Low Profile Tripod Ball Head, ARTCISE MB52 All Metal CNC Double Panoramic Ball Heads Camera Mount 52MM Ball Diameter with Two 1/4" Quick Release Plates for Tripod, DSLR, Camcorder, Max Load 66lbs/30kg

Long story short: this is a ball head that can handle any situation you throw at it. Even the most crazy and imbalanced setup.When the ball head arrived it already gave an impression right after unboxing that this is a serious contender. The 52 mm ball is massive, looks sturdy. The base of the ball head turns around 360 degrees and as a great feature even the Arca Swiss clamp can turn 360 degrees, so once you level the ball head you can create panoramas easily. To be honest, everything feel just right about this ball head. It has the looks, the feels but I wanted to see if it has the strength. So I went full idiot :)To test the ball head I put it on my sturdy tripod and put a Sony A7R2 with a Sigma 100-400 lens, a long lens support, and just for fun as extra weight an old, heavy Russian camera. To make things even worse I put it on the ball head the worst, most idiotic way I could :D Then at 400 mm I focused it on a small + about 5-6 meters away (or 20 feet), with cable release and silent shutter took a photo, then 15 minutes one more. The ball head only dropped about 5-6 pixels on a 42 megapixel camera, and as you can see on the photo the setup was purposely very front heavy. If I were balance the setup properly, or even just less idiotic the ball head would probably not move a single pixel.So even if you have no idea how to balance a setup this ball head will hold strong. Even with serious user error this one will not fail you.The only downside is that the ball head is a bit heavier than an average 30 mm ball head, but it's expected.

I usually use a gimbal head with my Nikon D850 with battery grip and 200-500mm lens but purchased the Artcise MB52 low profile ball head as it is always a good idea to have a ball head in your kit and this ball head holds that heavy set up solidly and the dampening and control you have on the ball is excellent! With a half turn of the knob I can have the ball lose enough to have free movement without fear of the camera flopping over if I let go, another half turn and it’s lose and free to position as you want. I would recommend this ball head to anyone, it is worth twice the price!

At first glance it appears to be beautifully made and functionally capable. The test of time will be the ultimate judge.

Forget the rumours about "cheap Chinese copies etc" this is the real deal. As far as I can tell it is not a rip off of a major brand and feels like high quality manufacturing and "pro-feel" product. I purchased this having recently purchased one of their carbon fibre tripods and wrote a glowing review for that. If you need a head for a heavy camera/lens combo then this is it! Don't waste your money paying more for a well-known brand you won't be disappointed with this.

Have been using for 12 months now and it is a big heavy and sturdy ball head that can probably handle just about anything. My only slight complaint is the grease used throughout the ball head is effected by temperature so in colder weather it's a bit stiffer than in the summer.

The head is great, sturdy, doesn't move after tightening. It is well made and looks great. BUT I bought it to replace my Manfrotto XPRO ball head which I sold so I could buy this one. I needed something with panoramatic mechanism on the top of the head. So I can perfectly level the ball, lock it, and then I have 360° rotation which is always in level. This works great, but only at home. In the room temperature the top and bottom panoramatic mechanism works kinda good, is hard to turn (like fluid heads) but the feels is good. Soon as you go outside now, when is below 10°C it super hard to turn even is completely loosened up. I have 7D mkII which is a magnesium body, and when I try to turn it by holding the grip, it making a scarry cracking noise and losening up the arca swiss plate. Also the arca swiss locking knob is super hard to turn. Is like the grease inside really doesn't like the cold and go almost solid inside. Only the ball itself is not affected by cold as it doesn't have any greese, but his locking knob go stiff too, but thankfully is big enoug to get a proper grip. I had some scratches on the ball caused by manufacturing, but I'm waiting for a sellers response. The time will probably tell. I might change it in the future for full 5 stars because it is a really great head, but the actual weather make it unusable. So If you planning to use it in colder weather, so maybe you should be carrefull with purchasing this head :)

Unpackaging this head my first impression was it just felt like quality and thus far I've not changed my thoughts on it.It's pretty basic stuff but then if you need a solid tripod setup and can't really afford £££for the ball head this is the one for you. I use a variety of tripod setups ranging from very inexpensive to rather expensive. I'm using this on vanguard carbon tripod legs and it's solid.

Thank you