Ball heads are not favored for binocular use?

[Rogering1]

Been searching for the right head for binoculars, astronomically I want to use with a tall monopod and for terrestrial use a regular tripod .

I was leaning towards a ball head or trigger grip (222), but I recently read the following and to me it makes sense.

"Ball heads are not favored for binocular use- as they have a tendency to tip from one side to the other when moving them. You want your binoculars to remain level throughout your mounts range of motion."

So I'm now thinking tilt head or possibly the trigger grip (obviously a ball head design, but greater overall control.. I'm guessing)

What do we think?

[Bender]

I was thinking about this model on a monopod head, it has additional friction adjustment for better control. Haven't tried it yet though

http://www.giottos-tripods.co.uk/index.php?page=productpage&cat=49130e8d88135&product=4918502ce3a47

[BinocularSky]

A bit of deja vu here?

That comment you quoted from Cloudy Nights seems to me to be borne of theory, not practice. (Subsequent posts note success with trigger-grip ball-heads and, as you know, I favour one for my Helios Apollo 15x70. A couple of weeks ago, some beginners on the astronomy course I teach used it for the first time; none had any problems with lateral tilt.)

Ordinary ball-heads can be a pain and are only useful if you can adjust the tension on the ball so that it needs slightly more force than the turning moment (torque) of the binocular to move it -- the torque of the binocular increases with target altitude. Both simple ball-heads and trigger-grips have a slot in the socket that enables the ball to move through 90 degrees (otherwise limited to about 45 degrees). Once the ball "stalk" is in that slot, tilting from side to side is effectively eliminated.

[Alma]

I've never used a monopod or trigger grip, but for terrestrial use ona tripod I would recommend a fluid video head such as the Manfrotto 501HDV.

[E621Keith]

I was thinking about this model on a monopod head, it has additional friction adjustment for better control. Haven't tried it yet though

http://www.giottos-t...t=4918502ce3a47

I wouldn't use a ball head. The fact they can tip side ways is very annoying. I have a Giottos ball head like the one in your link. I used to use it with my spotting scope, it's very annoying. Eventually I used the ball in its portrait model, having the axis riding in the notch in the ball socket and only used the ball part for altitude adjustment. While spotting scope's bracket can be turned 90deg, you can't do the same with binoculars.

A video head will be much better.

[scoobee]

+1 on the Manfrotto 501HDV, I got mine from ebay for £52.75 (used). It supports and moves my 20x80 bins a treat.

[GaryM]

I use a trigger ball head same as Steve's I think. Yes it can tilt and yes it caught me out first time but as with any-thing you get used to it and manage accordingly. Not really a problem. Maybe this is down to personal preference?