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/ic/ visiting. Looking for a ball-head to put a heavy-ass pochade box on (see pic).
I'm shopping for a ball-head, preferably with some sort of quick release. Since I'm beating a panel with brushstrokes, it's imperative that the quick-release mechanism and ball-lock have absolutely no give up to 17lb of pressure. For 'absolutely no give up to 17lb', I'm willing to sacrifice on weight and convenience. Ideally the release is an arca-type with some friction padding. Budget for tripod+ball-head is 3-450, but I don't mind going lower if something cheap exists, I've heard good things about the Oben BE-117.
The Manfrotto XproBHq2 looks real nice, but I'm worried the quick-release mechanism is going to loosen up on me after a few years.
Thanks for sharing your experience.