on or taken of in seconds. Without some kind of quick-release
clamp you are endangering your 1/4-20 screw socket on the base
of your camera by endlessly putting it on and taking it off.
Ball Heads
The most common is the Ball Head, based on a ball that swivels
around and is locked in place by a knob. A lousy ball head is
nothing to write home about and very much affects my work. I
should know because I tried them and regretted it.
There are small, medium, and large ball heads. Over time I found
that only the fairly large ball heads are worth having. The little ones
don't stand up to having weight on them. I have three or so Markins
Q3 heads, a small head that actually is OK for small cameras like
some of the new mirrorless. I no longer use them for anything, but
they are light and relatively inexpensive.
What I do use is the large BH-55 Pro ball-head from Really Right
Stuff, the one with the knob, not the quick-release. I also have the
smaller BH-40 (knob variety), but actually don't use it anymore.