Home > Consumer Reviews > Vanguard SBH-100 Small Magnesium Alloy Ballhead with Two Onboard Bubble Levels

This head is well designed. Product uses good materials. Head supports my Canon body plus Sigma 150-500mm lens with no problems in adjusting position or articulating angle. Top and side loading of mounting platen is very stable. I use on a Vanguard monopod and am very pleased with function and ease of use. Good job Vanguard!

I just received my Vanguard SBH-100 head, and I have to say I'm very impressed. Although lightweight, it has a high-quality feel to it. It's rated at 22lbs, but it feels as if it would hold twice that weight. It holds my Canon XTI with battery pack and 70-300mm lens with no trouble at all, even when I lean on it. The adjustment knobs work smoothly and easily, and the locking knob has a nice drag adjustment. It has a separate knob to allow you to pan horizontally without unlocking the head completely. This is very useful if you plan on stitching shots together to create panoramas. I noticed that this feature is not present on some of the more-expensive ball heads. This was a must-have feature for me, and the reason I took a chance on the Vanguard. This particular model is listed as their "small" head, but at 4 inches high and 2 inches in diameter, it doesn't seem very small to me. Unless you're mounting a telescope or something, I can't see needing a larger head than this.


All-in-all, I'd say Vanguard hit it out of the park with this one. I've seen tripod heads that run $300-$400 or more, and I can't imagine what they can offer that would make them worth the added dough. This head is rock solid when locked, has buttery-smooth movement when unlocked, and offers features (panning control, bubble levels) that the others don't. Money well spent!

I have owned the Vanguard SBH-100 for several months now and am very pleased.

The product literature is somewhat lacking in details. This head has a 3/8-16 tripod mount but comes with a 1/4-20 adapter so it should fit most tripods/monopods. It also comes with two quick release camera mounting plates - one is for 1/4-20 camera socket and the other for a 3/8-20.

I tried the Manfrotto 056 head before I purchased the Vanguard. With one hand on the camera, it took both left and right hands to adjust the 056 so I was continually shifting hands to loosen and tighten knobs on the 056. The 056 took a long time to get adjusted while the SBH-100 quickly locks where you want it.

I have the SBH-100 mounted on a Manfrotto 190XPROB. This tripod/head combination easily handles my Nikon D60 with a 18-200 zoom. I wanted a head that could rotate for panoramic shots without loosening the ball and this head does that. The other ball heads I found with this feature were more than twice the cost of the SBH-100.

After having used a $25 tripod for several years, I finally bit the bullet and purchased a "real" tripod/head. I am amazed at the difference and wonder why I put up with that cheapo for so long.

If you're looking at Manfrotto heads, you should consider the Vanguard line as a less expensive alternative. It is certainly impressive for the price!

This ball head is very well made, rugged and hefty at a very reasonable price. The only drawback I found was the fact that when a middle size camera is on the ball head, the bubble levels will not be visible. To avoid this, if you are using this ball head with a SLR camera, you could place a bubble level on the hot shoe slot of the camera, in order to see if the camera is leveled.

From packing of the product to construction of same I was highly satisfied. Shows a product made with pride. A fantastic ballhead and you can't go wrong with the price. Will highly recommend it. Love the 2 levels on the unit. Makes it very simple to find your true horizon.