SLIK SBH-200 DQ Compact Ballhead with Quick Release, Supports 8.8 lbs., Black (618-326)

I bought this ball head after using my Slik Lighty Pod III monopod. The monopod is nice and light, just right for travel, and does have a ball head, but you have to screw the ball head into the camera's tripod mount, and its pretty awkward to do so.A quick release head would alleviate the need to screw in the monopod, and would make it a lot easier to use and transport.The Lighty Pod comes with a model SBH-100 ball head, so the SBH-100 DQ is the quick release version of the same head. Unfortunately, you cannot buy the monopod with the option for the quick release head; you have to buy the monopod with the SBH-100, and buy the quick release head in addition (if you want the quick release capability). Since I purchased the monopod some 6 months prior to the quick release head, I just went ahead and bought it. However, if I were to purchase both items at the same time, I think there are likely other monopods out there that would be a better deal.This is a lightweight head, and I would not put a big ol' zoom lens on it, but as I said, I use it for travel, so the lightweight aspect of the head (and monopod it fits on) is the chief consideration.The head's monopod (or tripod) attachment is a 1/4-20 thread, and the quick release plate is all metal, which is nice. About the only thing I don't like about it (with the light duty caveat) is there is no positive locking mechanism for the quick release head. You could inadvertently snag the release lever on your shirt and dump the camera off the monopod, so you need to be a bit careful. But I tend to use the camera's neck strap anyway, even with using the monopod, so hopefully that won't ever happen.

I have used several of these to mount projectors around Halloween. You can pick up the right sized bolt at a local hardware store, and make a simple mount with pieces of 2x4 and a drill for the bolt. I attach the quick release plate to the bottom of the projector so it can be removed each night, and you can lock the base into the proper angle so it's easy for folks to hook/unhook it each night.I use these because they were the lowest cost versions I could find, but they are quite pricey especially considering we are using these with a bunch of very low end $40 projectors.The only nitpick I have is that the base will easily swivel and turn unless you cut some gripping material to put between it and the 2x4. Folks using this for a camera wouldn't probably notice or care, but I've had some larger, more expensive mounts that had a much larger base and they had a larger surface area to grip with and worked much better. (But, these are cheaper, so you get what you pay for.)

I bought this to mount my Sony Alpha 55 camera to a Manfrotto monopod. It fits the top of the monopod perfectly, and the quick-release mechanism is very confidence-inspiring. Never got worried that this was going to pop off and drop my camera with the "new" (actually, "as new" from Amazon warehouse deals - a great place to find bargains!) 18-200 lens.The reason I docked a star is that it was nearly impossible to get the quick-release plate to stay put on the camera. I understand that the weight of the lens would provide enough of a moment force to cause the camera to try and untwist itself from the mount, but I can't help thinking that a surface with more grip - perhaps textured rubber - would have resisted this more effectively. I will be changing the pad to rubber.

I have the venerable Velbon #343E travel tripod. Was thinking about some modern travel tripods that cost a little over $100 but looking at the stats, the only thing they have over the Velbon is the quick release and slightly more compact carry size. The Velbon 343E has served me well and this Slik ball head was the only compact head with quick release for a reasonable price. It works great! I simply unscrewed the Velbon ball head and replaced it with the slik. The Slik works great and is just as small as the head it replaced. I love the quick release. The pad that you attach to the camera is available separately but costs more than half the price of the whole ball head--A shame or I would get a few extra for different cameras. All in all, this product saves me from buying a new travel tripod. Highly recommended!

I got this to replace a SBH100 ball head that came with my Slik Sprint Pro which is my travel tripod. My biggest issue with the old ball head was that it did not have a quick release. This seemed to be a better choice too as it was slightly bigger and I thought stronger.The 120 is bigger and perhaps a bit better than the 100 but not by a lot. It fits my Sprint Pro like it was made for it with no issues and has managed my D300 with no real problems. (travel means making compromises...never extend the tripod fully etc).Biggest issue I have have with this is that the quick release plate needs a coin or something else to attach to the camera...why could they not have done a manfrotto type of lever?People looking for a cheap ball head should consider the other brands such as Manfrotto, Benro etc. I wanted something that matched the tripod but in hindsight may have been better served with something a bit better!

Light duty ball head. I wouldn't put more than a couple of balanced pounds on it. The single lock knob w/o friction control means you must be ready to support the load immediately upon unlocking. When unlocking, the lock knob sticks slightly resulting in a sudden release tension when it comes undone. The range of motion is good, forward and backward travel is unrestricted unlike ball heads that have a separate rotation control knob.Don't overload it and you will probably be happy with this inexpensive ball head.

I had the SBH-100 model which was good but this one is even better. It hold 4.5 lbs !