The tripod head that you’re choosing is just as important a choice as the tripod you’re using. It is an essential tool for many types of imaging environments. For a serious photographer that wants to get that perfect shot in the animal kingdom or even when you’re painting with light, your tripod and tripod head are used to maintain a steady shot when shooting in low light, using high mag equipment or even windy conditions. The tripod head also has to support the weight of the equipment you’re using. Here is some basic info to help you decide which tripod head is right for you? Your image quality and the safety of your gear is directly related to the kind of tripod and tripod head that you choose. If you need, here are some thoughts on choosing the right tripod.
Considerations For Your Tripod head
1: What type of movement it allows- – For the beginner, there are different types of tripod heads that offer different ranges of motion depending on the subjects and environments you are working with.
2: How much weight will it safely support–The biggest mistake that beginners make is buying a tripod and tripod head that is unable to support the weight of the equipment they are going to be using. The issue here is called sag. It occurs when the camera and lens are too heavy for the tripod head and it slowly moves out of position as it sits and slowly strips the parts over time.
Some tripod manufacturers have weight capacity ratings listed on their products but these cannot entirely be trusted. Also another common mistake is not making sure that the lenses that you will be using will clear the edge of the tripod head.
3: Your connection- – There are two different ways to connect your camera or other optics to your tripod head and that would be either threading or screwing it onto the tripod head or you could use a Quick Release Plate. The quick release plate is by far the fastest way to mount and dismount your gear. You just attach the quick release plate to your camera and leave it and whenever you want to mount your camera to your tripod all you have to do is pop it on.
Your Tripod Head… a 2-way, 3-way or a Ball Head?
As far as how they move, there are three general types of tripod heads… 2-way tripod heads, 3-way tripod heads, and ball heads. Your choice basically depends on what your application and the gear you’ll be mounting. Again the weight is of utmost importance here.
2-Way tripod head:
This is the most basic tripod head. A two-way head, as its name suggests, allows movement of the head in two directions – vertically, going up and down. And horizontally, moving left to right. This is all you really need for a lot of photo opportunities. A 2-way head works great also when using a video camera. 2-way heads are usually the easiest to use the and most stable.
3-way tripod head:
This head has the same ranges of motion that a 2-way provides but also adds a third range of motion allowing the camera to be flipped on its side. This allows the camera to move from a landscape to a portrait position.
Ball head:
As its name suggests, has the head mounted on top of a ball. This allows movement in all planes of motion at the same time. The most effective way to accomplish this is to tighten the friction knob just enough to maintain the balance of the equipment while also giving you the ability to move the camera smoothly. The downside of the ball head? its usually only the heavier more expensive ones that can support heavier cameras. Ball heads also cause your equipment to sit up higher therefore raising the center of gravity of your whole tripod setup and tends to make it more unstable.
We all have our personal preferences as to what type of equipment we like to work with but with these guidelines you should have no trouble finding the right tripod head to suite your preferences.
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