[hray]

Staff note: This post may contain affiliate links, which means Pentax Forums may earn a small commission if a visitor clicks through and makes a purchase. If you would like to support the forum directly, you may also make a donation here.

---

Hi, all,

I have the little Dolica tripod and ball head that is very popular...but I'm realizing the truth of, "If you buy a cheap tripod/head you'll want better later."

The ball head that came with the Dolica is sometimes hard to tighten fully (I'm only using a K-x with, at the largest, the kit 55-300 lens) and droops a bit, so I was looking further.

Has anyone an opinion about the Benro HD 1 Panhead? Or have another mid-price, tight, but not too big/heavy, tripod mount?

Thanks,
Hallie

[MarkJerling]

I'd suggest make Ebay your friend. This is quite a good head, at budget pricing. (Friend of mine bought one - I'll be getting one too.)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/400680365993?_trksid=p2060778.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

[atupdate]

Hi, all,

The ball head that came with the Dolica is sometimes hard to tighten fully (I'm only using a K-x with, at the largest, the kit 55-300 lens) and droops a bit, so I was looking further.

Thanks,
Hallie

I have a Slik ball head that does the same thing. I taped a thin strip of plastic milk carton between the ball and outer shell (opposite side of the tightening screw) to take up some of the slack and it tightens significantly better now. I don't use it a lot but it has held up pretty good. It should help you out until you can find a ball head you like.

Tim

[hjoseph7]

Before you purchase a ball-head, or pan-head make sure you check the specs that will tell you how much weight it can handle. Usually I'll buy a head that can handle the heaviest lens I got(with a little room to spare).

[sfkazimierczak]

I bought Manfrotto 496rc2 and it keeps my K-5 nicely. It has max load of 6 kg so 55-300 shouldn't be a problem.

[mikeSF]

Before you purchase a ball-head, or pan-head make sure you check the specs that will tell you how much weight it can handle. Usually I'll buy a head that can handle the heaviest lens I got(with a little room to spare).

yes, for legs too, if you hang a weight from the center column or lay a sandbag over the lens for vibration reduction, don't forget to factor the weight of these into the tripod specs.
I am starting to use a sandbag over my big tele lens now and glad my rig can handle it.