The Manfrotto 496RC2 is a basic ball head that is OK on a tripod, but works very well on a monopod. The lack of a panning feature makes this head useless for panoramic landscapes where stitching photographs together is needed.

• +

  Well built, stable quick release, light weight

• -

  Cannot pan

This is a very well manufactured and designed ballhead. It easily attached to my Manfrotto 190 tripod, I found the locking lever and friction control easily adjusted. Can't wait to get out and use it.

I bought this head for my camera stand. It's great, fits nice and tight to the stand screw. Super easy to tighten and loosen the head to swivel it into place for vertical or horizontal. Holds the camera tight with the quick release plate.

Very sturdy ball head and not too heavy. Took this out to shoot landscape and milky way. Love it

Not too big. Not too small. Not too heavy. Not to light. A great head for a great price. Nothing fancy, but gets the job done every time with any SLR, with any lens.

I forgot to mention that the 804 head has a quick release on it and that is what was not making a tight fit anymore.

I've had a 496 ball head for years now. I also own a Manfrotto 804RC2. The 804 head was usually on my tripod. One day I had my Canon 5D Mark II and a Canon 400mm lens mounted on the 804 head.

This is such a sturdy ball head! I use it to hold my painting palette and it doesn't move or come loose. The quick release plate makes it very convenient and fast to set up and tear down my equipment for plein air. Love it!!

We needed an addition for our slider dolly and the Manfrotto 496RC2 is perfect. It let's us quick change cameras and adjust angles for a wide variety of shots.

I got this one to use instead of my 3-way pan/tilt head as it is much lighter to carry around. It performs well with a relatively heavy setup (used it with canon 5d, with vertical grip, and with 24-70 lens). Very stable both in horizontal and vertical orientation.