Which type of tripod head for macro?

[Pebbles9x]

Hi,

I'm looking to get a head for the Manfrotto 190CXpro3 for doing macro photography of insects so it needs to be precise and light as I will be carrying it alot.
I also would like to use it for my Sony a700 and 70-300G lens as with the head I use at the moment - a Manfrotto grip release I find that when I position the camera and let go of the grip release the camera droops due to the weight.

[CaptainNH]

For macro shots, you might like to consider a Manfrotto 454 micro plate......


It offers very fine adjustment (I seem to recall one turn of the adjusting wheel moves the plate 1mm, so it's very fine gearing).

This might seem over the top, but, depending on what lens you're using you can be working with very, very small depths of field. For example, the Canon MP-E 65mm gives a DoF of .048mm [!!!!!!] at 5x and f/2.8.


Canon MP-E 65mm 1-5x macro lens on a Canon EOS 20D, ISO 100, 1/250 sec, f13, flash diffused through tracing paper [from http://myrmecos.wordpress.com/2009/0...mma-brunneum/]

[Pebbles9x]

Thank you, I have been looking at those but I see you use a ball head, do you find this is better than a pan and tilt?

[daft_biker]

Originally Posted by CaptainNH

For macro shots, you might like to consider a Manfrotto 454 micro plate......

+1 on that.

I use mine with a Manfrotto 410 geared head. Fantastic for landscapes and even better for macro, I find. It's not small, not light and not cheap but I wouldn't go back to using a ball head or pan/tilt head.

Arca swiss do a really nice geared head if you've got deep pockets. Clicky