Wimbley Head?

[DennyKyser]

If you needed a head for birds and sports, would this be your choice? If not what would you suggest if there is one that would work for both.

I have never even seen a Wimbley Head, so hoping those who use it can give me some insight.

Denny

[David Billingsley]

Check here - scroll down to Wimberly Head

http://www.birdsasart.com/accs.html

[Alfred Forns]

Denny the Wimberly is the best all around, actually the best period. Don't think you will be able to get away with only one. You mention sports, there you will see lots of monopods rather than tripods and they use a totally new device for mounting, not cheap either :)

[William Malacarne]

You mention sports, there you will see lots of monopods rather than tripods and they use a totally new device for mounting, not cheap either :)

Alfred

What kind of mount is it....So far I have only been using a quick release plate on my mono and it has worked ok so far.

Bill

[DennyKyser]

Alfred

What kind of mount is it....So far I have only been using a quick release plate on my mono and it has worked ok so far.

Bill

I was wondering the same thing.

[Andy Wai]

Alfred
What kind of mount is it....

RRS MH-01 probably: http://reallyrightstuff.com/tripods/04.html

Andy

[Robert Amoruso]

RRS MH-01 probably: http://reallyrightstuff.com/tripods/04.html

Andy

Yep, this is the one I have seen but no opinion on it.

[Magnus Thornberg]

Look at Benro Gimbal GH-2, same design as Wimbley but half the price!

[Andy Wai]

Yep, this is the one I have seen but no opinion on it.

Well I have it. Here's my newbie opinion:

With a collared lens on monopod, you already have two degrees of freedom. The only degree of freedom you're missing is up and down. If you're sure you'll shooting more or less flat all the time, perhaps you don't need the up and down. But for wild life, that might not always be the case. Also, when you're shooting a little down this way, the weight of the lens is in front of the monopod's support point. Then you no longer have a "tripod" with the mono and your two legs.

Some have used ball head on monopod. Problem with that is you have to set your angle and lock it. You can't let the joint loose while you're shooting or the whole rig might go wild and flop over. With one way tilt head, you can loosen it and it only move one way. This is good for following animals that moves up and down rapidly.

I've also heard people use gimbal head on a stick. That's probaby overkill. The other thing I find is, when used this way, you want a fairly high drag on the pivot. Not many gimbal heads does that.

So overall, I think one way tilt head is the way to go. The small Manfrotto is a little too small for my ease of mind. The RRS is *heavy duty*. It's relatively light but you feel it in your bones that it can hold just about anything. It locks absolutely solid and the drag when unlocked is just right for long lenses.

Now back to the original topic of full Wimberley, Custom Brackets CB Gimbal is an alternative. It's only released last month so not yet very well known. It has tension knobs on the two pivot. It runs on roller bearings so the lower friction setting is quite a bit lower than Wimberley and you can progressively crank it up to much higher than Wimberley. Plus it's modular so you can take the vertical support piece and use it like a Sidekick. I've been using one for the past month and have been reallyhappy with it so far.

Andy

[Alfred Forns]

Denny check out the Really Right Stuff. Will find the best way to mount a lens on a monopod. Highly recommended, at times I use my 600 with ease. btw their old suggestion of using the Manfrotto plate was good at the time but its not as sturdy and locking was difficult.

Using a ballhead for the purpose is not a good idea at all. Actually using a ballhead for mounting a large lens is not a good idea period.

[Doug Brown]

I have this one, and it's an impressive piece of hardware. Handles the 600 easily.

[DennyKyser]

I have this one, and it's an impressive piece of hardware. Handles the 600 easily.

which one?

[Alfred Forns]

They only make one Denny Just log in and look for the monopod info. Only choices you have is in mounting plate (quick release lever or knob)

here is the link http://reallyrightstuff.com/tripods/04.html

[fabiobernardino]

Andy Wai,
would the Custom Brackets CB Gimbal mentioned above be the one in the link below ?

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...ipod_Head.html

Thank you.

[Andy Wai]

would the Custom Brackets CB Gimbal mentioned above be the one in the link below ?

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...ipod_Head.html

That's the one.

Andy