In article <4g3esi$9qe@usenetw1.news.prodigy.com>, GSFW13A@prodigy.com says...
>slef@alkymi.unit.no (Asle Feten) wrote:
>>What is best, ball or pan. head?
>Depends on your application. Recent research has told me that folks who
>need quick action, i.e. sports and wildlife photographers, require >ball-heads. Those into architectual photography, or who require fine
>adjustments in one plane at a time, prefer pan/tilt heads. (.....)

(Having become a relatively recent convert to ball-head use, my
religious fervor in their direction may be apparent.) Until I tried
an Arca, I wondered why anyone would want to use a device that would,
upon release, abruptly leave your camera and lens totally floppy at
the top of the tripod. Then I discovered that the better ones have
adjustable damping. When the lock is released, you are free to guide
the damped camera into position, and that position doesn't change as
you tighten the lock (unlike any pan head I have used). I use mine
for everything (when I can stand to use a tripod at all...;-), since
it makes camera positioning so relatively simple and pleasant compared with pan/tilt heads. The only disadvantage is the price, which only
begins with the head - at about $50 a plate, the "rapid"-release
plates can put you in the poor house quickly. (BTW, Really Right Stuff
makes some of the nicer plates, and the one that fits the 8008 [and
has a lip at the rear to prevent rotation] solved the problem [in a simple way] of mounting the Nikkor 80-200mm f2.8 with camera on a
tripod for vertical photos.)
Hope This Helps