which ballhead better? Giottos or Benro?

[Michael]

24-70 can kill most ball heads.

i got the arca swiss already.

3 things for ball heads
1) the plate when mounted to the ball head, must not move/shake
2) when tightening, the ball head must not move camera
3) when tightened, the ball head must not droop

BACK TO TOPIC!

[UKay]

just get arcaswiss... the rest can go home n sleep

[cha_alex]

Roughly how much will it cost to get acra swiss?  My max. set up = 5kg.  Sorry me noob in ballhead....

[Michael]

2nd hand arca swiss ard $600? =x

if you wanted something more affordable, find kingpanroche or something like that. it's 400 instead.

good ballheads cost lots, but hold well.

[deadpoet]

Get an Arca Swiss ball head.  For general use, upto a 300 2.8L mounted on a 5D with grip, no problem.  But that is about the limit.

If the Arca Swiss is too expensive, then get the absolutely cheapest one, don't waste money in between.  If I add up the 1/2 dozen or so CMI ball head I bought over the years, I could have bought another Arca Swiss ball head with a manfrotto or gitzo carbon fiber tripod ... totally money wasted with all the "pretenders".

[Dream Merchant]

One alternative I would consider recommending is the Swiss made FOBA Super mini ball - sometimes on special offer at CP for around $400+. I really do not know why they call it 'mini' because that thing is huge as far as medium-cap ball heads go ... but as far as I can see, it holds up fairly well in that with a 70-200L 2.8 IS, using the friction lock alone, I can shift the lens fractions of an mm here or there quite precisely, and the friction holds it in place (with lens pointed half-way towards ceiling of shopping mall). If I need complete lock-down, it's a very slight twist of the locking knob/lever.

[victor]

Get the wimberly head...nothing feels better then that! Use it with 400mm F2.8 no issue at all even for birds in flight shots. I think it can hold your weight if the tripod can hold your weight! (but not sure about DP's weight)

[Dream Merchant]

Nooooo....mental images of www.DP_on_a_Wimberly.com is too much for poor old me to take during convalescence.