Which is the best option for tripods used in climbing and mountain photography? Landscape including stitched panoramas, heavy long lenses for climbers on routes, light and portable (for use with a light CF tripod) etc
With my Hasselblad for landscape/mt photography I always used a ball head - weight was a real issue with quite a heavy tripod. All Manfrotto and excellent.
To add to the consensus, ball, i had a pan and tilt on a Manfrotto, its was crap, i took to the shed and butchered it (it wasn't interchangeable) to add a cheap ebay ball to it and its great now.
Really interesting results here, I can't stand ball heads. Impossible to make fine adjustments. I use an Arca Swiss geared head - super compact 4-way pan and tilt. Guess it's just down to personality.