Editorial Review:Product Description:The Hydrostat is the most advanced ball head, designed to meet the demands of professional photographers for a lightweight, but at the same time heavy duty load capacity head. The 468MGRC5 has similar features to the standard range of ball and socket heads, with independent pan and tilt locks, 360? pan and +90? / -90? tilt movement - but employs a revolutionary friction and locking mechanism. An inner oil chamber is compressed by turning the locking knob, exerting even pressure on the whole of the underside of the ball, which ensures sturdier locking and higher capacity... for camera and lens loads of up to 10kg. This head has a magnesium die cast body, a 2' Teflon coated aluminum ball which combined with specially designed tension surfaces provides movement as smooth as silk. A calibrated adjustable tension control allows you to preset the ball tension to suit your camera weight and give you fingertip control. The oversized lock knob is easier and quicker to find and turn. The second benefit of the liquid-based locking mechanism is that it all but eliminates unwanted movement during the locking phase.
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Availability: Usually ships in 1 to 2 months
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
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Great head for still camera as well
This one is designed for video cameras but I use it for my 40D plus 180mm macro and 175-500mm lenses. I upgraded from the mini 486RC2 and its a big step up in more than one way: bigger, more expensive, heavier, and most importantly, dead firm clamp! Now my tripod 3011BN is the weak link...
This head is a bit of an over kill for my usage, and that is why I love it. Some said the ball is not that smooth. It isn't. I have no experience with other fancy brands so I have no comparison. But the tension adjustment is very nice, the 486RC2 tended to lose all grip once the clamp is released with a small movement on the handle, a medium lens will drop downward immediately, usually ends with a bang on the tripod. This happened to be a few times and were quite scary. With the fine tuner on this one, it's not going to happen like this any more.
One thing I learned is that no matter how firm the ball head holds the camera, if the lens+camera setup is off balance, there will be vibration, even though nothing is slipping. So balance is just as important as the gripping force of the ball head itself.
I love this ball head!
Rating: 
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Solid, high quality ball head
The Bogen-Manfrotto tripod head range is so broad that it's hard to find the right product for one's needs. This ball head is very well made with a smooth action and very strong clamping action. The independent pan lock (with degree scale) addresses one of my main concerns about ball heads; that they go all "floppy" upon release, requiring re-leveling of the camera even when only a simple pan is desired. Speaking of leveling, I was disappointed to find that this head does NOT include bubble levels -- only the 468MGRC4 (note final digit) has this feature. This version does, however, have a sliding dovetail plate with ~1/2" of play that allows you to balance the camera when using a telephoto lens with its own tripod mount. However, I believe the 468MGRC4' bubble level is a more useful feature.
