Best tripod ball head

ball heads

Every photographer worth their salt knows you need a tripod in your kit bag, but it's important not to neglect the humble ball head! Heads are often bundled with tripods as standard, however these generally aren't the best ones you can get, and it's worth looking for a specific ball head that suits your needs.

Compactness and lightweight may be good for portability, but if you need to support your DSLR or mirrorless camera with a sizable lens, a ball that’s too small can create a precarious balancing act. Lesser ball heads may also be plagued with fiddly locking knobs and tricky quick release camera mounting systems that’ll slow your flow.

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Ben Andrews

Ben is the Imaging Labs manager, responsible for all the testing on Digital Camera World and across the entire photography portfolio at Future. Whether he's in the lab testing the sharpness of new lenses, the resolution of the latest image sensors, the zoom range of monster bridge cameras or even the latest camera phones, Ben is our go-to guy for technical insight. He's also the team's man-at-arms when it comes to camera bags, filters, memory cards, and all manner of camera accessories – his lab is a bit like the Batcave of photography! With years of experience trialling and testing kit, he's a human encyclopedia of benchmarks when it comes to recommending the best buys.