Uniqball: A unique ballhead (I think).

I’ve got to be honest; I’d almost prefer to watch chess than talk about tripod heads. It was then, with lukewarm enthusiasm (read ‘none’) that I greeted colleague Andy Rouse’s call about a new model on the market. As he eulogised about the unique merits of UniqBall with its unique 2-ball mechanism and its unique levelling ability, I could feel my eyelids getting heavy. At the end of the call however, I’d established that the head was indeed unique and that a demo was hightailing it in my direction.

Uniquely for the Scottish Highlands the parcel arrived on time and I carefully unwrapped UniqBall. It looked trendy with its red trimming but really, could it be that different from the head I’d been using for what seems like a century? Now don’t expect an in-depth technical evaluation of this head: I’m neither qualified nor inclined to give one. I will say however, that this is a clever bit of kit, well conceived and well made. It isn’t massively cheaper than other similar heads and only time will tell if it’s prone to sticking and seizing like others but from initial field tests, it works; it works well and that’s pretty much all you can ask of a tripod head. Oh and I can confirm that to my knowledge, it’s unique.

UniqBall favours action photography more than anything. By levelling the main ball you can forget about wonky panning with dodgy horizons as the ball keeps the camera level. The panning action is smooth and seamless. If I’m honest I was looking for an excuse to save me the hassle of changing heads but UniqBall is good; in fact, it’s very good and I’ve used it exclusively since it arrived. Hats off to the clever Hungarian guys who came up with this idea – unlike lots of gizmos and gadgets, which do nothing other than clutter up your camera bag, UniqBall is a worthy addition to your gear collection. It works.

To see what Uniqball looks like and to purchase one (sadly they only come with a red trim just now): Click here

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