Andoer MT-04 Mini Ball Head

a light and durable, CNC machined, anodised, aluminium alloy mini ball head with a 3kg max load ( 64g )

Datasheet

Available on SYSTEM

Background

When we were testing mini ball heads for the Scrambler ultralight modular tripod (a Scramble and GP-Net Media collaboration) the three stand-outs were Highlights' S2Q (versions 1 & 2), Innorel's B19 and Andoer's MT-04. The Highlights S2Q stands alone in terms of its weight-to-load handling, and though in our opinion it's the ideal companion for our tripod, some may find it too small and/or fiddly (though we don't) and may prefer something a little chunkier. Enter Andoer's slightly larger MT-04. 
 

Battle of the mini light "heavyweights": MT-04 vs B19

In terms of performance the Andoer MT-04 and Innorel B19 mini ball heads are very much on a par, the differences are largely superficial; however for some strange reason Andoer are discontinuing their excellent MT-04 and so we thought we'd offer this classic ball head while we still can.

Some will prefer the all-black design of the B19 and some the silver and black of the MT-04.  However, it's not just looks, there are some minor differences between these two "heavy-weights" of the mini ball head world that are worth pointing out:

• The Andoer has a native 1/4"-20 female threaded screw base fitting whereas the B19 allows for 3/8" screws and comes with a 1g 1/4"-20 screw adapter. When mounted via Feichao's dual cubic mount adapter the Andoer would require a straight 1/4" male to 1/4" male adapter.
• The MT-04 weighs 64g and natively takes a 1/4"-20 male threaded screw whereas the B19 weighs 63g on our scales (though its stated weight is 60g) and 64g if you include the 3/8" to 1/4" adapter.
• Andoer's MT-04 has an interesting and robust design; the ball head, plate and mounting screw are all one piece. The B19 has a removeable plate with a slightly larger diameter. 
• The main advantage the MT-04 has over many ball heads is its chunkier and very knurled and grippy screw knob.  It also has a nicely rounded edge to its U-notch (for portrait style tilts).

In reality, there's very little separating these two "chunkier" mini ball heads - they're both superbly machined, durable and reliable. Both have a secure, 3kg max load (plenty for our target user) and both provide a single / simultaneous lock for ball head and panning base. Both weigh a touch under 65g (and thus came in under our max 70g limit).

Scramble did most of their early testing with the Andoer MT-04 and had nothing but good things to say about it.  If you absolutely need an all-black ball head and find the Highlights S2Qs a little petite, then go for the Innorel B19, otherwise we'd strongly recommend the Andoer MT-04; it's become something of a mini-classic for a reason.
 

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