Question on Wimberley Gimbal head & Tripod support

[John Harper]

Hi There

Looking for some advice on the whole wimberley gimbal head and tripod question. I have recently acquired the Canon EF500 F4L and have it on a EOS1DMKIIN.

I have been using it handheld with good results but was wondering about the Wimberley route to take the strain off my arms.

My main interest would be bird in flight shots, but what concerns me is how high you would need to set the tripod to see through the viewfinder at angles higher than 45 degrees from horizontal. If you set it to be comfortable to look through at say 45 to 90 degrees i imagine it would be too high to look at for 0-45 if you see what i mean.

Also how is it at trying to follow birds in flight that are wheeling and diving rather than just flying straight and level.

I suppose i am asking will it match the speed on handholding for panning and following birds in flight.

I have seen quite a few photographers using the 500mm F4 at airshows but i have yet to see anyone using it on a wimberley, they were all shooting handheld.

There seems to be lots of bird shooters using it on a wimberley and tripod but they appear to be shooting feeding birds, or those just taking off and landing, ie below about 30 degrees from horizontal.

Would appreciate any feedback on this before i spend £1000 on gear that may not do what i need.

John

 

[Robin Bourbonnais]

I have a Wimberly that I use with a 400 2.8 for bird photography.
It isn't quite as fast as hand holding. I hand hold an 80-400 5.6, but I can't physically hand hold the 2.8.
When shooting birds flying overhead and then landing, I set the tripod a little lower and bend my knees for the over the head shot. If I am only shooting in the air, then I set the tripod up high.

Here is a high key in the air image of an Egrit:

One nesting:

And a white pelican after dark with a strobe and motion blur:

Robin

 

[René Damkot]

Last image is very nice!

 

[Nill Toulme]

John I'm not a BIF guy myself but I do know that the Wimberley head is the standard support among serious birders. Perhaps more usefully, take note that Wimberley has a very generous try-before-you-buy program so you could see for yourself.

Nill
~~
www.toulme.net

 

[John Harper]

John I'm not a BIF guy myself but I do know that the Wimberley head is the standard support among serious birders. Perhaps more usefully, take note that Wimberley has a very generous try-before-you-buy program so you could see for yourself.

Nill
~~
www.toulme.net

Hi Nill

Thanks for the info it seems to be that a Gitzo carbon fibre tripod and wimberbley head are the way to go on this. I will probably go the sidekick route and get a good ballhead too so i can use that for my smaller lenses.

So now it just leaves the 1DMKIII on my wish list.... oh and a lottery win to pay for it all

John

 

[Nill Toulme]

Current "standard" Gitzo for that purpose would be the 3530LSV. The Sidekick will work well with the 500 (I use one with my 400 f/2.8, which is considerably heavier) if mounted on an adequately robust ballhead. The Sidekick relies on the ballhead for the panning motion. I use mine on an RRS BH-55, and it's fine.

The 500 will work even better on the Sidekick (or any sidemount gimbal) if you replace the stock foot with one of the several low profile replacement feet that are available for it. This moves the lens laterally closer to the center of rotation on the ballhead. The replacement foot will have the Arca-compatible plate built right into it, so you don't need to buy a separate plate.

Nill
~~
www.toulme.net

 

[walter zeiss]

Well this post is a little late but you should check out a new product from 4th Generations Designs. Their Mongoose 3.5 is lighter and faster IMO tho I might be a little bias. I use the M3.5 with one of their custom plates with the Nikon 500mm. There is also a little write up on Arthur Morris website www.Birdsasart.com

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