Balancing camera/lens on wimberley

htid

htid

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Chris
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I now have a good tripod and am trying to balance my d500/500mm combo on the wimberley. I have a replacement foot but to make it balance I need to have the foot so far forward in the clamp like this

https://flic.kr/p/NfVDeG

There are two small metal pieces coming from the bottom of the foot to stop it sliding too far forward or backwards. The foot has to be far enough froward that the metal stopping pin is within the clamp if that makes sense. Am I missing something or is this correct?
 
The pins are to stop it falling out as you move it back and forth to set the balance
Some lens feet are just to small IMHO at leased with plates you can get a longer one and have All the clamp gripping.
Rob.
 
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Yeah I know the pins are for that, which is why I was concerned that I'm putting the foot further forward than the pin would otherwise allow.
 
With my 200-400 lens I have around 5mm left outside of the clamp, this is with a D750 with grip and two batteries fitted. I would be worried that you you only have 60-70% of the foot in the clamp. Like monkeyhanger says more weight on the camera end may shift the balance point. Lots of people think battery grips are only there for getting the 'pro' look!
 
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arthurbikemad said:
What about RRS:-

http://www.reallyrightstuff.com/LCF-18

p.s I am a Canon shooter so just guessed the lens? pps I have one for my 500L and 1DX, lot of effort to get but worth it for me.
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This is the foot I have.

I don't have the battery pack because I've never needed it. I can't really justify £350 on one just to balance the setup better...I was hoping there was something I'd missed. I'll have to have a think, thanks!
 
htid said:
This is the foot I have.

I don't have the battery pack because I've never needed it. I can't really justify £350 on one just to balance the setup better...I was hoping there was something I'd missed. I'll have to have a think, thanks!
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Is there a cheaper third party grip you could get instead of the OEM Nikon one? As far as I can see there are three options,

1/ carry on like it is and take the risk not using the foot end stop screws/not using the whole clamp.
2/ add extra weight to the camera by adding a battery grip.
3/ get a longer tripod foot (I would have thought most manufacturers would be roughly the same length).

It's likely the tripod foot was designed to balance correctly with the flagship pro cameras (D3,D4,D5) rather than the lighter D500. There is 555g difference between the D5 and D500, that amount would make a difference to the balance point.
 
Chris

you have also got to use the vertical, (up and down) adjustment , (as well as the horizontal adjustment), to balance the camera/lens on the Wimberley
 
rob-nikon said:
Is there a cheaper third party grip you could get instead of the OEM Nikon one? As far as I can see there are three options,

1/ carry on like it is and take the risk not using the foot end stop screws/not using the whole clamp.
2/ add extra weight to the camera by adding a battery grip.
3/ get a longer tripod foot (I would have thought most manufacturers would be roughly the same length).

It's likely the tripod foot was designed to balance correctly with the flagship pro cameras (D3,D4,D5) rather than the lighter D500. There is 555g difference between the D5 and D500, that amount would make a difference to the balance point.
Click to expand...

I guess you're right. That's a shame as I bought this foot as I was told I'd need it for the wimberley instead of the standard Nikon one.

BillN_33 said:
Chris

you have also got to use the vertical, (up and down) adjustment , (as well as the horizontal adjustment), to balance the camera/lens on the Wimberley
Click to expand...

Yeah I know. I have it working fine, with it balancing correctly and staying where I put it. The problem is only that the foot is only about a quarter clamped in :/
 
htid said:
I guess you're right. That's a shame as I bought this foot as I was told I'd need it for the wimberley instead of the standard Nikon one.
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Another option is to use the Nikon foot and add a longer 150mm or 200mm arca Swiss plate to it.

What was the reason for someone saying to use the RRS foot instead of the Nikon foot?
 
rob-nikon said:
Another option is to use the Nikon foot and add a longer 150mm or 200mm arca Swiss plate to it.

