Now you made it though the daunting task of choosing the right tripod, not to mention all the good money you just spent for it, but then you realize you are not done with buying your tripod setup yet and that you still need to choose a tripod head too.

So in this post I am going to follow up on my previous post entitled Choosing The Right Tripod For Your Needs and step you through the many considerations to review on choosing a tripod head so that you can select the right one for your own personal needs.

1 – Physical Weight – Many people are concerned with physical weight on their tripod heads. Personally, I don’t worry about tripod weight overall very much, but heads can average anywhere from around 1.5 to 2.75 pounds. So if you are concerned about adding more weight to your tripod then you may want to look for a lighter weight head.

2 – Max Weight Supported – Some tripod head manufacturers will talk about payload capacities on their tripod heads, meaning how much weight the tripod head can support. This is important when shooting with heavy DSLR bodies and lenses or large medium format cameras, but as long as the tripod head says it can support between 12-15 pounds you should be covered. Some of the lower priced tripod heads may only offer 5 pounds of support, which may not be enough in some cases. So it is a good idea to take a look at the tripod head’s payload capacity before you buy it to make sure it is enough for your general needs.

3 – Speed – You want a tripod head which has knobs that are easy to control so that you can change the position of the camera on the tripod quickly. Ballhead types are the quickest tripod heads as you can freely move the camera around on a swivel in all directions by simply releasing one knob. But if you require more precise movements of the camera for studio work, food photography, landscape or architectural photography then you may want to consider a tripod head which has a 3 knob system for moving the camera in the different directions independently.

4 – Stability/Durability – Just like with your tripod itself, you want a good, solid tripod head which isn’t going to let the camera slip or move around once you lock it into place.

5 – Position Locking – A good quality tripod head shouldn’t only be sturdy, but it should have a good locking mechanism so that the camera won’t start to slip out of position once you lock the camera into place.

6 – Precision Movement – Personally, small, precise movements of the camera position on a tripod head are most important to me. So I use a 3 knob tripod head, which is a bit slower to operate than a free floating ball head, but my knobs are geared. So this means I can adjust them with very slight movements by turning the gear knobs just slightly and this allows me to get my camera into very precise positions when I need to.

7 – Price – Cost is of course a consideration as with everything, but if you are going to look for a tripod head that has all the important points I mentioned above then you are unfortunately not going to be able to cut corners so much on cost. A good tripod head is generally going to cost you between US$200-$300. If you set a budget lower than that then you may not end up with a high enough quality tripod head for your needs over the long term.

Recommendations: If I were to simply recommend a couple of tripod head options, the first head I would suggest is the Manfrotto Hydrostatic Ball Head, which is very strong, stable, fast, and easy to work with. It is designed with an Arca-Swiss camera plate, which is one of the fastest and most solid camera plate connections you can use with a tripod head. It is also offered with 5 other camera plate style options that you can choose from, which you will see listed on the drop down menu on the above link.

But as I mentioned, I use a geared tripod head with 3 control knobs for precision movement of the camera on the tripod. The tripod head I use and would recommend if you need something more precise is the Manfrotto 410 Junior Geared Head.

If you have more questions about tripod heads please feel free to post them below.