Ballheads.

[Mich-hod]

Ballheads...gimmick or good?. Your view...thanx

[Bob Atkins]

Good. Certainly not a gimmick!

Ball heads are faster to adjust and lock onto a subject than traditional "3-way pan and tilt" heads. They're a little more expensive than 3 way heads of similar stability, but well worth the extra cost. I have ballheads of one type or another on all my tripods. For the type of work I do I can't see any reason to use a 3-way head.

For shooting multiple image panoramics, the better ball heads have a rotating base (often calibrated in degrees), though the less expensive ball heads lack this feature. If you want to be able to pan horizontally for panoramic stitching and you want something inexpensive, then a 3-way head might make sense.

For something small and inexpensive, the Bogen - Manfrotto Compact Ball Head is pretty good.
http://www.adorama.com/Refby.tpl?refby=rflAID012417&sku=BG486RC2

For a decent "middle of the road" ball head at around $100, I'd look at the Bogen - Manfrotto Midi Ball Head
http://www.adorama.com/Refby.tpl?refby=rflAID012417&sku=BG488RC2

For something a bit better, but still at a semi-reasonable price (under $300) I'd check out the Acratech
http://www.adorama.com/Refby.tpl?refby=rflAID012417&sku=ACR1130

If price isn't an issue, then an Arcs-Swiss head like the Z1 series would be a consideration (I have one of their earlier B1 heads and it's performed flawlessly for the last 10 years with lenses up to a 500/4.5L). Depending on the exact configuration, prices run in the $400-$600 range.
http://www.adorama.com/Refby.tpl?refby=rflAID012417&sku=AWMBZ1SPF

[Mich-hod]

Thanks for your response. At the moment I have an older Manfrotto 141RC 3way pan and tilt which I find combersome, awkward, bulky.
I have been contemplating on switching to a ballhead for a while now, but they seemed so simple in there design, I thought there may be a "hook". Your response has certainly eased my mind...Thank you

[marcfs]

I’d also recommend looking at Really Right Stuff ball heads.

Great design…state of the art…superior construction.

Check out this article on ball heads.

http://reallyrightstuff.com/ballheads/index.html

Marc Schoenholz

[Mich-hod]

There is a "hook" !!...well with the ballhead I have recently purchased anyway..
I purchased a second hand(private sale) mint condition "Manfroto Proball 468RC2" which has lasted about 2 months and now has fallen to bits. A locking washer has "let go" the tensioning control and lock-down knob have fallen out, off, and away. 
I must say that I was never completely happy with the performance anyway the base has a nice fluid like movement tight or lose and will almost completely lock down. Where as the ball is jerky when tight and will not completely lock down,ie (will move if you change position of tripod for example) and/or is fliud enough when looser but will lock down even less...the lock-down knob will go as far as it can (to the stop) but the ball is not completely locked tight...disappointing to say the least...and being second hand it's "buyer beware" and unrefundable...also being second hand the local camera stores aren't being that helpfull....
So it's back to the old, but trusty, 3-way panhead!

[Bob Atkins]

I'm not familar with that particular ball head, but Bogen (Manfrotto) has always been pretty good in the past about supplying parts for their equipment. I've bought ball head parts for one of their older small basic ball heads after part of the housing cracked and they were pretty cheap.

If you can identify the parts that need replacing, it's worth contacting Bogen (manfrotto) to see if they can just sell you those parts.

See http://www.bogenimaging.us/Jahia/contactUs/site/bius/lang/en_US?mainMenuLinkPage=contact%20us