Velbon PH-368 Vel-Flo 9 Mini-Pro, 2-Way Panhead with Quick Release, Supports 10 lbs.

I read the other reviews, and the first panhead I purchased, would not lock in place, so I returned it. I had hopes for it, so I did get another, and it works perfectly - a great deal for a good quality product - and I am budget conscious. It pans both horizontally and vertically in a beautiful smooth fluid manner. The adjustment knobs do make a difference in the drag resistance, and the lock knobs actually do lock it in place. Another person mentioned that with horizontal panning, that there is first a jolt/slip then pans fluidly. I found that when I locked a knob on my tripod, this took care of the problem. There may be a bit of a quality control problem, but the one I have now is perfect and is a great deal for the price. I don't see any reason for buying one that costs a lot more.

This is my first fluid head and the price was right. Pans and tilts are very smooth but the tension setting are very touchy. Not a professional quality item and will be upgrading soon. Product is very large but will be sufficient for my uses right now.

You probably aren't going to find something better at this price range. I purchased this head to go on my slider and wanted something simple, lightweight, yet smooth. This meets my needs adequately.The drag knobs for pan and tilt don't do a whole lot and I find myself setting the drag with the pan and tilt locks instead. The locks do work but you have to really crank them to lock them down, especially with a heavier load. The quick release plate feels solid. There is a little bit of play at the pan joint where the entire head can wobble a little bit. If you pay more you will certainly get higher quality. I just couldn't justify spending more when I only spent $100 on my slider. (it's the Studio FX 32" slider here on amazon. Amazing slider)

The bolt holding the quick release plate lock is stripped and fell off the first time I tried to release the plate. Likely poor manufacturing. You get what you pay for and I would not recommend this product. I didn't even get to test it out, but even if it is somewhat similar in function to more expensive brand name fluid heads I could never rely on it working given this initial experience. Returned for refund and will go with the 3x more expensive but 10x more reliable and longer-lasting Manfrotto.

Ok, if you are coming from an amateur background and stepping into fluid heads, this is a great purchase for the price. If you are a pro used to $400+ heads, this is going to really disappoint. As always, you get what you pay for and there is a reason good tripod heads are hundreds of dollars.I needed a fluid head for my monopod for a couple of shots on a video I shot in Kenya. I didn't plan on ever using this head again and didn't want to spend much on it. So I decided on this after reading some good reviews.It worked for my purposes, but just marginally. And I will NEVER use it again. My camera setup, a7s with canon lens, weighed less than 4 lbs. This head could not handle that weight. No matter how I locked the plate it would wiggle and the camera would quickly come loose. In hindsight I should have splurged and gotten one of the $100 models that I would have then likely been willing to hold on to for future use.

So I had this head for about a month and I like it! Definatelly worth it for the price. I use it with a Zomei tripod which is a great combination. Very fluid motion. What I noticed, after its stored for a couple days it kind of feels like it sticks a little bit so before a shoot I just pan left and right a couple times and it's back to normal. Nothing to worry about. I almost like it better then the Benro S6 head, which sits at $130. I haven't used that one that much tho yet so I might change my mind. For now this is a perfect tripod fluid head. And would definately buy more if needed in the future. I also swap it to one of my basic monopods and it becomes a video monopod. One thing I did, grab a quick release place that slides in. All my gear has the mh621 set which works great! So all those negative reviews.. It's people that don't know how to use it.. Or take it apart properly. Thumbs up Velbon!

I already had this head on a relatively inexpensive old velbon tripod, but when I came across better tripod legs at a good price what pushed me over the edge was that I'd be able to get this head for 30-some dollars (when they sell them on their own tripods, velbon heads aren't removable).Some complain that it is cheaply built, and it is true there's a lot of plastic, but it is not in the slightest bit flimsy, and it is brilliantly engineered. You can adjust how much tension there is in the head's resistance to panning and tilting motions to achieve very smooth camera movement.I actually prefer this head over very highly regarded and much pricier metal ones, since I'm shooting with prosumer camcorders not the heavier video cameras with huge lenses. But for those you'd probably need a more tradition professional tripod and head. With flash memory, really good camcorders weigh around one pound (half a kilogram, roughly). Some might want the metal for increased stability; I prefer portability and this head's flawless performance.

Decent for $40 but not the smoothest. Works fine for my point and shoot, but with my DSLR it struggles. It is also not very smooth. Spend the extra $30 for the WF717, or more for a solid manfrotto. Would not recommend, even for a first head. It's lightweight, but is not much else. It's nearly all plastic (bad durability), its not very smooth at all, and it just an overall bad product in my mind. It's also bigger than I expected.