Flame away but I need to know...

Ok So.... I have been in Photography now for three years, have learned leaps and bounds and have upgrade my equipment as I grow out of it.
But one thing I haven’t learned, being NOT formally educated, is what the dickens are ball heads and what is the different between a nice Silk tripod like I have (bought from a board member) and ordering separate legs and "Ball heads".

Is there some fundamental I am missing out on? I really would like to get the skinny on this, it just a facet of photography I haven’t had to face but I want to learn all the same.

Thank you, and flame away or laugh if you have too..... My since of humor is in tack!

(Hope this helps)
I have no experience at all with this brand.... I just linked it for instructional purposes

Generally a tripod is compromised of "Legs" and a "Head"

Sometimes they come in kits, generally the cheaper versions not only come as a kit, but are not detachable.

Higher-end versions, come separate.

So you buy a specific kind of Legs that you like, heavy, tall, carbon, aluminium, etc.

Then a head, there are several types, and cover a wide range of prices.

You would have to find a specific tutorial, but a quick basis is :

-Ball head, is around a ball design, with a lock/unlock setup. Sometimes offering a horizontal spin, and sometimes offering torque. They are essentially quick, small, and light to carry.

-3Way heads, are with 3 levers, more precise then a ballhead, bigger, heavier.

-Geared heads, are even more precise, more expensive, smaller, lighter.

-Gimbals, the big daddys, mostly for use with heavy equipment.

You will need to do more research to pick one out for you, but i'm just shooting the basics your way. 3 years in photography and not learning about tripods is odd. They are very fundamental to photography.

Csae wrote in post #10869885
You will need to do more research to pick one out for you, but i'm just shooting the basics your way. 3 years in photography and not learning about tripods is odd. They are very fundamental to photography.

I use a tripod 1% of the time, and I have a very respectable Silk 3way pan/tilt head. I just simply never understood the need for a removable ball head in the field.
I think I was looking more for why it was preferred, I do understand the ease of one lever vs three but not real sure why you need the head to be completely removed.

Guess until I start using a tripod more then 1 out of a 100 times I shoot, and that is still usually just part of the shoot, then I won't have much of a need for an upgrade. I love my Silk, love the legs on it.

BigAlz1 wrote in post #10871505
I use a tripod 1% of the time, and I have a very respectable Silk 3way pan/tilt head. I just simply never understood the need for a removable ball head in the field.
I think I was looking more for why it was preferred, I do understand the ease of one lever vs three but not real sure why you need the head to be completely removed.

Guess until I start using a tripod more then 1 out of a 100 times I shoot, and that is still usually just part of the shoot, then I won't have much of a need for an upgrade. I love my Silk, love the legs on it.

Although I don't remove the head on mine when in its carrying bag, I suspect many with very expensive head assemblies remove them for safety when transporting the tripod. The tripod legs are big and awkward and can get banged around or knocked over easily when not in use. Having your expensive, sensitive, ultra-smooth operating head safely in its own padded case prevents it from getting banged around too and potentially scratched, dinged, or dirty.

I also know photographers who when traveling, carry their ball head with their camera gear onboard the plane, while the tripod legs suffer the perils of checked luggage.

-howard

Just fyi, I think it's called SLIK and not Silk, as in "silky smooth"

Well, a ball head is smaller than the typical three-way, so packing is easier. By getting separate legs and head you can swap heads to use the best head for the job (ball head for still, three-way for video, and gimbal when you're using a huge lens). And if you get the head and legs separately, you're not tied to a particular quick release system.

If you don't use the tripod very much, the pan tilt head will be fine. If you find you're using it more, you'll automatically realize why a ballhead which allows rapid movement in all directions at once, is more useful. Leaving it on or removing a head is a matter of choice.

BigAlz1 wrote in post #10871505
I use a tripod 1% of the time, and I have a very respectable Silk 3way pan/tilt head. I just simply never understood the need for a removable ball head in the field.
I think I was looking more for why it was preferred, I do understand the ease of one lever vs three but not real sure why you need the head to be completely removed.

Guess until I start using a tripod more then 1 out of a 100 times I shoot, and that is still usually just part of the shoot, then I won't have much of a need for an upgrade. I love my Silk, love the legs on it.

Where have you seen anybody post that a ball head needs to be easily removable in the field?

Having a head that can be removed at all means that you can buy one good set of legs and then use different heads in different situations. Given the price of a good ball head, it is nice when flying to be able to keep the head in your carry-on and only put the legs in checked luggage.

If you are hiking to and from a location and are using any type of head that is heavy or bulky then removing the head and putting it inside the pack so that only the legs are strapped to the outside can be much easier to hike with.

I think versatility is the main reason they come separate. If you end up with with heavy telephoto lenses then you just have to buy a new head, instead of the whole thing. Or in my case, if you don't like the head you bought and will eventually change. I have a pistol grip head that sounded good in theory but in practice is not near as smooth as I would like.