How would you describe the panning action of the Induro ball head? Is it a smooth and easy to rotate?
324249
I find it very smooth and I'm extremely happy with it. I had a Really Right Stuff head that wore out. The Induro action is every bit as good and it's lighter. I had the RRS head on an Induro tripod and I'm so happy with their tripod, I went for one of their heads and glad I did.
324250
I use the Induro Tripod BHL-1 on my Induro tripod, and there are several adjustments on it that make it very smooth and easy to rotate. I've had mine quite a while, and after playing around with it, I now have it adjusted where I can easily go from a fixed shot to a panning action shot. It's been very effective for me to photograph birds in flight.
1193382
The rotary is geared for a smooth pan motion despite the fact that it does not have a handle. You just need to use the camera itself; I find that by gently pulling the camera strap from side to side you can get a smooth pan. It would definitely be better if it did have a handle, especially for adjusting the ball head.
45851
I wouldn't. The head moves easily but for video, you really need the pan handle for fluidity. Otherwise, trying to pan would create jerky movements.
1409641
Yes and yes. The lock knob locks the ball in pretty much any position you can imagine by looking at where the slot is. I ran an LED light on it just tonight on a horizontal extension from a light stand, set the light back upright by putting the ball head stem in the slot and was able to rotate the light around it 360 degrees. I have several of these ball heads. The Neewer is not the cheapest, but it is the best made. It is substantial and heavy. It won't let you down.
107302
I am using a Giottos MH1000-652 Large Ball Head with Tension Control and MH652 Quick Release and it works quite well. I recommend it.
1291893
I am not a videographer. I bought this for my Konus 20-60x100 spotting scope. It is plenty smooth for the pan and tilt that I do. It comes with one standard adaptor for a camera or large telephoto lens. I would say it is probably not liquid or glass smooth, but it is smooth and not jerky. The tension for pan and tilt are easily adjustable and not overly sensitive. It has good weight and is relatively stable for my application of looking at wildlife. You would probably have to pay a lot more and go to a professional studio type of tripod to get one heavier, more ridged and smoother than this!!!! I am not a videographer. I bought this for my Konus 20-60x100 spotting scope. It is plenty smooth for the pan and tilt that I do. It comes with one standard adaptor for a camera or large telephoto lens. I would say it is probably not liquid or glass smooth, but it is smooth and not jerky. The tension for pan and tilt are easily adjustable and not overly sensitive. It has good weight and is relatively stable for my application of looking at wildlife. You would probably have to pay a lot more and go to a professional studio type of tripod to get one heavier, more ridged and smoother than... » Read More I am not a videographer. I bought this for my Konus 20-60x100 spotting scope. It is plenty smooth for the pan and tilt that I do. It comes with one standard adaptor for a camera or large telephoto lens. I would say it is probably not liquid or glass smooth, but it is smooth and not jerky. The tension for pan and tilt are easily adjustable and not overly sensitive. It has good weight and is relatively stable for my application of looking at wildlife. You would probably have to pay a lot more and go to a professional studio type of tripod to get one heavier, more ridged and smoother than this!!!! « Show Less
1291889
The head is excellent! Very smooth and "tight" with no wobble or play. Highly recommended. Excellent pan and tilt.
445645
It comes with a ball head, but you can change it out for what ever head you like. I am not aware of a hybrid style head that incorporates a pan head with a ball head.
1280153
Track-ball is fairly smooth and works fine. It does not feel as if it is full of grit.
1657843
No, this comes with a ball head which, in my opinion, is not very good for video, but you can change the head if you like to a pan/tilt for video.
1291894
the pan is reasonably smooth from a wide focal length. If you zoom in and then try to pan, you will quickly find this head to be unacceptable, but it works as well as I expected for the price.
1926246
If you have the room, you can spin this in circles. Pans very smooth and what I do is I hold on to the camera side and do my pans.
2041930
You just simply tighten down the set screws on the bottom of the head. That makes it pan smoother.
2258954
There is a grey screw below the silver screw (where the three legs hinge to the central body) which is meant for adjusting height of the central shaft. If that grey screw is loose then the whole shaft will turn and the head will pan loosely and not very smooth. Tighten that screw then loosen the silver screw and the head should pan with some fluid resistance. It might be a little stiff, mine was at first and I had to work is back and forth a few times.
1238916
I think it's very stiff for a video head. You'll have to apply extra force to get it started from a stationary position, and it has too much resistance to pan smoothly. There isn't any way to reduce the panning friction enough to allow for smooth video panning.
746566
it can be a bit tricky because you are essentially rotating the stick in a ball and socket mechanism. It's great for small moves and corrections but you don't have a lot of precision control to do planned pans. This is best for a compact run and run type shoot where some raw touches are expected.
2176252
I ran a quick test and it appears to take about 18 seconds to do a 180 turn (in fast speed setting.) I use this mostly to shoot dramatic slow pans and stretch them using Photoshop Premier Elements. So, it might work for your needs (hockey skating) but you might only capture parts of the action. (End-to-end?) Great tool for 360 degree pans - as in real estate. Also, has the tilt feature (up and down.)