Lensmaster gimbal head

smr

smr

Messages
1,887
Name
Joel
Edit My Images
No
Hi all

Im looking at buying a first gimbal head for wildlife photography and whilst I'd probably go for the Wimberley if money was no object, it is.. so I'm looking at cheaper alternatives. Has anyone got the Lensmaster gimbal and if so what are your thoughts on it? Its reasonably priced if its going to do a good job..
 
I use one with my D7000 and sigma 150-600.
I use it on my tripod and monopod. Very happy with it. I bought it used from a fellow TP member.
It's the RH2 model.
 
Last edited:
Bobsyeruncle said:
Why would you need height adjustment? Genuine question. It's not something I'd even considered until now.
Click to expand...
A gimbal head is meant to have the upper pivot at the camera/lens center of balance/mass. W/o height adjustment you are dependent on the lens foot height for that.
 
sk66 said:
A gimbal head is meant to have the upper pivot at the camera/lens center of balance/mass. W/o height adjustment you are dependent on the lens foot height for that.
Click to expand...

I understand what you're saying but fail to see what difference it makes.
I have no issues balancing my 150-600
 
ecoleman said:
I understand what you're saying but fail to see what difference it makes.
I have no issues balancing my 150-600
Click to expand...
If the height of your lens puts it at/very near the balance point, then it probably won't be an issue. But if you have a very tall lens foot (like some long primes) or a very short foot (aftermarket/shorter lens), then it may not balance and you will have to apply more friction or it won't hold position. And if it works for one lens combo, it might not work as well for another.

Edit: If the balance point is above the pivot it will want to invert; if it is below it will want to return to level, which is less of an issue but not "correct" (if balanced front to back).
 
Last edited:
I have an RH2 as well, nice bit of kit, and good customer service from them as well, I bought mine secondhand, and didn't have an allen key to fit, a phone call and one was in the post the same day.
 
artyman said:
I have an RH2 as well, nice bit of kit, and good customer service from them as well, I bought mine secondhand, and didn't have an allen key to fit, a phone call and one was in the post the same day.
Click to expand...
I went to B&Q and one was in my bag the same day. :p
 
Bobsyeruncle said:
Why would you need height adjustment? Genuine question. It's not something I'd even considered until now.
Click to expand...

It maybe depends on the way you work, but a big part of gimbal operation is that it will hold the lens/camera at any angle without a hand on the camera, and with very little friction applied - basically ready for instant action. This is important if you're sitting in a hide just waiting for hours with the lens trained on a perch and you need it to stay exactly in position. But if you generally have a hand on the camera anyway, you'll probably not notice if it's a bit out of perfect balance, and it won't make any practical difference.
 
HoppyUK said:
It maybe depends on the way you work, but a big part of gimbal operation is that it will hold the lens/camera at any angle without a hand on the camera, and with very little friction applied - basically ready for instant action. This is important if you're sitting in a hide just waiting for hours with the lens trained on a perch and you need it to stay exactly in position. But if you generally have a hand on the camera anyway, you'll probably not notice if it's a bit out of perfect balance, and it won't make any practical difference.
Click to expand...
I can balance mines by sliding the camera/lens forward or backwards in the mount.
 
What lens / camera combo are you using it with & what are you taking pics off - wildlife covers a lot of ground - lol.

However, the wim is awesome, if you try one you will buy it.
 
Diving Pete said:
What lens / camera combo are you using it with & what are you taking pics off - wildlife covers a lot of ground - lol.

However, the wim is awesome, if you try one you will buy it.
Click to expand...

I should've said, Sigma 150-600 lens, camera 700D but upgrading this year.

Wildlife wise all really, deer, birds, hare, zoos/safaris etc.
 
smr said:
I should've said, Sigma 150-600 lens, camera 700D but upgrading this year.

Wildlife wise all really, deer, birds, hare, zoos/safaris etc.
Click to expand...
The 150-600 is pretty short... if you can verify that it will be very close to centered over the tripod when mounted, you might be better off with the RH-1 side mount gimbal (although they are a little harder to mount the lens on).
A side mount gimbal ensures the center of mass is at the right position vertically (at the pivot), a bottom mount gimbal ensures center of mass is at the right position horizontally (centered over the tripod). An adjustable bottom mount gimbal ensures both. You can use either of the "fixed" options as long as the lens height is closely matched to the design.

But I would consider a side mount to be even MORE particular/critical about lens height. If you put a big/heavy lens significantly off center it can be rather risky (i.e. a Nikon 400-800mm prime w/ OEM tall foot).
 
Usually I use a Manfrotto 393, but last time I had a go at shooting the International Space Station I used a LensMaster RH-2. (At least partly because we now stock this for hire, so I thought some practical experience of it would be good.) This was with a Canon 80D, Canon 600mm f/4 Mk II, and Canon 2x Extender, so quite a big combo. Anyway I loved it. superb friction control, easy to balance and to move. I'm sold.
 
