gimbal suggestions

gpa

gpa

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Hi all I currently use a Benro copy Gimbal which has served me well but has lost me several pictures I could have done without loosing.... so interest in suggestions of a proper Gimbal set up from those people using them with 500 and 600mm lens...... price is not a factor really but it must be able to cleanly and uniformly pan without any friction..... Looking forward to hearing from you.

cheers
 
I have got a Wimberley mk.2 and it works very well with my 500mm. Got it off the classifieds on here and saved some money. It is quite large and heavy but is very well made. My only gripe is that the tripod thread is threaded into the aluminium base and is not a steel bush...so you have to be careful not to cross-thread it.

Haven't tried others except a Jobu Jr. 3 which is a bit small but still very well made.

I'd buy the best you can, generally you get what you pay for and you don't have to upgrade in another 6 months time.
 
I use the Jobu Black Widow Lightweight MkII, fine with my 500mm.

However I also have the Kirk King Cobra, this would take twice the weight of the Jobu, is smoother in operation, but is twice the weight itself.

The Jobu has a far greater range of vertical movement, the Kirk is limited in this respect, but as you are only concerned with panning this may not be an issue.

Having said that either are going to be miles better than the Benro, they are both precision made to fine tolerances, unlike the Benro I once owned.
 
Cheers all, whatever i buy has to right this time, it sounds like either the MK11 or as Martyn has suggested the "Kirk King Cobra" getting up high has also been a problem especially when something unexpected fly's over... so i guess my requirements are, very smooth panning with good control of adjustments as i like a little resistance when panning but it must retain the uniform pressure need to pan without catching, a quick release system that allows me to go hand held if i need to and finally some sort of fail safe locking mech to stop the plate sliding out of the mount should it work loose... i tend to walk around with the whole lot on my shoulder so don't want me camera and lens bouncing down the river bank :)

Martyn is the Kirk run on bearings or plastic friction discs ?
 
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If budget isn't an issue, I would go for the Wimberly. I just have recently and must say, the quality is superb.
I had a look at most of the others and ended up with this one. Oh and a good tripod. I bought the Gitzo GT5542LS. A great combination.

Kev.
 
kevshore said:
If budget isn't an issue, I would go for the Wimberly. I just have recently and must say, the quality is superb.
I had a look at most of the others and ended up with this one. Oh and a good tripod. I bought the Gitzo GT5542LS. A great combination.

Kev.
Click to expand...

Budget is not an issue really just making the right choice :) I must admit i had a play with a MK11 yesterday and really liked it, however the side mount and higher angle of the king Cobra also appeals.... again thanks for the input it has been very helpful.
 
gpa said:
Cheers all, whatever i buy has to right this time, it sounds like either the MK11 or as Martyn has suggested the "Kirk King Cobra" getting up high has also been a problem especially when something unexpected fly's over... so i guess my requirements are, very smooth panning with good control of adjustments as i like a little resistance when panning but it must retain the uniform pressure need to pan without catching, a quick release system that allows me to go hand held if i need to and finally some sort of fail safe locking mech to stop the plate sliding out of the mount should it work loose... i tend to walk around with the whole lot on my shoulder so don't want me camera and lens bouncing down the river bank :)

Martyn is the Kirk run on bearings or plastic friction discs ?
Click to expand...

I don't know I did not make it :D, whatever it is it is silky smooth, but if you want to "get up high" the Jobu is the answer.

With the Jobu and 500/4 mounted the camera actually hits the tripod when aiming high, with the Kirk you will get nowhere near the sort of elevation that you can with the Jobu, as the lens will hit the massive panning locking knob.

To stop the plate slipping out you want the Kirk plates as they come with little safety screws that will prevent that happening.

If you are carrying long distance the Jobu is half the weight.

I use the Jobu all the time, given the choice again I would not bother with the Kirk, whilst silky smooth it is too heavy and restricting in elevation.
 
It sounds like you might have put some notches in the pan base by over tightening - easily done with most alloy pan bases. Maybe you could get it refurbished.

Apart from the suggestions above, look at Custom Brackets (Benro also do a similar design to this) or Really Right Stuff (swallow hard on the price, plus shipping and VAT).
 
SLRUser said:
I have got a Wimberley mk.2 and it works very well with my 500mm. Got it off the classifieds on here and saved some money. It is quite large and heavy but is very well made. My only gripe is that the tripod thread is threaded into the aluminium base and is not a steel bush...so you have to be careful not to cross-thread it.

Haven't tried others except a Jobu Jr. 3 which is a bit small but still very well made.

I'd buy the best you can, generally you get what you pay for and you don't have to upgrade in another 6 months time.
Click to expand...

:plusone:

Tried most gimbals out there but can't fault the Wimberley mk2 :thumbs:
 
Just a quick not to say thank you to all those that posted, I'm 3 weeks into new ownership and very happy with my Jobu BWG-HD2 Black Widow bought with a replacement lens foot. Have it side mounted at the moment which seems to work really well but can use it conventionally by adding the base plate I removed.
 
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