Ball Head or Gimbal Head, which do you prefer and why?

I got mine today but didn't get a chance to take it out before it got dark. Had a play about in the room with my 70D, 70-200 f2.8L IS II and 2x MkIII extender and got it set up easily enough. It's definitely tighter than I thought it would be but I'm sure it'll not take long to get used to it. Will try and get some time tomorrow to give it a try out properly but it did seem good when I was swinging it about in the living room.

Thanks to all who have contributed to the thread, your views have been important to me and have really helped me make the decision to get one.
 
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modchild said:
I got mine today but didn't get a chance to take it out before it got dark. Had a play about in the room with my 70D, 70-200 f2.8L IS II and 2x MkIII extender and got it set up easily enough. It's definitely tighter than I thought it would be but I'm sure it'll not take long to get used to it. Will try and get some time tomorrow to give it a try out properly but it did seem good when I was swinging it about in the living room.

Thanks to all who have contributed to the thread, your views have been important to me and have really helped me make the decision to get one.
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I did find it tighter than i expected but after a while during my first outing i found a way of working that suited me better,right hand on camera controling some of the up and down and firing the camera,left hand on the gimal upright for panning finger and thumb doing some off the slight up and down movements,plus it helped steady the whole rig in the wind.
 
After reading this thread I have a Manfrotto 393 coming today to use with my Pentax 250-600mm f5.6. I'm hoping it will work ok with my monopod because at 6kg just for the lens it's impossible (for me at any rate) to hand hold for more than about 10 seconds. The inbody Pentax SR is good but not THAT good.
 
For long telephoto lens 300mm,400mm,500mm,800mm a gimbal every time.
But for anything else a ball head on. Tripod or monopod.
 
My Beike head came this morning, very nice,just the right amount of resistance in the action, very smooth, don't see the point of the compass or spirit level as they will not work where they are, very chuffed though just need some nice weather now.
 
I stull haven't worked out what the level is for, specially when it's on the tripod, and the compass is only good for when the head's not attached as far as I can work out. They do look prettier than having a black circle though :D
 
modchild said:
I stull haven't worked out what the level is for, specially when it's on the tripod, and the compass is only good for when the head's not attached as far as I can work out. They do look prettier than having a black circle though :D
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The level works in conjunction with a seperate levelling base, more use for actual panoramic photos

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I still own a lensmaster but it has never been out the Box since getting a wimberley mkii.
I does cost an awful lot more money than the lensmaster but it is a completely different beast.
Even when I took it out the box it felt & is much better engineered but when you get it on a tripod & stick a camera on with a large lens on the differences are immediately apparent.
Honestly it's like comparing a mondeo with a Ferrari.

They are worlds apart.
 
Thanks for clearing that up Gary. By the looks of things the level in mine is just going to end up as a decoration then. I've got a level built into my tripod legs and another built in to both my camera bodies so I think that should be enough.
 
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