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Details at a glance
Height: 10.3cm
Weight: 0.70kg
Max supported weight: 5kg
We clicked with
Excellent design, very fast and easy to reposition, different options for use.
Shots in the dark
Slight restriction in movement compared to a regular ball head, camera moves a long way in joystick mode.
Links
More
Manfrotto information
www.manfrotto.com
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The Manfrotto 322RC2 is a very easy to use ball head. It sits between your tripod legs and your camera and allows you to position the camera at the exact angle you want. Its unique selling point is that unlike most ball heads there is no screw to release the head and tighten when you have finished. Instead there's a great big pistol grip - squeeze the trigger, put the camera where you want and release. At a street price of around £100 it isn't exactly cheap but this is a quality piece of kit that will last a long time.
Appearance and features
This is serious piece of kit. It has a solid all metal construction and is larger than you might expect but weighs only 700 grams. This is because it is made of magnesium to save weight but can hold a camera and lens of up to 4.5 kilos. It has a slightly roughened finish, which makes it pleasant to grip and it should perform well even if you are wearing gloves or the metal is wet.
Out of the box it comes with everything you need. The head screws on to any tripod legs with a 3/8” screw fitting and a quick release plate with safety locking switch is included with the head.
Also included in the box is an Allen key and a full set of instructions. Following the instructions and using the Allen key you can convert the head for left or right handed use or convert it into “joystick” mode (though this reduces its weight carrying capacity.
There is a tension adjust control. This is useful if you place a particularly heavy camera on the head - if you find the head slipping then just turn up the tension until it doesn't. A bubble spirit level helps you check if everything is level.
Performance
If you like a ball head on your tripod and want something that is quick to adjust then this is a very nice head. It is faster and easier to position than practically any other head I have used ad when it locks in place it's pretty solid.
One of the first things I tried was to convert the head to “joystick” mode and put on one of my heaviest camera and lens combinations. I chose a D2X and Nikon 70 - 200 2.8 VR. Together this weighs about 2.5 kilos which is right in the limit for joystick mode so I turned the tension up to the maximum. I locked the camera at an odd angle and left it for a couple of hours. When I came back it had moved a fraction but this was only detectable when I compared with a reference point. If I wanted to hold a 2.5 kilo camera in place for 2 hours then I would convert it to right or left handed use and it would stay put. For normal use I was very happy with the joystick performance.
The lens was slightly awkward to fit on the head. To save space I normally use the 70 - 200 without its optional foot. Without this in place the body of the camera hit against the head and wouldn't allow me to adjust it. However, this was easily solved by using the foot and I don't know of any lens that you couldn't attach to this head.
Converting from one mode to another (right handed, left handed or joystick) requires you to undo 2 screws, move a plate and tighten them. The first time I tried this the screws were very tight but nothing I couldn't shift by hand. A nice touch is that all the other screws on the head are a different size so even if I got confused there was no way I could loosen the wrong screws with the supplied Allen key.
Range of movement
This was really my only disappointment with an excellent head. In right handed mode you have a full range of up and down and swivel motion. You can flip the camera over to the left for a quick portrait (I LOVE this feature - it does this easier than any other head I have used) but you can't drop it more than about 15 degrees to the right. In left handed mode of course this is reversed - you can flip to the right but not much to the left. For people trying to achieve nice verticals and horizontals this won't be a problem (there's enough movement) but I like to tilt my camera a lot and sometimes it's slightly annoying.
In joystick mode you have a better range of movement though you can elect to drop the camera to the left or the right or front or back if you want to move more than about 15 degrees - you have to line the notch up where you want it. This is common on ball heads (though most move a little further than this) and only takes a second but is easiest if you use a second hand to hold the collar. The real problem with joystick mode it that it moves your camera about 6 inches from the rotation point so as you tilt from left to right the camera actually moves long way from side to side.
Suits...
This ball head suits anyone with an SLR style camera who like ball heads and can put up with the minor niggles noted under “range of movement”. It would work for compact cameras but it might seem a bit silly to use a ball head that's bigger and heavier than your camera.
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Ease of use 
Functions 
Value for Money
Overall 
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"The Manfrotto 322RC2 is a solid ball head with the added bonus of a quick adjustment grip. It will hold all but the heaviest cameras firmly in place though some users may find the amount of movement a little restrictive. If you like a ball head then this is well worth a look."
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