Your first tripod might have been fitted with a traditional pan-and-tilt head that pivoted and rotated along three different axes and (theoretically) allowed you to frame your image in any orientation. But after you’ve been using a tripod for awhile, you’ll yearn for an upgrade. And that’s why the best tripods can be purchased without any head at all. You can select the exact type that best suits the kind of work you do.

Although pistol-grip ballheads are popular, for my money, you can’t beat a traditional ballhead, like my new favorite, a Photo Clam PC-48, which has taken up permanent residence atop my go-anywhere Manfrotto 055MF3 carbon fiber tripod. I own four ballheads, including two Benro models and an Arca-Swiss, but it’s the PC-48 I end up using most of the time.

A good ballhead supports your camera solidly, allowing the tripod to do its job of eliminating and damping any sharpness-robbing vibration. It should be fast to operate, with controls that are intuitive to use, because framing your image should be instinctive, and not a chore. Here are some things to consider when choosing a ballhead.

* Select the right size for the job. You want a ballhead that’s compact and light in weight, but which is rated for the load you’ll be asking it to support. The diameter of the ball itself determines the size of the surface that will be available to support the weight of your camera and lens. My PC-48 head, for example, has a 48mm (1.89 inch) ball, which is in the middle of the (33mm to 74mm; 1.3 to 2.9 inch) range offered by Photo Clam. It can support up to 110 pounds, which is enough for medium-format shooting with a heavy lens, and plenty for the sports photography I do with a Nikon D3 and long telephoto lens. Yet, the PC-48 weighs less than 20 ounces, so it doesn’t add a lot of heft to my kit. You might find other models more suitable for your work, particularly if you’re backpacking or using a very light camera/lens combination. Photo Clam’s PC-33, for example, weighs just 11 ounces, but can support up to 66 pounds.

* Easy friction adjustment. The key to fast operation of a ballhead is the ability to adjust the amount of “drag” on the ballhead, or its tightness. When you unscrew the main tightening knob, the ballhead should pivot readily to the new position without a lot of effort, yet not so easily that gravity flips the camera all the way down. Different camera/lens combinations have different weights, so the amount of tension on the ballhead needs to be adjustable.

My Photo Clam PC-48 has the friction adjustment in the main knob that includes an indicator scale, with a thumb-twist dial embedded in the knob’s face to allow you to quickly set minimum friction.  I prefer this to the dual-knob setup some of my other ballheads have. Although units having a second knob make the friction knob smaller, it’s easy to get mixed up when working fast, and change the tension when you meant to lock or release the ballhead. That means you have to re-set the friction setting before you can proceed. The drag adjustment stays set for a full shooting session, and I don’t have to fuss with it until I switch to a heaver/lighter camera and lens combination.

* Camera lock and Arca-Swiss-type mount. The Photo Clam comes with an easy push-button lock that engages a slot in the camera plate, so you can’t accidentally drop your camera should you turn the plate release knob accidentally, or are not holding the camera solidly when you remove it from the ballhead. The availability of safety measures like this are one reason why I prefer the Arca-Swiss-stype quick release mounting system over the Bogen/Manfrotto design’s lever-type lock. It just seems safer to me.

* Drop slot. I prefer the Photo Clam’s single drop slot over the dual notches offered with some other ballheads. When I want to tilt the camera into a vertical orientation, or shoot straight down, there’s one less decision to make. I just pivot the upper half of the ballhead into the slot, lock, and shoot. If the camera is pointing the wrong way, I loosen the panorama knob, and rotate the camera to suit.

*Panorama swivel. Don’t buy a ballhead that doesn’t have a panorama adjustment that allows you to rotate the camera horizontally. Degree markings on the Photo Clam’s pan swivel let you rotate a specific number of degrees so you can overlap images for a real panorama shot (for best results, rotate around the optical center of the lens, not the camera’s tripod mount; there are special adapters you can use for that, if necessary.) If you’re not shooting an actual panorama, the swivel makes it easy to change the camera’s view smoothly without unlocking and adjusting the ball.

* Bubble level. A pair of large, easy-to-read bubble levels on the PC-48 help you straighten the camera horizontally and vertically, even if the tripod is mounted on uneven terrain.

After I bought my Hyundai Elantra, Samsung cell phone, Samsung HDTV, and 25.5-inch Samsung LCD computer monitor, I knew Korea really has it together when it comes to advanced technology.  Now this latest import, the Photo Clam, which provides top quality at a reasonable price, really has me convinced. You can learn more about Photo Clam ballheads at ReallyBigCameras.com.