This is a big ball head. It’s massive, weighing in at around 4.5+lbs. I found it to be very solidly built and very sturdy. It’s big enough to hold just about any camera or lens you can lift onto it. The locking levers for the ball and the panoramic base are sturdy and efficient. It has adjustable ball tension, so you can set it for the weight of the lens in use. The downsides of this head are the weight and the smoothness of operation. If you have to carry it far in the field, the weight is as issue. If you are working indoors, it’s not a problem, but if you compare it to an Arca Swiss B1 – which is just as stable – you’re carrying around an extra 3lbs. The ball action isn’t particularly smooth. It gets better when you heavily load it, say with a 13 lb lens like a 600/4. You can live with it, it’s not aweful, but it’s not as smooth as other heads (most of which cost 2x or 3x the price of the 3038). Another potential negative point is that it uses the large Bogen hex QR plates. They work fine, but are significantly larger than, say the Arca Swiss QR plates. Still, if you need a BIG, stable ball head, you don’t have much money and you can live with the hex QR plates and a slightly sticky ball movement at times, the 3038 is a reasonable choice. READ FULL REVIEW AT BobAtkins.com
If you own or have used this tripod and camera supports, let us know what you think! Leave your comments and thoughts below.