a dumb question, i know, but my limited experience with photography forces me to ask.  I have a the nice kaidan quicktilt leveler now, and will soon have the agnos mrotator for my Nikon 5000 (thanks Smooth and others for all your help!).  I also got a good ball head for taking some still shots.

Is it to my advantage to use the leveler with the ball head for the still photos?  I am not sure if I would still need it, but am very much still a beginner, and would never trust my own gut.  Reason I'm asking really, is I have to order the thread adapter for the leveler to ball head, if I use the two with each other.

Thanks!

You can use it with or without!

I use mine with! But the tilt/pan handle can show up in your shot thus forcing a bigger tripod cap (image) or a little more work in Photoshop deleting it. (Some tripod ball heads have a very large handle)

The reason I use it is because it is faster to level and I can't be bothered taking the head on and off all the time.

Regards, Smooth

Hi smooth,

I was thinking about getting the Bogen 3265 pistol grip ball head to replace my existing 3 way head.

Here's a review at Nikonian.

http://www.nikonians.org/html/resources/non-nikon_articles/manfrotto-222-grip-ball-head.html

Any opinions on this?

Thanks,
eagle

eagle,

i dont have this head but i tried this bogen head 3265 at a  photo shop and is really nice.

you press the trigger, level the head (with built in bubble level), and release..super quick - probably quicker and easier than the quick tilt leveler from kaidan.

a BIGGER advantage over the quick tilt leveler is that this bogen head 3265 comes with a quick release plate - making your set ups and easy and fast. think about it, instead of screwing the kaidan head or agnos head to the quick tilt leveler, you will be using the quick plate to attach it to the 3265 head.

tip: buy an extra quick release plate and leave it permantently attached to your panorama head.

Thanks for the tip vt360.

I'll get the 3265 tomorrow and get the extra release plate.

Thanks again,
eagle

Hi all,

No, I was no familiar with the Manfrotto Pistol Grip!

Looks very fancy. I will be interested to see what people think of it (especially those who have use the Kaidan version as well)

I do like the fact that it is narrow! Though it looks to be tall.

Regards, Smooth

hi eagle and all,

I just got mine the other day too!  I love it!  Lightning fast, indeed.  Extremely happy with my choice.  Snap that onto a quicktilt leveler and save so much time!

Hi Guys,

Well, I went and had a fondle with a Manfrotto #222 Pistol Grip and like the rest of you just had to own it. So I parted with the cash and have been very happy with the investment. A very nice piece of gear indeed.

Regards, Smooth