Induro PHQ1 - 5 Way Panhead

I was looking for a pan head for my tripod, and did a lot of research. I realized the disadvantage of a ball head when I was photographing the recent eclipse. After I saw a video explaining how this head worked, I was sold. The first thing is, because it has two horizontal axis of rotation, it can be used for creating panoramic shooting. If the ground is not flat, you don't have to spend a lot of time leveling it. The bottom rotation is used to place the handles in the right direction. After that, you level the top platform with the two axis adjustment. Then the panning is done with the top that has a well dampened rotation.A small issue that I encountered was the foldable handles. They tend to come loose if the collar is only hand tightened. I suppose if you were to use the head for an hours or so, you could bring a small wrench to tighten the hex collar sleeves. I took off one star for that. Also the bubble levels are tiny and hard to read.The bottom has a 1/4 threaded hole for the tripod mount. The top is Arca-Swiss compatible. I use a Arca-Swiss compatible L bracket on my camera for easy mounting and flipping the camera into portrait position.This is the smaller version of the PHQ3, but still has a good carrying capacity. It feels sturdy with both my 80-200m F2.8 and 300mm F4 tele on a Nikon pro body.

I found a great deal at Amazon Warehouse Deals for the Induro PHQ1. It was supposedly a "Like New" item which I assumed was a customer return that Amazon inspected. What arrived was a great product in wonderful condition but was missing the Quick Release Plate, which renders the whole thing unusable out of the box, and a handle that was badly abused. The tilt handle looked older than the pan handle. It looks like the unit was purchased by someone who cannibalized it for 2 new parts for his old head then returned what he didn't need. My first inclination was to return the product immediately to get my money back. However, it did come with a warranty card with the Induro Customer Service number. I figured, that if I could buy the missing plate for quite a bit less than the money I saved, I would still be well ahead of the game. I spoke to a Support Manager and explained my situation to him. It was a pleasant surprise to hear him offer to replace the old dinged up handle AND the missing quick release plate at no charge. All I had to do was to provide proof of purchase. The product is well designed and after I managed to borrow an ARCA Swiss type plate, it is easily the best tripod head I have ever used. I mated it to my new Induro CT114 and the innovative design of both makes this product the best bang for the buck in any context and the wonderful personable support makes it the best. Did I mention that the folding handles allows me to put the entire tripod assembly intact into my Induro bag?

This is a 5 way ball head (no such thing as a 1 way ball head). I got it for repeatability, flexibility and ease of positioning accurately. I am using it for forensics and table top work; it is great. It doesn't have the precision of some of the higher end 3 way heads but it is a lot more flexible and costs $100s less. I plan to use mine mostly with the Joby Gorilla Pod for a project detailing wood finishes.Excellent gadget if you need it.BTW don't take this out of the box and go on a paid shoot. It is easy to adjust but complicated and you don't want to look like a dog climbing a ladder in front of family, friends or clients.BTW very limited use in video. I think that it would be of the most use on slowly evolving scenes or where you pretty much lock the camera down.

Great for serious landscape work. Provides high degree of control and consistency for applications such as panoramas, HDRs etc. The controls are pretty intuitive despite the somewhat intimidating first appearances, and with two hands on the main levers, one can control it almost as easily as a ball-head, but with MUCH MORE fine control. Also, while I rely more on the digital level-checker on my camera, the various level checks on the head are useful while doing the initial set up for the shoot.Build quality is really top notch and justifies the premium price.Only small issue is the weight. If you have a reasonably light carbon-fiber tripod like I do - it dominates the weight distribution and hence the tripod/ball-head combo can feel quite top-heavy (especially while carrying).

Well made and designed unit. Easy to use. However, taking the suggestion of others regarding tightening the handles securely, was key making it so. The scales are nice for reference. The multiple bubble levels help. But it is the many possibilities for movement that empress me the most when working with complex set ups. I would recommend this unit.

This was actually a nice panhead, but for me, too many things to mess around with. It was heavy, and I decided I just wanted to mess with one knob instead of several. I returned it and ended up with a more simple ball head, and am glad I did. But this did feel sturdy and the handles had quick screw/unscrew levers so they would lay down and not be so bulky if you needed to pack and compact it a bit more. Nice product, just not for me.

As a professional photographer who makes lots of panoramas, I was excited to try out this panhead. I was also impressed with the long warranty. When I began using it, I quickly realized that having to use both hands to set both locking levers was a HUGE inconvenience. I hoped I would adjust as I used it. Then within two months of purchase, one of the locks quit working properly. It would barely hold a light lens. I emailed Induro and received NO response at all. Eventually I called and sent the panhead to them with a request to replace with a ballhead if possible. They replaced defective components and sent this junk back to me. And for the record, I do not consider the panhead ANY more precise than a traditional, quality ballhead for pano work. It is just much slower to use.

The operation of the head is not very smooth. You have to loosen the arms way too much before the head operates.

Cet article est très robuste et précis. Je lui trouve cependant deux défaut: son poids et l'articulation des poignées repliables (les serrages ce ces articulations se désserrent, ce qui est assez énervant). Par contre, les serrages des différents axes tiennent parfaitement.

J'en rêvais, Induro l'a faite... Rotule parfaite, utilisation évidente, mise à niveau ultra précise, les poignées se replient pour faciliter le rangement, un must.. En plus elle est petite et jolie !