For those with longer lenses - gimbal type heads

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You might be interested in Digital Video Products ebay store. Copies of Gimbal heads and Wimberley Sidekick type heads at a fraction of the cost of the originals.
 
Hmm. Been thinking about a full Wimberley head for a while but the price has put me off. These are much cheaper but still quite a lot to risk buying blind.
 
I use a Manfrotto 393 Gimbal head (courtesy of Doug Darter) which is also much cheaper than a Wimberley and its great. It really makes light work of big lenses (Biggest ive used so far is a 300mm f2.8). Its also not a silly weight and im quite happy walking about with it attached to my tripod on my rucksack all day.
 
:agree: I use the same & have always been more than happy with it (although it's a p.i.t.a to use with shorter lenses that do not have tripod collars)
 
Thanks. I had a Manfrotto that I sold to moomike. I found the panning base wasn't brilliant but the rest was fine. I currently use a Sidekick on a ballhead which is fine except for the risk of the of the lens not attaching properly due to it being a side mount (a problem I've just experienced in Kenya). The Sidekick is pretty good, which is why I can't bring myself to spring for Wimberley cash.
 
There has been a lot said about the DVP heads on ebay, both good, and bad.
They are copies but made to a lower standard with a lower grade material.

If your happy using one why not.

Personally I wouldn't skimp on cost, a few hundred quid extra, would get you a tried and tested design from companies like,

Kirk
Wimberley
Jobu
Manfrotto
Dietmar Nill

All Make gimbal heads of diffrent designs.

After all your could be putting a combo on top costing 8K.
 
It was just never really smooth for tracking planes and birds in flight.

Also do like the fact that you can convert a normal ball head to gimbal with the Sidekick
 
With the exception of the Manfrotto, pretty well all quality gimbal heads are horribly expensive. In the end I went for the Nill head as it's comparatively light, being made of cast aluminium, quite compact and beautifully engineered. I use it with, all my longer lenses and it's great for macro with the 180mm too. It's also capable of mounting two cameras should the need arise.
 
Hacker said:
You might be interested in Digital Video Products ebay store. Copies of Gimbal heads and Wimberley Sidekick type heads at a fraction of the cost of the originals.
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I found these the other day whilst doing my usual weekly search on the bay for any interesting bargains :D

They seem to have good feedback, so was half tempted to give one a try.
 
I don't think it's an area where I'd like to cut costs, but I must say, for the dosh they look OK. Mind you, referring to one as the 'Sidekick' and another as 'The Nill' is more than a bit cheeky. ;)
 
Have you considered the manfrotto 401 403 video heads ?
 
CT said:
I don't think it's an area where I'd like to cut costs, but I must say, for the dosh they look OK. Mind you, referring to one as the 'Sidekick' and another as 'The Nill' is more than a bit cheeky. ;)
Click to expand...

The reason for me considering it is I wouldn't use it much, so really cant justify spending the cash on a real one.
 
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