OK, so after 2 years of saving I finally saved enough to get my Canon 500mm F4 IS lens. Now I need a Gimbal head for Birds in Flight.

Questions, is the Wimberley all that much better than a couple other half the price brands like the Induro GHB2 Gimbal Head

Thanks in advance!
Kent

http://www.linkdelight.com/PK003-Gimbal-Tripod-Head-BK-45-Camera-Ball-Head-for-Tele-Lens.html

Well this has been discussed a lot. As with most things in life, you get what you pay for. There are quite a few testimonials of people using the other inexpensive ones that are very happy. When I bought my RRS gimbal I looked at it as a one time purchase. By the time you add up the cost of the lens and the camera body I’m going to be mounting on it. It’s not worth trying to save a few hundred dollars to me. I rather pay a few hundred more and get a quality one just to have that piece of mind when I’m carrying that much gear over my shoulder.

George

BNJarrett wrote:
OK, so after 2 years of saving I finally saved enough to get my Canon 500mm F4 IS lens. Now I need a Gimbal head for Birds in Flight.

Questions, is the Wimberley all that much better than a couple other half the price brands like the Induro GHB2 Gimbal Head

Thanks in advance!
Kent



I am not certain about the $75 gimbal in the link but Induro has a good rep and would not hesitate to buy that brand. Another option is to keep an eye on the BS board - that is how I got my wimberley II, but they don't come up very often.

I don't have the experience of lugging super teles on a tripod over my shoulder, but I don't think I would ever do it regardless of how it was attached to my tripod. I always take my 400mm do off the AS B1 ball head and carry it by the straps attached to the lens. Even if all the hardware can handle it, I don't want to be at fault for something I did not secure properly.

The 3rd party gimbal I am referring to is very solid on initial inspection and I have no regrets. I will try it out next weekend for the first time.

Hi Kent,

Congrats on getting the 500. If you're on a budget, you might want to consider a wimberley sidekick. I use one with my 600 and find that it works fine for me. Lens motion is smooth, and balance is perfect with my 5D3.

Another benefit to the sidekick is that you can easily remove it and revert back to using your ballhead, if you use one. A dedicated gimbal would require switching out heads.

HTH,

Mitesh

sperraglia wrote:
BNJarrett wrote:
OK, so after 2 years of saving I finally saved enough to get my Canon 500mm F4 IS lens. Now I need a Gimbal head for Birds in Flight.

Questions, is the Wimberley all that much better than a couple other half the price brands like the Induro GHB2 Gimbal Head

Thanks in advance!
Kent



I am not certain about the $75 gimbal in the link but Induro has a good rep and would not hesitate to buy that brand. Another option is to keep an eye on the BS board - that is how I got my wimberley II, but they don't come up very often.


I just got that head a month ago. I will first say that I was under no illusion that it could be as good as any of the more expensive proper heads , but I got it as a first foray into a gimbal head for my newly aquired sigma 300/2.8

It seems to work pretty well . It's a lot sturdier than the price would suggest .

But (and its a very big BUT ) there is a no way I'd scrimp on this head if I was to own a 500L or any similar lens
If I'd just spent the ££££'s on one of those then I think the wimberly or RRS would be the only real choices

The Induro is really nice, I can recommend it.

Compromise solution > I sometimes use my 500/4L IS on a Wimberley Sidekick, attached to my go-to, heavy-duty ball head, a Manfrotto 468MG. It works great.

My experience with gimbal heads is all with Wimberley, and they provide a very good product. The Induro GHB2 seems to have been around for a while now, and likely is a good copy of the Wimberley. But it is only about 20% less money than the Wimberley, so for me I would likely just wait longer and pay more and get it over an Induro. The low cost gimbal heads from other manufacturers are not something I would consider untill they have a lot of history behind them in the market place. Perhaps you will get some useful reports from others, but I would hope they are reports based on years of use. You really do not want to trust the cost of a 500 f4 IS to an unknown device.

You might look for a used full gimbal Wimberley. A used copy of the original Wimberley model might be in the $350 range, and a used Wimberley of the current design might be $450 or a little more.

If you are a MAC member, the Induro is a lot cheaper (close to 50% of the Wimberley).

My experience with gimbal heads is all with Wimberley, and they provide a very good product.

And the Wimberely head is made in the USA. That matters to some people (like me), but not to others.

John

Also consider the Jobu line of Gimbals here: http://www.jobu-design.com/gimbals.html

I have been using min for several years mow and am very pleased with it's build and functionality. A few photog friends of mine ended up with a Jobu as a result of viewing/trying mine.

I have just recently done a lot of research on gimbles and put my money down on a CB unit. The Wimberley was my otner choice. The Jobu, Mongoose and some other higher priced ones were considered.
I chose the CB because it is a little more versitle. I can use it as a side mount with my 300 or a full mount with a 600. It is very smoothe and well made.
I would in no way scrimp on my gimble after paying that much for a lens. A gimble needs to be smoothe and glitch free through out its motion, should balance with different lenses or cameras and be solid enough to reduce shake.
Good luck with your selection; best wishes.

On the other hand while I own a Wimberley I almost always prefer to hand hold it.. I am close to 65 years old so you do not need to be superman

Adorama has a pretty beat up wimberly version 1 for $180

Anyone had any experience with 4th Generation offerings? The weight sure sounds appealing.

I'll plug the Induro. My friend has a Wimberly and side by side they are practically the same. Only about $100 cheaper, but if you have enough money lying around that it doesn't matter.....send me $100 for the advice.

egd5 wrote:
I'll plug the Induro. My friend has a Wimberly and side by side they are practically the same. Only about $100 cheaper, but if you have enough money lying around that it doesn't matter.....send me $100 for the advice.

Well in the context of the inuro thread that's on the same page as this thread
http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1166155
I find that statement quite funny . As has been mentioned many times before for ALL equipment what may seem 'practically the same' on the outside may be worlds differnt on the inside .
Don't get me wrong I'm all for saving as much money as possible but when things are close I'd take the popular market leader .
And yes I know (as I mentioned above) I have a very cheap head. But I'm under no illusion that its a product that's up there with a wimberly . But then I'm not seeking to load it up with a really heavy rig like a 1 series and 400/2.8 or 600/4 .

As for other cheaper options, what anyone's thoughts on the manfrotto 393? A couple of hire sites over here hire them out with there super tele's (for a small charge) which makes me think they must consider them sturdy enough to put their lenses on

mitesh wrote:
Hi Kent,

Congrats on getting the 500. If you're on a budget, you might want to consider a wimberley sidekick. I use one with my 600 and find that it works fine for me. Lens motion is smooth, and balance is perfect with my 5D3.

Another benefit to the sidekick is that you can easily remove it and revert back to using your ballhead, if you use one. A dedicated gimbal would require switching out heads.

HTH,

Mitesh


+1 I find the sidekick with a BH55 more than able to handle my 500 and 1d4. As stated, it's a quick switch back to just a ballhead if needed.