ballhead on monopod

Just wondering what do folks generally use with a monopod... use a ballhead with monopod with a lens plate or directly screw mount monopod directly on the larger lens?

Depends on what you shoot. Although with long lenses (with tripod mounting rings) all you really need is a simple monopod tilt head, not a ball head. I use the RRS MH-1 since I use A-S plates. There's also the Manfrotto 234RC, if you use the Manfrotto RC2 QR plates.

People are free to do or use whatever they want including using a heavy, expensive ballhead...but I've NEVER understood that. I've always used a Manfrotto 234 (or predecessor 3234) or its equivalent in a QR version. I use one with an Arca Swiss compatible (Wimberley C-10) QR clamp. The clamp allows me to clamp/unclamp readily and the 234's tilt ability allows to mount a camera via the tripod mount ring (on lens). The lens then can rotate to any rotational position and the tilt head (if mounted so that its horizontal rotational axis is perpendicular to the lens axis) allows the whole assembly to be TILTED up or down easily. If you're using a smaller lens (ie without a tripod mount ring), then you have to decide if want to TILT the head fore/aft OR portrait/landscape (ie horizontal axis parallel to lens) OR use an L-bracket. It's a lot simpler than I made it sound.

Just be careful with some cheap ballhead, which will NOT hold the weight as they claimed - the camera + lens will drip down as you try to take a shoot; it'll be very irritating and can damage the camera or lens.

thanks... I'll shop around for a tilt head.

I use a pan/tilt head and I'm quite happy with it. A ball head would be useless for most of what I do. Everyone's mileage varies. What works for me may not work for you. Which is why I cringe when I see 20 guys chirp in to say you must get an expensive ball head. It might be right for you, or it might not be. You need to assess your shooting style/needs and go from there. A good ball head is nice if it fits your needs. It doesn't fit mine at all. It might not fit yours either.

Jon wrote in post #14363390
Depends on what you shoot. Although with long lenses (with tripod mounting rings) all you really need is a simple monopod tilt head, not a ball head. I use the RRS MH-1 since I use A-S plates. There's also the Manfrotto 234RC, if you use the Manfrotto RC2 QR plates.

Cool head for a Monopod, thanks for posting the link.