jargon buster

Ball and three-way heads

Ball heads tend to be faster, as there’s only one main locking knob for all planes of adjustment, but three-way heads offer more control for fine-tuning.

Adjustable friction damper

Enables greater friction to be applied on a ball head when using heavier loads, so the camera doesn’t fall to one side when the locking mechanism is released.

Pan-only release

Sometimes featured on ball heads, so that the angle of tilt can remain locked but the camera can be panned horizontally, or swivelled through increments.