I'd like to chime in and say I would avoid the "geared" ball head like the plague. I had the chance to try one out and while it's great in theory, the "gearing" in the head does not change orientation linearly. If you're trying to pitch, there will also be some rotation present and the reverse is true as well. If you're wanting something incredibly precise, there's no substitution for the D4 or Cube. I ended up just using the KPS head as a ball head and completely ignored the gearing mechanism.