Manfrotto 055m8 Q5 Tripod Noir

Im mostly a photographer and dont often do video, so keep that in mind. Ive had this head for about 4 years now and have started avoiding using it. Pros: -Smooth in all directions -Good adjustability on all axis -Enough bubble levels I know thats just 2, but theyre really important. Ive had a number of issues with it, however. -The pan bar doesnt stay on. -The CBS knob is brittle plastic and broke off very quickly. Never found out what it did. -Nothing retains the 1/4 screw. It slides to the hole at the end and disappears, never to be seen again (until you pay $30 for a Manfrotto replacement) -The quick release plate has a weird release and can be hard to get off in a hurry -Rubber pads on the plate come off, and its hard to keep the camera tight All in all, its a very flexible head but it just isnt high enough quality to justify the price. I no longer use it for photography, except at night, where its weight is an advantage.

I am going to try and sell this to get a fluid head instead of one thing that does video and photo. It's not fluid for video, and clunky at best for stills.

These days a lot of photographers are also doing video and having the flexibility within your gear to do both is extremely important. Some video clients are also asking for vertical shooting for social media platforms. Either way this head could do it, and it's extremely sturdy.

Main reason I bought this was for using on photo shoot so when I need to go from portrait to landscape quickly. Which it does. Only issue is you unlock it to go into portrait configuration, there's no way to lock the verticals axis so it can pan on the Y axis. Fin it could lock that Y axis, I wouldn't have given it 5 stars. But all the bubble levels are very helpful and overall, it's a good head.

Have a heavy camera, and this holds it very, very well. No shift, no wobble.