I'm going to buy a new ballhead soon to use in the studio and for some on-location work. Mainly for product photography and fashion (shoes and models). I'm currently already on the Arca Swiss platform. D800E with 105mm or 55mm will be used the most. 70-200 2.8 will be used like twice a month or so. I plan on also using the 14-24 on it in the future.
A few years ago Sirui was considered great bang/buck. So I want to check out if this is still the case or if there are some new ballheads that are great. The K40X is what I was looking at, seems like somthing that will last forever, but it's a heavy one.
What do would you recommend with a budget of 200$?
Less important info:
I'm going to use it go get some extra low/high angles or to let an assistant take a second angle with the framing I want.
I have some basic Manfrotto legs and a good (but small) lightweight carbon fibre setup.
My ballhead is a Mefoto Q2. It's good enough, but I'm going to use this one on a permanent setup (so I won't be using it on my tripod on more).
diverhank wrote:
For the setup (lenses) that you described, I think a K20X is plenty good...It can handle setups with 10 lbs + without any drooping or play.
I made a long and clumsy review on youtube but it will show you how strong the K20X is.
I liked the review. It looks very beefy indeed. I'm just not sure if it's stable enough for close work and longer exposures, I was thinking the K40X might be worth the extra 50$ and weight in the long run. I used my current ballhead with the 200 f/2.0 VR2 (heavy but balanced lens) without a problem, But it doesn't give me great long exposures for product photography. I still end up lugging around my Pelican with studio lights in the forests.
I have the K-20X and like it: smooth movements, excellent workmanship and easy to use. I use it for travel and hiking. However, for studio and macro it's okay in a pinch but I'd want to use something more heavy duty with larger ball for finer control and more stability in the dropslot. And larger knobs are easier on the hands if you have to make lots of adjustments.
Check the size of the tripod base plate for a good fit with the ballhead. I bought a Sirui ballhead which I am in the process of returning as the base is too small and so the set screws miss the base. Replacing it with the Oben BC-139 ballhead.
Check that the head has dual bubble levels and that they will be visible when a lens or camera plate is mounted in place. Often the plate blocks the view of the levels.
