxury).

I have had my Benbo Trekker with BS for years now and I find it totally flexible, very quick to adjust and less fiddly than pan and tilt which I have tried, but I suppose it has to do with what you were brought up with. What you have never had..... etc...
Lilly