Shooting Stick vs Gimbal Head

JohnN

JohnN

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Hi all,

I just read somewhere that some people use a shooting stick rather than a Gimbal head/monopod.

Have any of you tried this approach and is it actually any good?

Ta.
 
The big advantage of a gimbal is that the cemera/lens is held in perfectly balance so when you let go of it, it stays put. This won't happen with a shooting stick, which is just a crude version of a monopod. But you can't sit on a monopod.
 
Lol, not comfortably :)
Good point though, I've never used or even seen one used so don't really how they work, cheers hoppy
 
JohnN said:
Lol, not comfortably :)
Good point though, I've never used or even seen one used so don't really how they work, cheers hoppy
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Gimbals are wonderful to use, becuase they do swing and rotate very smoothly with huge lenses on them, but you can get away with a (very) big ball head and do much the same thing if you want to.

But the big advantage is the way they stay perfectly in position when you're not holding them, but always ready. That's a vital feature if you're sitting in a hide for hours, waiting for a few seconds of action. Or maybe on the sidelines at a sporting event doing much the same thing.
 
Mind me asking which one you use as I'm curious but don't want to shell out for one of the expensive ones as I'd not get that much use out of it.

Mark, I can't imagine either now. Just what I'd read. I think hoppys right, I doubt there is a cheap alternative, unless some of those eBay jobs are ok
 
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HoppyUK said:
But the big advantage is the way they stay perfectly in position when you're not holding them, but always ready. That's a vital feature if you're sitting in a hide for hours, waiting for a few seconds of action. Or maybe on the sidelines at a sporting event doing much the same thing.
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Gimbal heads with a big lens are fantastic. Here's a video that shows just how it works. Once you get the balance and friction set right then you can move the lens into virtually any position with one finger. Remove the finger and the lens stays put.

I started with one of the cheap Indian knock-offs from Ebay. It worked OK, but wasn't quite as smooth as the more expensive Jobu head I use now. Still better than trying to use a long lens on any other type of head though.
 
Cheers Frank - if I get one it would probably be an Indian one to start with - being extra cheeky I don;t suppose you have a dircet link do you as I've heard of the Indian ones, but am not 100% sure which they are: is it this?
 
JohnN said:
Cheers Frank - if I get one it would probably be an Indian one to start with - being extra cheeky I don;t suppose you have a dircet link do you as I've heard of the Indian ones, but am not 100% sure which they are: is it this?
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It's not quite the same as the one I had, but I bought mine second-hand. That one looks pretty good for the price. But you can only tell if it really is any good by trying it out.
 
I think I'll either have to go with one of the eBay jobs (this or this - although they may be the same I'm not 100% sure) and risk it or wait on a second hand 393, otherwise they're just too expensive...
 
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For that price I'd go for the Linkdelight one (because I've bought from them before). You can always recoup most of the money by reselling it.
 
It arrived this morning but feels pretty stiff in my hands, I've not mounted it to the monopod yet though - is that normal in a gimbal?
 
JohnN said:
It arrived this morning but feels pretty stiff in my hands, I've not mounted it to the monopod yet though - is that normal in a gimbal?
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Gimbals are supposed to be on a tripod, with a big lens when the weight and leverage will loosen things up.

Sticking one on a monopod stikes me as a cumbersome combination, and you've negated one of the big benefits of a gimbal (see my post above).
 
Cheers again - just before coming back on here I was playing with it on a tripod (in fact my image of the day will be of my son having a play!) and yes much better - the horizontal rotation is freeing up already, so hopefully so will the vertical.

It will be a bit of a shock to the system as usually I travel light as I combine much of my photo taking with family days out so as to maximise tie with them - should be interesting how long it takes me to set up a tripod with tapping feet all around :D

By the way the reason I tried the monopod first, although counter intuitive is firstly it was to hand and secondly the Manfrotto 393 is referred to by themselves as a monopod bracket.
 
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