I pretty much always shoot from the tripod so I’m attentive to tripod and ball head quality. I use the excellent Acratech Ultimate ball head at this point – it is a fine piece of equipment and has proven reliable through several years of substantial use including a lot of backpacking. (One reason I got it was the light weight for such a solid head.)

Today I say a video demonstration of a new ball head from Induro. While its larger size and bulk might make it less than ideal for my backpacking photography, this unit looks quite powerful and I’ll have to take closer look for use in other types of landscape and similar work. It looks like it would be especially useful for stitched panoramas, especially in that it allows for shots in which the horizon is not in the center of the frame.

If you haven’t heard of Induro, they are worth considering. I’ve been using their large C313 carbon-fiber tripod for several years now, and it has been solid and reliable through a lot of shooting in conditions ranging from the Sierra to Death Valley to the Pacific coastline.