I know first off most people will say just do the buy once cry once thing and get the RRS head and I would if I could afford to do so. Looking for a good ball head for a decent price that can support my prs rifle. I don’t know a lot about the ball heads and tried looking them up but got way overwhelmed with all the options and everything else that goes along with them. Any help would be great.
Ball head recommendation for tripod
- Thread starter 6.5creedmoor
- Start date
Got a good recommendation for a leveling base that isn’t super expensive and can have an Arca Clamp mounted on it
+1 on the leveling base, I've tried both and stayed with LB for sure.
RRS makes leveling bases that are excellent. Depends which tripod you have, but one of them is a universal mount.
http://soar.reallyrightstuff.com/TA-U-LC-SOAR-Universal-Leveling-Base-with-Clamp
RRS makes leveling bases that are excellent. Depends which tripod you have, but one of them is a universal mount.
http://soar.reallyrightstuff.com/TA-U-LC-SOAR-Universal-Leveling-Base-with-Clamp
Does the center column come out? You would need the exact measurements for the apex area to see if it would work
I wanted to keep the cost down on a tripod set up personally so I tried the leofoto LH40 ballhead on a shadowteck pig 0311 tripod.
So far I’m really pleased with how it performs and it’s not uncomfortable to lug around on my pack a few miles at a time.
$195 for the ballhead and $135 for the tripod.
The RRS products are very nice and they are on another level but not many people really “need” to drop 1K on a tripod setup to have good results.
So far I’m really pleased with how it performs and it’s not uncomfortable to lug around on my pack a few miles at a time.
$195 for the ballhead and $135 for the tripod.
The RRS products are very nice and they are on another level but not many people really “need” to drop 1K on a tripod setup to have good results.
I’m in that boat want a good tripod set up that I can use mostly for my spotting scope and binos but also need it to be able to hold me Rifle when I want to use it for that also but can’t afford the really right stuff equipment
Heard of a few people going with the rrs universal leveling base. I think my first venture into the tripod world will be this combo.
Benro LBA2 works well and rated at 110 lbs,my only dislike is the adjustment lever,I would much prefer a screw knob type but I can live with it.I also have a RRS BH40 and can say the LBA2 handles vibration better.
I've used the RRS Universal leveling base and it is much more stable than a standard ball head. I'm not sure what your budget is, but if you can afford it I would definitely go that route. It will mount to any tripod with a 3/8" stud, and is much easier to manipulate than a ball head (IMHO). The paddle style tension adjuster is perfectly positioned, so you can have a hand on the top of a tripod leg and tighten/loosen the tension with your thumb. It's very easy to use and the stability is a step above a ball head.
Yes, just not as much angle (which most don't need for normal shooting). The RRS is 15* up and another 15* down, so total 30*.
Sunwayfoto leveling bases, and ball heads are very nice but less expensive than RRS. Super smooth and very strong.
https://www.bisontactical.com/search?type=product&q=sunwayfoto*
All that I sell come with the lever release. The Ballheads come with both the top clamp with a knob & a top clamp with a lever release.
prices start at $164... and the leveling base is speced for up to 66lbs.
https://www.bisontactical.com/search?type=product&q=sunwayfoto*
All that I sell come with the lever release. The Ballheads come with both the top clamp with a knob & a top clamp with a lever release.
prices start at $164... and the leveling base is speced for up to 66lbs.
I’ve done a SH search on the sunwayfoto leveling base and don’t find anything other than this post. Anyone out there using it? Is it half the product of the RRS as the price indicates? Anything you add on it Fred?
I’ll share my “buy many times, cry many times” sob story so maybe some of you can learn from my foolishness and cash layout.
I started out with a Slik Pro 700 DX and 808 SBH-DQ setup. I didn’t like how I shot off of it, but figured it was me. I took it to the Mile High class and found that while I was doing many things wrong, even after correction I was not happy with the results. I tried Mike’s RRS with leveling base, and things were instantly better. Another student in the class recommended the Pig 0311 and Feisol CB-50D. I did a bunch of dry fire practice with that setup, but still sucked very badly in the tripod stages of the team challenge (except the one stage where we had to share a tripod and I used my partner’s RRS TFCT 34-L & Anvil 30). So, I bought the RRS BH-55 and put that on the Pig 0311. I still shot well below my prone accuracy & precision. I finally bit the bullet and bought the RRS TFCT-34 Mk 2 with the anvil 30. I took it to the range last weekend and I didn’t see a real difference between standing behind that setup and shooting prone (but I’d bet a better shooter would). My buddy whose setup I used at the team challenge swears he shoots better off the RRS than he does prone, but there’s probably some body mechanics and rifle setup contributing to that.
The Pig 0311 with the RRS BH-55 is a good setup, and I’ll keep it for my spotting scope, but if I had it to do over, I’d just go for the TFCT-34 & Anvil 30. It was super frustrating to know I was shooting well below my prone capability on the tripod stages at the team challenge.
My approach to end-state on equipment is to remove any factor that’s not me, so my only path to improvement is training. But to paraphrase Churchill, I’ll always end up with the right stuff, after I’ve exhausted every other possibility.
I started out with a Slik Pro 700 DX and 808 SBH-DQ setup. I didn’t like how I shot off of it, but figured it was me. I took it to the Mile High class and found that while I was doing many things wrong, even after correction I was not happy with the results. I tried Mike’s RRS with leveling base, and things were instantly better. Another student in the class recommended the Pig 0311 and Feisol CB-50D. I did a bunch of dry fire practice with that setup, but still sucked very badly in the tripod stages of the team challenge (except the one stage where we had to share a tripod and I used my partner’s RRS TFCT 34-L & Anvil 30). So, I bought the RRS BH-55 and put that on the Pig 0311. I still shot well below my prone accuracy & precision. I finally bit the bullet and bought the RRS TFCT-34 Mk 2 with the anvil 30. I took it to the range last weekend and I didn’t see a real difference between standing behind that setup and shooting prone (but I’d bet a better shooter would). My buddy whose setup I used at the team challenge swears he shoots better off the RRS than he does prone, but there’s probably some body mechanics and rifle setup contributing to that.
The Pig 0311 with the RRS BH-55 is a good setup, and I’ll keep it for my spotting scope, but if I had it to do over, I’d just go for the TFCT-34 & Anvil 30. It was super frustrating to know I was shooting well below my prone capability on the tripod stages at the team challenge.
My approach to end-state on equipment is to remove any factor that’s not me, so my only path to improvement is training. But to paraphrase Churchill, I’ll always end up with the right stuff, after I’ve exhausted every other possibility.
