Manfrotto Compact Ball Head

The Manfrotto 496RC2 is a basic ball head that is OK on a tripod, but works very well on a monopod. The lack of a panning feature makes this head useless for panoramic landscapes where stitching photographs together is needed. The single locking knob releases both the ball mechanism and the base to allow adjustments, making just panning impossible. The friction knob could be set to prevent movement of the ball, but the absence of a degree scale would make panning a 'hit or miss' exercise. As a basic tripod head it is fine as long as the weight of the camera and lens being used is not too close to its maximum load capacity. Unless a very sturdy tripod is used with this head, it can be difficult to set the camera and lock the head without the camera position dropping down slightly. It is not a precision head but I can recommend it for general use.

Fine, relatively cheap (I got mine in kit with 055 tripod). It is such stable in most applications, but 300 mm lenses (on digital) mlu activation is recomended.

I had this head some time and liked it very much - easy to handel and not to heavy - but finally I replaced it by a 498 because that can carry my heavy 6x7 camera

The 496 model apparently incorporates a number of improvements over older models, and it will hold more weight than the 494RC2. The new friction control knob allows improved control when handling the camera and making micro movements without having to totally lock and unlock the ball head. The locking lever can be pulled out to reposition the lever at a different angle without unlocking the ball, this allows you to put the lever at the angle most comfortable for your use - nice feature. Weight is reduced by two oval cutouts on the sides of the head.