Giottos MH1300-657 Ball Head (Black)

I can only agree with the previous reviews, this is an really well made head, feels and looks professional and certainly does its job very well.I can't imagine what a 500$-head can do better except perhaps zero 'shifting down' after releasing your hand - but if you know it will shift down 1mm when you release your hand, you can easily correct for it and save 350$.The knobs are good to handle and the head fixes the camera really well.The friction is very good. My Nikon 70-300 at 300mm mounted to the tripod via the camera (not a lensmount) only had a few mm of 'shifting down' after I released my hand. (Compared to around 5-10mm or more with my previous manfrotto ballhead w/o friction control)Also the ability to rotate the head on the tripod without releasing the ball is very nice, not only for taking panoramas.The quick release plate is made of very good material and fixes the camera very securely. The two red knobs at the end prevent rotation of the camera around the screw (can happen when you make vertical 'portrait-rotated' pictures with some heavy gear). My Nikon D80 with 70-300mm at 300 didn't move a mm sideways.Overall I would recommend this head to everyone that doesn't need a 500$ Gitzo. And I wouldn't buy anything cheaper, because you just will buy again. This one usually.

There is a wobble in the base plate unless the panning screw is tightened. As a result, I cannot pan horizontally without this wobble. I use this head with a Wimberly Sidekick and am dependent on a solid horizontal pan, which this ball head cannot give me.

I have this paired with the Manfrotto 055XPROB tripod legs. This set up is stable enough to hold me Canon 7D with a 70-200mm lens.The friction and lock knobs are easy to turn and operate, as is the pan lock knob. The only problem I had with this head is that the quick release can be loosened up enough to completely let go of the quick release plate, effectively defeating the safety lock (not good with all that equipment attached to the quick release plate). I used a piece of wire to create a washer to place between the moving lock jaw and the quick release tube to prevent the quick release from opening too much. Now it works just fine. Four stars with my fix in place. Without a fix it would have been a one.

I've been using this ballhead for about a couple of weeks now and I am very pleased with the smoothness, quality, and value. While I know it's shallow and doesn't matter, I think Giotto's heads look great. The simple design translates to easy to reach and identify knobs while making adjustments with your eye in the viewfinder. When clamped down, it has not slipped on me, I even tried mounting my 80-200 with the plate on the camera and it didn't slip.The baseplate has two little tabs to help keep it aligned but on my camera they were too long to work well fully deployed, and when only partially pulled out, they are prone to falling back in while the plate slips. The quick release knob has a bubble level on it, but i don't really see the point, I keep the knob to the left so that it is reachable with my fingers and the portrait drop is also in the left (so the quick adjust knob is towards me) and so it does no good. Maybe I'm not using it right...I was the one that asked the question about the knob for rotating the head, and while I don't like the play that is present while the knob is loose, it completely locks down when tight and like other's commented, this isn't for video and you would never shoot with it loose.My last comment is that it is heavy, if you're looking for rig to take hiking, this probably isn't the head you'll mount. Heavy has it's positives though, it's solid and strong for sure and provides good inertia if you're trying to minimize movement and vibrations. Overall, I'm very happy with this head as my first serious one (I tried many at local camera shops).

I chose this ball head after about 3 months of deliberation in a tripod system I wanted to invest in. I do consumer product research for a living so I tend to be more picky than most people when it comes to value and quality. Whether you have a Giottos tripod or not, this is a fantastic ball head. Build quality is great, holds up to 33lbs or so, 60mm bottom fits nicely on most professional tripods and is the same size at the mount (beefy!), the plate clamp is very sturdy and the bubble levels are very helpful. With only about 2 weeks of time with this ball head, I can say that it has exceeded my expectations. If you want the Gimball action, get an Acratech for $400, otherwise this may just be the best arca-swiss type ball head I have used and one I certainly recommend.