» Manfrotto 484RC2 Mini Ball Head with RC2 Rapid Connect Plate (3157N)

Manfrotto 484RC2 Mini Ball Head with RC2 Rapid Connect Plate (3157N) Reviews

Customer Rating:
Summary: Inexpensive and well built
Comment: I had a very tight budget when I bought my ball head and tripod but I still wanted something that was well made and built to last yet not real expensive. This ball head fits that bill nicely. It does it job and is solid and secure. I feel very comfortable with it attached to my Manfrotto 055XB tripod.

I had never used a ball head before now, I had always had those cheepo all in one tripods. What a dramatic difference. The lever to tighten is very easy to use and makes it easy to adjust even when not having it completely tight. The ball head moves easily. Its a pleasure to use.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Manfrotto excellent as usual
Comment: This head does what it's supposed to do, with good looks and solid construction. It is a good alternative to a 3-way pan head or a larger ball. It handles a full-size DSLR with tele-zoom without wobbling, and has fine friction adjustment (allowing small movements without suddenly falling over). It also allows a vertical position on either side of the groove, with an adjustable knob that never gets in the way. The only deduction (4 versus 5 stars) is for the lack of a pan adjustment. Quite often this is the only parameter that needs to be adjusted, once vertical and horizontal lines are established, but with this head it's all or nothing. In other words, I would not recommend this head if you specialize in architectural subjects. It is still a great head, though, because it's tiny yet powerful, and really lightweight, so it is a useful travel tripod and has the simplicity of a ball head for shooting sports, theater, etc. The head also does not have any locking bolts to fix it to the tripod, and this could be a problem if you inadvertently allow it to loosen over time (voila, there's your "pan" adjustment!), but if you're attentive to this, it's not a problem, especially if you expect to switch it out regularly with an alternate head and don't want to carry a screwdriver.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Works great on a Joby Gorillapod SLR -ZOOM
Comment: I got this for my Joby Gorillapod SLR-Zoom and it works very nicely. Very quick and easy to adjust and very solid (the Gpod itself obviously isn't as solid as a normal tripod). Head is quite heavy.

btw: This holds a D80 with the 18-135 kit lens perfectly fine on a pair of normal legs (i've tested this).


-jeff

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Bogen-Manfrotto 484RC2 Mini Ball Head with RC2 Rapid Connect Plate (3157N)
Comment: Bogen-Manfrotto 484RC2 Mini Ball Head with RC2 Rapid Connect Plate is a well built,quality mini ball head. I have owned many Bogen products through the years and I have never had a problem. All their products are quality and well made.If you looking for a mini ball head you can't go wrong with this one.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Good bang for the buck
Comment: I got this ball head to go on my Feisol carbon fiber monopod. From the picture it looks small and light, but to my amazement was quite a decently sized, durable, metal head. That put my monopod weight over 2lbs as this head is about 1.5 lbs alone, but this head is pretty sturdy. I can easily put my Canon 30D with the heavy EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM lens with the tripod ring no problem on it. I use this setup for fashion shows as it's the most convenient.

Just a note, this thing only has one center column screw to screw the head into. It does not have the 3 base screws (to prevent rotation of the head). It's not really a big of a deal, especially on a monopod, but some might like to know that it doesn't have these screws, even though the manual has it illustrated (it doesn't even have the 3 holes to screw in)

The Quick release plate is very well designed, and even comes with a saftey (good for me with using a monopod as it can catch a sleeve, strap, etc. then pop off). The quick release also auto locks once you pop it back in.

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