Giottos MH1312-652 Ball Head Review

The smallest and lightest and cheapest ball head I could find with a separate pan feature.

The specs are generally listed correctly online but here's what you get on the box label:

Unboxing Giottos MH1312-652 ball head

The 50mm base plate is an exact fit for the MT8240B carbon fibre tripod leg and given how solid this is, the combo feels a tiny bit head heavy. Don't get me wrong, but most tripod heads are sadly secondary consideration when manufacturers launch tripod kits that we are somehow more used to the opposite kind of balance. I convinced myself that free moving but non-slipping ball head will frustrate a lot less than a cheaper 3-way head that never seem to oblige when you are in a hurry to manouver into position.

The quick release plate has a sliding slot for the screw which I thought was handy as the tripod socket of the Olympus OM-D E-M5 I'm currently using, isn't centered on the lens axis (potentially a problem for panaroma panning shots). Anyway this allow me to center the lens axis with the vertical column of the tripod which is a nice bonus.

Lever lock

To release the plate, squeeze together the main and safety levers and flick both outwards until the base pops. This spring loaded main lever snaps back nicely when you press the plate down firmly against the raised lever lock (pointed by the green arrow).


When the ball is free, the friction knob sets the right amount of resistence for accurate repositioning as well as preventing sudden drop of your beloved equipment. For my peace of mind, I tend to set it just tight enough, and then some, not to let that happen, hopefully ever.

Stability is not an issue

Overall very pleased with the performance of this ball head. Being rated at 6kg, it should come as no surprise that it is more than capable of holding a DSLR four times the weight of my current MFT set up, with zero creep, even when pivoted at the camera body with a big zoom lens combo weighing 1.7kg at a dipping angle, as shown here.

Overspeced you might argue and I couldn't agree more. Reviewers might call it compact and lightweight but it's just that bit larger and heavier than my idea of a compact head. Clearly if I had the choice, I'd go even smaller but alas no one makes ball pan heads both lighter and cheaper.