Rika Takemoto | Markins Ball Head

I have been using a ball head from another company for many years, but a few months ago I changed to a Markins ball head. I would like to review why I chose the Markins ball head and why I chose a ball head in the first place, especially for those who are new to landscape photography.

Tripods and heads are indispensable for landscape photography. There are many different products on sale from multiple manufacturers, and it is not easy to find one that suits you. When I first started taking landscape photos, I only knew about simple tripods and heads that were combined, and I didn't know anything about heads, so I often asked senior photographers for guidance. Tripods have a common shape of three legs, and you can choose one according to your preferences, such as weight, length, and portability, so they are relatively easy items to choose. However, when it comes to heads, the hurdle is in choosing between a 3WAY head and a ball head, which have very different shapes.

Use a ballhead for landscape photography too

Generally, it is said that 3-way heads are easy to level and are suitable for landscape photography. On the other hand, free-angle heads, as the name suggests, move freely, so they are ideal for photographing moving objects such as birds and sports. According to this theory, landscape photographers should choose a 3-way head. However, as someone who has used free-angle heads in the past, I would like to recommend free-angle heads for landscape photography as well.

It is true that free-angle heads are more difficult to level than 3-way heads. However, these days cameras have built-in level gauges, and external level gauges can also be attached separately, so this is an issue that can be easily overcome. Personally, I feel that the most important thing is how quickly you can respond to natural scenery that changes its appearance from moment to moment. In that respect, compared to a 3-way head that requires the operation of two handles, a free-angle head allows you to intuitively point the camera directly in the line of sight by simply loosening one knob, so you can capture the instantly changing expressions of nature without missing them.

There is also the question of whether a tripod is necessary in the first place. My personal website also receives many hits from keywords such as "tripod, unnecessary" and "tripod, in the way."
Recently, the performance of mainstream digital cameras has improved, and more people are shooting handheld without using a tripod. However, a tripod is still indispensable if you want to express various photographs, such as shooting in the early morning or at night. Also, I think that mounting a camera to a tripod and checking and organizing the composition on the LCD monitor is a very important process in landscape photography, where attention to detail is required. That's where the ball head comes in. This is because you can take pictures with a feeling that is not much different from a handheld style while still enjoying the benefits of a tripod. Another major advantage of ball heads is that they have a simple mechanism, so they are lightweight and do not take up much space.

For the above reasons, I also use ball heads for landscape photography.

Reasons why we recommend Markins ball heads

However, there are many ball heads available from various manufacturers, and many people may be confused. For those people, I strongly recommend Markins for the following three reasons.

1. Boasting a high load capacity, yet extremely lightweight and compact
   When I first got my hands on the Markins ball head, I was very surprised at how light and small it was. I removed the ball head I had been using from the tripod and attached the Markins Q3i-RD Knob Shoe Ball Head, and when I tried lifting it up, I was amazed at how different it was even though it was the same tripod. You might think it's a big deal that it's just light, but for a landscape photographer who walks around all day carrying all kinds of luggage, lightweight equipment is the biggest attraction above all else. What's more, the load capacity is higher than other companies' ball heads I had used up until then. This was a big surprise.
2. High holding power
   Because it is so lightweight and compact, I was worried about its grip, but my fears were completely unfounded. I use the knob type, and after just turning it 2-3 times, it grips the camera firmly and doesn't budge. Of course, the camera doesn't move no matter how you tilt it, so you can try out various compositions with confidence. Also, by using the limit dial on the ball fixing knob, you can move the camera with a certain degree of resistance when changing the composition, and it can be returned to the point that I like immediately, making it easy and convenient to fine-tune the composition.
3. There is wine red color
   I think this is especially true for women, but there are many people for whom "color" is a big motivation for purchasing something. I myself buy all the things around me, such as my laptop, mouse, and smartphone, because of their color. Among all the camera accessories, which are mostly black, Markins' ball head comes in two colors, black and wine red. I chose the wine red without hesitation, and it lifts my spirits every time I use it.

That's the end of my review, but I hope you all will head out into the field with the Markins ball head.