Last edited:
Lensmaster for me too Joel
 
I loved the Fuji app for transferring photos to my phone it worked flawlessly for me however my new Nexus has a new version of android and it will not work! Is there another app option anyone can recommend?
 
rjbell said:
I loved the Fuji app for transferring photos to my phone it worked flawlessly for me however my new Nexus has a new version of android and it will not work! Is there another app option anyone can recommend?
Click to expand...
What's this got to do with gimbal heads?:D
 
It is not something I use often, but I would recommend the Lensmaster. Good service as well.
 
Ok thanks guys. Given the price i think it may well be worth going for.

I need a good tripod for it as well as my tripod is a manfrotto befree travel one... which is good but its a ball head and therefore wouldnt work with a gimbal.

The problem is there are so many tripods on the market its difficult to know what to get.
 
smr said:
Ok thanks guys. Given the price i think it may well be worth going for.

I need a good tripod for it as well as my tripod is a manfrotto befree travel one... which is good but its a ball head and therefore wouldnt work with a gimbal.

The problem is there are so many tripods on the market its difficult to know what to get.
Click to expand...
I use my lensmaster mainly on my manfrotto monopod. I have used it on my manfrotto 190 but felt it wasn't sturdy enough, so I bought a benro com47axl which is great. Very sturdy and solid.
 
smr said:
Ok thanks guys. Given the price i think it may well be worth going for.

I need a good tripod for it as well as my tripod is a manfrotto befree travel one... which is good but its a ball head and therefore wouldnt work with a gimbal.

The problem is there are so many tripods on the market its difficult to know what to get.
Click to expand...

I find it surprising you cannot remove the ballhead. I don't have a befree but on my two Manfrotto tripods the heads are removable just need to remove a couple of retaining screws.
 
I also use the lensmaster gh-2 my rig is a sigma 150-600 sport and a gripped canon 80D ,I have fitted a long area plate to the sigma which extends the lens foot and allows for perfect balance on the lensmaster ,what you actually need to achieve is a correct centre of gravity .once that's correct it's easy to follow through with b.i.f
 
I have the RH-2 and it's a reasonable bit of kit, my only complaint is the lack of good support on the up/down axis as it tends to sag a bit. It is however my first ever gimbal head and use it a lot with my 400mm 2.8 lens.
 
Indeed it is. I have been using the Pro media Katana Gimbal pretty much since launch and it is excellent. Remember also that if you use an L bracket on you camera the Gimbal can also be used as a very effected pano head, especially for multi row panoramas.
 
Bobsyeruncle said:
Not sure what would be gained by paying £300+ more than the lensmaster though. :thinking:
Click to expand...

I was adding a link in answer to the post above. The question of value for money over a lens master is for the individual to decide.

It seems strange to me that if having a height adjustable lens bracket is not needed and doesn't affect the balance of a lens and camera set up why wimberley etc still make them that way.
 
Gaz J said:
It seems strange to me that if having a height adjustable lens bracket is not needed and doesn't affect the balance of a lens and camera set up why wimberley etc still make them that way.
Click to expand...
It seems strange that if the ability to drive a car at more than 170mph is not needed and doesn't affect the handling and performance at lower speeds why Ferrari etc still make them that way.
 
StewartR said:
It seems strange that if the ability to drive a car at more than 170mph is not needed and doesn't affect the handling and performance at lower speeds why Ferrari etc still make them that way.
Click to expand...

But Ferrari are not changing the fundamental design of a car. It still has four wheels etc. They simply make it faster, more luxurious or whatever floats their boat.

Would Wimberley gimbal heads and others who adopt the height adjustable lens mount be any better or worse if they adopted the Lensmaster design. Not really, because their quality and smoothness in use is derived from the engineering in the bearings etc. So, if it doesn't bring anything to the party, why have it in the first place?

The lensmaster is the equivalent of a three wheeled car. It works but 4 wheels are better.
 
Gaz J said:
It seems strange to me that if having a height adjustable lens bracket is not needed and doesn't affect the balance of a lens and camera set up why wimberley etc still make them that way.
Click to expand...
It *IS* needed if you want it balanced optimally... unless your lens foot just happens to fit the head design/spacings. The Katana video shows the two adjustments typically required (@2:30).

You don't have to balance a gimbal head, but then that negates the point of having bought one in the first place... it's really only acting as a basic pan-tilt head.
FWIW, pan-tilt heads (often fluid heads, I still have one) are what we used before gimbals were introduced in the '90's. And they are still popular enough that some still make them (AcraTech and every "monopod head") or have re-invented them (UniqBall, which is what I use now).
 
Last edited:
The reason the Lensmaster works without hight adjustment is simple ,lots of lenses used on the RH-2 are very close to the centre of gravity and are close enough that a little friction takes care of the difference and hold the lens in place yet even with this friction added the lensmaster will still move freely .

If you think of a clock and 12 o'clock is locked you only need to turn the control knob back to 11.55 to be fully unlocked This make it very fast to use, the large control knobs make it very easy to do this.

There is still full friction control between these 2 points so the lens stays in place even though it may be just off dead centre of gravity so in practice no hight adjustment is needed .

Rob.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top