Photo Heads, ball, spherical, gimbals, 3D, panorama

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**Pavel Polášek**
Specialist of photo and video tripods section

"Photographic tripod heads are an integral part of tripods. Photographic tripod heads are of various types optimized for the photographic work. One type of photographic head is suitable for landscape work, wildlife and bird photography, another for studio work and a completely different one for panoramic shots. Choosing the right one is absolutely essential to make sure that your camera tripod with tripod head will serve you well and be a real help when shooting ...

How to choose a tripod head

The Ball Heads

The most widely used head for quick horizontal and vertical positioning. Ball heads are lightweight in design, which is why they have gained popularity and are a staple of tripod sets. You can also see ball heads in pistol and joystick designs with a grip for better handling, see more in the ball head details.

Quickly adjust composition, ideal for landscapers

Quick and responsive work
For landscape, portrait, simple panorama photography
Lightweight, travel-friendly

3-Way / Pan and Tilt Head

The three-way head is the most traditional of the tripod heads. It is the ideal head for adjusting the camera in all three axes separately and independently for precise composition. Three-way heads are commonly used for landscape photography, studio still life work and macro photography.

Precise settings for each axis individually, for macro photography, studio

Precise and independent adjustment for all 3 axes of motion
For studio photography, architecture, macro, close-up, still life

Geared Heads

Variant three-way heads for extremely precise control of camera position. Each of the axes is equipped with a gear to slow down, where by turning the grip you precisely control the movement in one of the axes. A second larger dial is used to release the lock and quickly make rough adjustments to the tripod head.

Precise exposure settings for studio and macro photography

Extremely precise position adjustment in each axis independently
For studio photography, food photography, macro photography, focus stacking

Why the Arca quick release plate?

Most tripod heads are equipped with a quick release tripod plate. The quick release plate is an excellent accessory for quick and easy removal of the camera from the tripod head. Manufacturers often invent their own types of quick release plates to force the customer to use only that manufacturer's products. If you're choosing a tripod for occasional use, don't depend too much on the choice of quick release plate, if you're choosing more advanced equipment and are only interested in tripod heads equipped with Arca-type plates, it will save you a lot of trouble and money in the future. (more here).

Panoramic Heads

Panoramic heads are constructed with the ability to fix the nodal (nodal) point of the lens in the axis of rotation, so that there is no visual mutual displacement of nearby objects in front of the camera for precise image stitching. In practice, it is about aliminating the effect of parallax, the difference between two views of the same location. The heads come in 2D and 3D depending on whether they can be used to shoot multi-line, spherical panoramas, where a nodal point in all three axes needs to be set.

For panoramic photography of interiors and landscapes

Correct nodal point setting
For seamless photography of single line or spherical panoramas

Gimbal heads

Special head for precise and light guidance of heavy and long telephoto lenses. The gimbal perfectly balances the weight of the camera so you can move it effortlessly in both horizontal and vertical directions. Gimbal heads carry the entire weight of the camera and lens for you, with some models carrying more than 30 kg of equipment.

For fast work with very long telephoto lenses

Easy guidance and precise composition with long telephoto lenses
For shooting wildlife, game, birds, sports

Counterbalanced heads

Special heads for photography with telephoto lenses. The heads provide automatic camera leveling with large lenses by spring and or pneumatic systems.

For fast work with telephoto lenses, bird and wildlife photography

Easier to move around with heavy photography setups
Special improved design based on video head design

Tilting Heads for Monopods

Monopods in their principle require a completely different type of heads. Tilt or Tilt Heads are designed for use with monopods, they fix the camera firmly with the lens and allow free tilt down and up. Cameras with smaller lenses screw into the tripod thread of the camera body. Larger telephoto lenses are fixed by the thread on the tripod lens mount.

Heads optimized for monopods

For securely attaching the camera to the monopod
Free tilt movement for ideal monopod work

Pistol Grip Heads

The pistol grip head is a type of ball head. Instead of a knob to tighten the sleeve around the ball, the holding power is provided by a spring-loaded handle. To position the head, you squeeze the handle, adjust the head, and when you release the handle, the head stays in the set position.

For wildlife and sports photographers