What was the reason for someone saying to use the RRS foot instead of the Nikon foot?
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I can't remember as it was a while ago. I think it was the lower height of the rrs which meant it would balance better.... Which obviously hasn't worked! I'll have a look at the longer plates. I just tried adding 500g to the body (put a bag of sugar on it, nothing scientific!) And even that wasn't enough. The battery packs are around 350g so even with that and battery I think it'd be difficult to balance. Didn't think it would be this difficult! I thought the point of the wimberley was that it would balance anyway (I didn't think about how)...
 
htid said:
I can't remember as it was a while ago. I think it was the lower height of the rrs which meant it would balance better.... Which obviously hasn't worked! I'll have a look at the longer plates. I just tried adding 500g to the body (put a bag of sugar on it, nothing scientific!) And even that wasn't enough. The battery packs are around 350g so even with that and battery I think it'd be difficult to balance. Didn't think it would be this difficult! I thought the point of the wimberley was that it would balance anyway (I didn't think about how)...
Click to expand...

What about the wider/extended clamp I posted about in post #6, would that work?
 
Box Brownie said:
What about the wider/extended clamp I posted about in post #6, would that work?
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Thanks, sorry I didn't reply to your earlier post. Thas is basically the same as is on my wimberley but 1cm longer, so I don't think it'll make a difference. The longer plate will definitely help more than that I hoe, by thanks anyway
 
htid said:
Thanks, sorry I didn't reply to your earlier post. Thas is basically the same as is on my wimberley but 1cm longer, so I don't think it'll make a difference. The longer plate will definitely help more than that I hoe, by thanks anyway
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Ah! when I read that the current smaller clamp is 6.35cm and the one I posted about is 10.35cm the extra 4cm would be beneficial.

I hope you can find a solution......maybe revert to the original foot and get a long whimberly lens plate. I mentioned in post #6 it might be worth asking their advice for your combination?
 
TBH Chris I think you are overly concerned, provided you set the clamp firmly I don't think you have anything to worry about ... mine is sometimes like that with the Wimberley foot and it's as secure as I can imagine it ever needing to be. However if you are still worried I've got a 140mm Arca plate you can have to fit onto the foot.
 
gramps said:
TBH Chris I think you are overly concerned, provided you set the clamp firmly I don't think you have anything to worry about ... mine is sometimes like that with the Wimberley foot and it's as secure as I can imagine it ever needing to be. However if you are still worried I've got a 140mm Arca plate you can have to fit onto the foot.
Click to expand...

I did think it would be safe. I can't move it if I try my hardest. But it's just that it's half clamped, half not, and when 5cm of metal is holding 6 grands worth of kit, I'm a bit nervous!! If I did get an Arca plate though, ok it might mean another 3cm of plate is clamped, but still the foot would only be attached to the new plate with a few screws. Are they any more secure than having 5cm of foot clamped and 5cm not? I actually guess not so you're probably correct that I'm worrying unnecessarily.
 
With regard to would a plate be any more secure then, given that most lens feet have two or more screw holes to fasten the plate to, yes it would.

The replacement foot, if anything like the canon ones, is fastened by four 4mm socket head screws and that is deemed by the manufacturer to be strong enought to support the lens and take the weight of a pro DSLR on the back of the lens. So two 1/4 screws or one 1/4 and one 3/8 screw fastening the plate to the foot is going to take some shifting.
 
The screw is still in the front of the foot?
If so, you are fine. The grooves in the clamp are there to allow the screw to slide into the clamp, but they stop the foot/plate from sliding to/beyond the clamping force center (which would/could be bad). If you have to remove the front safety screw then I would say no, you should get a longer plate... that silly little screw can save you a lot of grief/money.
 
I'd still fit a longer plate - if only for peace of mind even if not actually required.
 
Thanks for the extra replies. I had to take the stopping screw out to get the balance right, so yeah I think I'll get the plate. Only £11 so won't break the bank!
 
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