Ball head suggestion

Looking for ball head which may safely take 300mm f/2.8 L II lens with Extender 1.4x. Please suggest.

Thanks

Jai.

I'm sure you'll have a few other suggestions, but the one that I own and love and suggest is RRS BH-55 LR.

I also would recommend the BH-55.

Personally I would not recommend a ball head for that lens as I have one!

However, if it must be a ball head, the SIrui K40x does a very good job and will hold considerably larger lenses such as my 800 F5.6 L IS.

I've gone through the Arca-Swiss Z1, RRS BH-55, and finally landed on the FLM CB-48FT on the heavy duty front. The Z1 doesn't do well when it's raining, the BH-55 had an apparently malfunctioning friction control, and so far the CB-48FT has been great. There are three models of the CB-48; CB-48F, CB-48FT and CB-48FTR. The F models have a friction control that works really well, the FT models have that plus a tilt control, and the FTR has an additional dual lock design that uses two separate knobs to control the movement of the ball and the panning base. All the CB-48 models have a load capacity of 99lbs.

Thank you all for your valuable suggestions. Will help me lot in making decision.

Jai.

I have used an older model Kirk BH-1, Arca Swiss Z1, and now a FLM CB-48F. A friend has the RRS BH-55. Many love the Sirui K40x.

All are strong enough to handle your 300mm.

The Kirk BH-1 friction control didn't work well, but if you don't care, it's a great solid head. Never had any problems.

I got the Z1 to have better friction control, but found it didn't work well in rain or cold weather. Otherwise, great head.

The FLM CB-48F is the best head I have ever used in any category. Strong, smooth, great ergonomics, works the same in any weather, excellent friction control and unlike every other ballhead I've seen, it has almost zero shift during lockdown. It is super precise. I can't see myself buying any other brand ever again.

I've been using this one for over a year now, not too expensive but holds 66lbs.
Desmond Demon DB-44 44mm Tripod Ball Head Arca/RRS Compatible w Pan Lock & DAC-X1 Clamp

https://www.amazon.com …3&creativeASIN=​B00TQ54CZO

FLM does make good ball heads, I had the FLM-48FTR as well, a great ball head. Never did use the tilt function much though.

The one thing that is annoying on the FLM-48FTR is the locking of the panning knob, it has a way to long throw which means you have to turn it several turns to fully lock/unlock.

The K40X which I also had and the K30 and K20 is my least favorite its build quality is questionable and the rubber gets sticky and loose over time also the sweet spot on the K40X is not as easy to find as on the K30X

Just about any ball head from RRS, Arca Swiss, FLM will do the job, of course, cheaper stuff will work as well, maybe not at the same level and not as long but work never the less.

The only ballhead I’ve used that didn’t eventually creep was the RRS bh-55.

rick_reno wrote in post #18886296
The only ballhead I’ve used that didn’t eventually creep was the RRS bh-55.

So all ball head except the BH-55 will creep even though you locked them down ?

Yeah right...

My Kirk BH-1, Arca-Swiss Z1, and FLM CB-48f have never, ever crept. I had the Kirk head for over 11 years without a single problem.

Interesting no one mentioned the Acratech GP >> Kirk, RRS & FLM are all excellent manufactures, but in my personal opinion a fluid head is the best of two worlds, Stills and Video.. You just need to know how to set them up properly, and once you use one set up properly you may ask yourself, why have I been using a ball head for so long.

A video head takes up A LOT more space than a ball head, especially if you're using a quality one. The one used in the video is ok, but certainly not the best quality we had to replace two of them... before giving up on the poor pan lock.

fotopaul wrote in post #18915167
A video head takes up A LOT more space thttps://photography-on-the.net …s/editortools_s​ize.pnghan a ball head, especially if you're using a quality one. The one used in the video is ok, but certainly not the best quality we had to replace two of them... before giving up on the poor pan lock.

Agree a little more real estate than a conventional ball head, however I have not had experienced what you experienced with the pan lock.. Perhaps due to your extreme weather temps in Scandinavia, however that's just an educated guess.. What was your perspective as to failure of the pan lock for you ?

Maybe one of these two will do the job for you, works very similar to the video head, but with a smaller foot print and weight savings. However about three times the cost of the video head in the video

1) https://www.acratech.n​et …ens-heads/long-lens-head/

2) https://www.acratech.n​et …ed-like-a-long-lens-head/