Koolehaoda Tripod Head Mini Ball Head Camera 360° Panoramic Head with 1/4" Screw Arca Type Quick Release Plate Φ28mm Metal Ball Joint for DSLR Camera Tripod Monopod, Max Load 22lbs/10kg - E1

this is exactly what i was looking for in a panning ball head for my travel tripod. the ball head that came with my tripod was needlessly large and heavy for the application. this one is substantially shorter in profile and half the weight, but with 80% of the load capacity. ball action is obviously not as smooth as a fluid head, because it's not, but the action is still smooth and consistent throughout the orbit. the locking handle is genius, unlocking enough in a half turn for high drag adjustments while pulling out and rotating the thumb tab allows for a further half turn for fast, low drag adjustments.the arca-swiss clamp is compact and lightened. the knob and jaw open and close smoothly, securing confidently when tightened. both spirit levels are accurate and work well enough for basic leveling. the included adapter is your basic 38mm arca plate at 50mm long and is milled, not cast, and thus of higher quality than you'd expect at this price point.panning is smooth and the locking knob tightens securely. the knob may be a bit small for some people, making it difficult to fully lock it in position, but i had no problem with it. others have commented that it doesn't tighten securely... either they have a defective unit or they could work on their hand strength. once locked down, there's absolutely no wiggle of the base, even when putting torque on it while tightening the ball head to my tripod.if you're looking for a true travel ball head for your travel tripod but still need load capacity above 20 lbs, this is a great option, especially for the price.

This little unit now gets 5 stars!! In my first review I knocked off a star for not including an adapter, but they now have one in the box, so Thank You!With my micro 4/3 cameras and smaller lenses it holds it’s locked position incredibly well, but if you have a larger camera with correspondingly larger lenses, you might want to consider their larger ball heads.I bought the second one because I want a permanently mounted light, tight head on my horizontal tripod arm, and based on my positive experience with the first, this was an automatic choice!I like the single-throw tighten/release lever so much that I’m probably going to replace my largest screw-to-tighten with the largest lever-tightening Koolehaoda.My first review:I write this after I just ordered a 3/8" to 1/4" adapter, so the negative comes first. It's very surprising to me that a tiny low-profile head is shipped without an adapter. It's tiny, so what kind of tripod would one expect it to be used on? Rhetorical question, but I'm using mine with a mini table top tripod that has only a 1/4" stud on the top. This is a real oversight on the manufacturer's part, and is the ONLY reason that I don't give this tiny tripod head five stars.OK, outside of that, it appears to be really well made. the machining is excellent, it's all metal except for the liner around the ball. It locks firmly considering the size of the ball---the mechanism is well-designed, and the adjustable locking lever is really useful.If you get this, be sure to buy an extra adapter if you don't already have one, like me.

This is a small but sturdy little head, movement is excellent, lock is great - even my full frame DSLR was held in place. It's well made, and I really like it. That said, it didn't work for me due to the tightening lever hitting the camera mount above. You can still tighten it, it works but you have to move the lever to a new position, tighten it, move it, tighten it. It holds really well when tightened so that's great - but is just a little bit slower than I need. I wanted it for a light street photography setup, and that needs speed. As much as I like it, speed isn't this one's best trait. It's small and sturdy, moves well and locks great so if you don't need a fast change it's a very good little head. Very compact too. I went with another head that is faster to reposition, but isn't as small or low profile, or as light - but it is quicker. Overall, I think this is an excellent head for the price, and like it - it's cute if a head can be cute. Works well, just not great for my specific need. Hope this helps someone.

Very well made and well laid out. Pan swivel is smooth and lock screw tension can be adjusted. Convient ball lock / unlock lever that you can adjust to the tension you want. Bubble levels are accurate.I bought one to test, I'll now be replacing all my tripod heads with these.Great for photography, not so sure for video since you lose the handle of a standard tripod head. Glad to lose the handle for photography. It always gets in the way.

I haven't been very active in photography recently years. My last purchase of a ball head was more than 10 years ago, paid about four hundred buck for a Markin ball head without clamp, and another one hundred bucks for a large Kirk made quick release clamp. I was surprised to see that the price had come down so much. This is less than half of what I used to pay for just a quick release plate for a telephoto lens! I know it is all because of the magic of "made in China", but does the quality hold?I am going tell you that I am positively surprised by the crafmanship of this little gem. Quality wise，I think it is at least on par or better than the expensive gears that I bought before. Aesthetically, it is far superior. It immediately replaced my DIY monopod head composed of a Bogen swivel head and a RRS mini clamp, and I couldn't be happier! It is better than my old head in every way.Great job! Coolhead. You will have my continued support in the future.