Manfrotto 494 Ball Head with 200PL-PRO Quick Release Plate

As a second (maybe 3rd or 4th) go around with tripod, I looked all over for a ball head that is 1) Good quality 2) Offers stability 3) Reasonably priced. From previous experience with Manfrotto, the MH496-BHUS was the front runner but I gave all other brands a fair shake. There are some nice ball heads but pricey. The Manfrotto MH496-BHUS fell at the right price point and quality. The ball head design is excellent, very solid feeling. There are separate controls for panning, tilting etc. There is a smaller "screw" to control friction of the ball head so it does not fall over. The ball head goes with great with Manfrotto tripods. I will have peace of mind knowing that a DSLR with heavier lens will not fall over. I feel that the Manfrotto MH496-BHUS is a good choice for what i need to do.

Fits well, took me a while to find a plate to replace it. But eventually I got one. Still having small troubles with playing with the inside lock mechanism but it works really nice. (My only issue is that it feels like sometimes it doesn’t hold the weight right. )

Very stable and robust for the money. I just wish the lock for the base wasn't such a tiny knob. If using on a slider at angle, you have to make sure that lock knob is tighter than usual.

I bought this since I wanted a smaller and lighter option than my X-PRO-Ball-Head (MHXPRO-BHQ2). But after getting it in my hand only I realised both are same height and this is only about 100 grams lighter. By the way both have the same load capacity of 10 kilograms. My review of MH496-BHUS is based on my usage of X-PRO-Ball-Head. The plate supplied with MH496-BHUS is 200PL PRO. It works on any ball head with a RC2 clamp. It can also be used on Arca Swiss clamps. But it does not have any locking screws like normal Arca Swiss plates, so if you are not careful it will slide off a Arca Swiss clamp while loosening. Pros Independent Pan lock. Ball friction adjustment knob. RC2 Clamp. If you are wondering it will work with all 200PL plates. In other words, it works with any plate that is compatible for RC2 clamp. Good Build quality. No Lubrication required, since the ball head is enclosed in a plastic chamber. Cons In the X-PRO-Ball-Head the friction adjustment is a separate knob and it rotates on incremental steps. But in MH496-BHUS it a separate knob inside the ball locking knob and it rotates freely without any steps. It rotates so freely that accidental touches while using the locking knob changes the friction. Conclusion If you are in market for a Manfrotto ball head, I would suggest this one, MH496-BHUS (10Kg load) or its smaller brother MH494-BHUS (8Kg Load) over the Manfrotto X-PRO-Ball-Head. These two would cover most of the medium size lens and camera requirements. If you are planning for macro or planning to use longer lenses then only go for X-PRO-Ball-Head , since it has larger ball and provides more stability. When I bought X-PRO-Ball-Head it was on sale in Amazon and I got it for ₹8,634 and MH496-BHUS I got for ~ ₹6750. So do watch out for deals.

El producto es de excelente calidad, sin embargo la caja original viene sin sello de garantía por lo cual abrieron la caja y le robaron la zapata