Manfrotto Ball Head 498RC2 or 054?

[EricPvpi]

I have been looking at Tripods and am thinking about the Manfrotto 190XPROB or stepping up to the 190CXPRO3. I am an amateur, so just want something stable and light enough to carry around. I also want to avoid wanting to replace it in a year as well. I have a 60D with 17-55 f/2.8 and 70-200 f/4. I would be shooting family, landscapes, maybe macro in the future. I don't need precision, just ease of use and strong enough to hold my equipment.

A lot of times in the forums I see these recommended along with the 498RC2 Ball Head. Manfrotto seems to recommend the 054 Magnesium Ball Head with the 190CXPRO3.

Does anyone have recommendations between the 2 Ball Heads? I assume the 054 is better due to its line but they seem similar feature-wise and I can't tell if it is enough to justify the jump from $100 to $150. I think I would rather put that money towards carbon fiber. Combined, all the combo's here are under $400 which is in my budget. I could spend more, but I am not sure I would need better based on my uses.

Will the 498RC2 cover what I need or should I think about the 054?

Thanks!
Eric

[M_Six]

I have the 498RC2 and was mostly happy with it, but I ended up also buying the 460MG head and am much happier with that one. It's lighter and easier (for me anyway) to control. The thing I didn't like about the ball head was that if you needed just a slight adjustment on one axis and loosened the ball, you could get out of whack on all three axes. I find the 460MG makes it easier to fine tune as far as leveling and direction. It's also smaller than the ball head.

[Dave Throgmartin]

I'm not that knowledgeable about tripods, but like my 498RC2 head so far. I'm using with 055XPROB legs.

Dave