SMALLRIG Tripod Ball Head 360° Panoramic, Mini Ball Head with with 1/4" Screw 3/8" Thread Mount and Arca-Type QR Plate for Cameras, Tripods, Monopods, Phone, Gopro, Max Load 2kg - BUT2665

I bought this because I lost the quick release (QR) plate on my Beike BK-555 aluminium travel tripod. The head is the same type as the Bogen 3157N / Manfrotto 200PL-14 ball head in that the plate clips in and is held by a lever.While I could get replacements I was not sure they would fit so to resolve the matter I bought this ball head that has a standard Arca-Swiss compatible QR plate which also fits my other tripod and getting a replacement is easy. I also find it easier to use.It is a good looking solid ball head 100 grams / 4oz lighter than the one it replaced. As I have removed the bottom two legs from the tripod the whole thing now weighs 900 grams. When you carry it on your back with a whole load of gear every little helps! What I also like is the 360 degrees markings on the base so it can be rotated by a fixed amount then locked in place. This is very useful when it comes to taking panoramic landscape photos when you need a certain amount of overlap to stitch the pics together.The only criticism is that it does not have a D ring on the screw that attaches to the camera so you must use a 20p coin although a D ring can make attachment a bit fiddly. The solution could be to buy a 1/4'' D-Ring Screw for Camera Tripod Monopod Quick Release Plate, file a thick washer flat, or as I do use a Brother Round Sewing Machine Screwdriver Product Code: XC1074051. I already had one of these and attach it to the tripod cover drawstring so it is always there and does not get lost see photo.Update: I am pleased to state that because of the small size of the QR plate you can use a dummy battery on an Olympus EM1 MKII with the door open enough to accommodate the cable.

This is brilliant! I have a Nikon D5600 and was gifted a Vanguard tripod two years ago (Vanguard Alta Pro 2+ 263AP Aluminium 3-section Tripod with MACC and 3-way Pan Head). It's a great tripod in its own right - very sturdy but, a bit cumbersome in some situations where I'd like to adjust it quickly. This ball head attachment works fantastically and is very sturdy and smooth in movement. I just screwed the unit into the quick-release platform on the tripod and then screwed the attachment's release plate onto my camera. Highly recommend it - excellent value for money and preferable at this stage to not spend a small fortune on a whole new tripod that already has a ball head mechanism.

Found this easy to use and sturdy. It is great to use with its mobility and functionality. Only draw back for me is the fixing screw to the lens comes loose and needs constant tightening. Apart from that good value for money.

Really like this so far. Easy to use quick release plate, entirely metal construction on screws and bolt mechanisms so no cracked plastic, quite heavy and feels like a quality build. Screws hold as they're supposed to. The only thing I would change is having the quick release plate be compatible with the standard ones on my tripod as I have this permanently set up on a cold shoe on my ring light but occasionally use my tripod to get a different angle on the light which means faffing around removing the plate. All they really needed to do was change the length slightly and dent the short edges as well as the long at both ends and it would have slotted perfectly into my quick release tripod slot.

I've got a tonne of cheap ball heads for tripods and they're OK, mostly from the same factories with different names on them, but they are all rather chunky.I didn't want something too small that wouldn't hold my XT3 on my little remote control Andoer dolly, so I picked this up to see what it was like.Super pleased I got one and I'll be getting more for sure. Cheap, sturdy, not too big, but not too small, and I can use the camera cage that has arca swiss mounting points so I don't have to keep taking on and off plates which makes life easy.Great little ball head!

Great little ballhead - does the job well.

On first sight it looked good, the camera table easy to set up and size is good. Ball clamp is very easy to set - only needs a small effort to tighten the clamp and it is solid. The swivel at the base is smooth to rotate and the clamp easy to lock.But : the 1/4” screw on the table for the camera has only a slot, there is no finger ring so a user wants to change the camera, it’s essential to carry a large screwdriver ! A 2p piece works but there really should be a finger ring.For mounting on pole or tripod that has a standard 1/4” screw there is a adapter sleeve provided that must be screwed onto the main thread in the base. This would be ok but I found that the adapter will not stop so as the tripod is screwed in, the adaptor continues to go in ! That’s bad ! There may only be a minimal hold on the tripod. So at this time and despite this being potentially a nice kit, I am not able to recommend it until the above faults have been fixed. For now, it’s gone back.

Sturdy device which operates smoothly. I am guilty of knowingly abusing the device by overloading it! This is because I use it to mount a lighting head, in a pendulum position, from an overhead support arm. Because of the eccentric weight distribution of the integrated studio flash unit and reflector, I increased the clamping pressure on the ball by replacing the standard locking screw with one that featured a longer lever: abuse indeed! However the unit still works well in these circumstances which is a tribute to the quality of the product. Like all Small Rig products it is well designed, well manufactured and very affordably priced. Brilliant.