Which gimbal head?

[Swallow]

I have a Nikon D700 with a 300mm f2.8 telephoto plus the x2 converter. I want to buy a gimbal head but am not sure which one to buy for my equipment. I'm thinking of the Jobu Pro or the Black Widow Heavy Duty 2 or a Wimberley. Can anyone help?

[Colin Southern]

Wimberley are traditionally considered to be "the best of the best". They're not cheap though.

[herbert]

There are alternatives to Wimberly, some expensive and some a bit less so:

lensmaster-gimbal-rh-1

Mongoose M-3.6 Action Head

Manfrotto_393_393_Heavy_Duty_Gimbal

[rpcrowe]

I have used the Manfrotto Heavy Duty Gimbal for years and think highly of it.

As with all other Bogen-Manfrotto products, the manufacturer/distributor does a lousy job of marketing this neat and relatively inexpensive Gimbal. The image that Manfrotto persists on using has the camera mounted opposite (beneath the swing bar) to the way I and virtually all photographers use this mount (above the swing bar).

This site shows the Bogen?Manfrotto way of mounting the camera/lens and it also shows how just about every photographer I know mounts the rig.

http://www.nikonians.org/html/resour...393/393_1.html

I use this mount with my 400mm f/5.6L lens which is really a relatively light glass as long tele lenses go. However, the great Filipino bird photographer, Romy Ocon (AKA Liquidstone on many forums), uses this rig with some realy big lens and TC combinations.

http://www.pbase.com/liquidstone/rmo

By the way, if you access his site, navigate around in it and enjoy some of the best bird photography you will ever see.

Another fault in marketing, Bogen/Manfrotto persists in telling their customers that you cannot use this rig with a flash unit. I wrote them once and was assured that this gimbal is not capable of being used with a flash; that is just not true! Unfortunately the Bogen/Manfrotto folks know little about the capabilities of their product.

A simple mount fabricated from quarter inch x one inch (~8mm x 25mm) flat aluminum stock allows a photographer to mount one (or more if desired) hotshoe flashes when using the Gimbal mount. Too bad that Bogen/Manfrotto doesn't hire a marketing guru with some savvy. they could easily sell a flash mount like this as an accessory...



BTW" This rig is relatively light in weight and can be used effectively on either a tripod (I use mine on a Giottos MT8180 Carbon Fiber Tripod) or on a monopod. It is quite nice for use on a monopod.

I love this rig for action photography as in when I shot this 150 MPH + Thunderboat...



Another problem with the Bogen?Manfrotto lack of marketing ability is that they have changed the name of this rig at least three times over the last eight or so years.

Here is a used Manfrotto Gimbal (which includes the camera/lens mount) selling for fifty U.S. Dollars on eBay USA. THAT IS A GREAT VALUE even though I am sure that it will increase in price as the end of the auction grows near..

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odkw...l&_sacat=30090

Actually the price of this rig new ($174 U.S.D.) is pretty inexpensive, especially considering it includes the camera/lens mount.

http://www.amazon.com/Bogen-Manfrott...nfrotto+gimbal

BTW: Bogen - Manfrotto "Long Lens Monopod Bracket" was one of the previous names that this bracket was called...

I carry my gimbal in a case for an old 14-inch notebook computer...

[Polar01]

Sarah: I do not use a gimbal head at this time, I was recommended to this supplier as I was looking for a new tripod and head. I see that they have a gimbal head, I found that their prices were much better than the local photo stores alot better. I have put a link to their web site.
http://www.feisolcanada.com/?products=ua-180

Cheers:

Allan

[Swallow]

Thanks all for the very helpful posts. Along with a gimbal head, I'm thinking of getting the Apex bean bag which will fit on the car window and has a detachable plate for a gimbal head.