Z-Flex Tilt Head Z Tripod Ball Head All Metal Z Flex Tilt Head Camera Mount with Quick Release Plate & Spirit Level Compatible Slide Rail Camera Camcorder Tripod (ZH-7)

The media could not be loaded.  There are several of these types of tripod heads out there--the most famous one being the Edelkrone for about $150.I tried several of the cheaper option specifically for use with my motorized slider. My main issue with all of them was that they were either not sturdy enough (it didnt keep the position, but rather moved slightly), and i was using way below the wight limit! And the ones that were sturdy required allen wrench to adjust!! i do NOT want to be finicking with one of those as i try to set up my gear! wow!...and then it slipped, ribbed the screw, etc...i was unhappy--until i found this one!! this tripod head is significantly cheaper than even the cheap ones out there, but not only does it have little red screws to tighten it into position, when you tighten it, it doesnt move a bit. See my video. One side of adjustments is for "damping" where it just makes it not swing freely, but the other side is for hard adjustments, there are ridges/teeth that fit into each other. once you tighten that side you cant move it even if you tried!

I bought this specifically to use it for astrophotography. I use a star tracker and once you polar aligned your tracker, it is usually tilted (the amount depends on yóur latitude). Attaching a ballhead at this point to the tracker would result in a ballhead that can not be leveled. You can still shoot the sky but will be unable to do a panorama. I used this to be the go between the tracker and the ballhead.Issue #1: The z mount has “teeth” (gears) on the joints (to make it stronger). The problem is if the correct level is in between “teeth”, that’s it. Since the tracker needs to be level as well, you can’t adkust the tripod legs to level the z mount and make the tracker unlevel.Issue #2: After I leveled and attached my ballhead, there is still a little give, especially after attaching a full frame camera.Issue #3: I know getting rid of the allen screw to tighten the piece is a convenience, but in real life situations, it is just not practical. Tightening the joints with the knobs is a major pain in the butt. Actually, pain in your fingers. And no matter how tight you screw those knobs, it still moves.It’a a good idea but a no go if you’re using a star tracker.

While it does what it is supposed to it is a bit annoying to have to loosen the gearside knobs every time you want to re position the thing. The opposite side has tension knobs but they do not do much at all. I would have preferred the older version where you had to use an allen wrench to set the tension for your camera weight and then you could easily move it to any position without t\loosening and then re tighten every time you need to move the darn thing.I would look for a different setup personally and I will keep it but order the version that can be moved without having to loosen knobs every time. The goal was to be able to quickly and easily position the camera without fiddling endlessly with knobs

Very sturdy and easy to adjust. Photos i took here are of the accessories that came with it. I used the set up on the video to take those photos with my phone using natural light. Haven’t tried it with my dslr but it should be fine with maybe an addition of a counter weight if I’m going to do a flat lay shot. I wish I can extend out the phone holder a little bit more outward.

While I do like the geared positioning knobs on one side, the dampening knobs do absolutely nothing to aide precise positioning and , in fact, one does not even tighten fully.