I'm mostly a bird/wildlife shooter, and my only tripod head is a Gimbal.
I've recently been getting into landscapes and milky way photography more, and I was wondering what the best way to hook an L-bracket onto a gimbal head would be, or if there are any other ways to shoot portrait orientation on my gimbal.
Would prefer not to have to buy and lug around a second tripod head if I don't have to.
I think you're going to have to spring for a ball head. Two reasons:
- Gimbals (at least those I've seen) don't lock well enough for long exposures. They're intended for heavy loads that need to quickly/accurately/solidly track subjects while taking short exposures. Landscapes often need good positioning and locking capabilities, and should be rigid when locked.
- The Arca Swiss mount on all the gimbals I'm aware of is oriented perpendicular to the way L-brackets are (tele lens feet are perpendicular to the camera body). Unless you can find a reasonable adapter to fix the mount orientation, you're finished.
What I do (and some think it won't work, but it absolutely does) is keep a solid ball head mounted on the tripod and then mount the gimbal to the ball via a universal plate. When locked, my ball head is more than rigid enough to support this and having the gimbal on a ball head makes leveling the gimbal a breeze. This is a good solution if you need to change between gimbal and ball on shoots, or if you have only 1 tripod and want switching to be easy.
Or you could buy a ball head and change heads out whenever you need to.
Search for a nodal slide and that should do the trick for you. You can spend anywhere from $20-$200 depending on your budget. Just clamp the bottom rail of the nodal slide to the clamp on the gimbal and then your camera to the clamp on the nodal slide. It also has the benefit of still being able to balance your camera on the gimbal. I use a Kirk macro slider for this same function, but only because I already had the slider.
Agree with the above: a nodal slide is your best option. I have RRS, Acratech and Desmond slides, and considering the price ($20-ish on Amazon), the Desmond would be a great pick.
I'm mostly a bird/wildlife shooter, and my only tripod head is a Gimbal.
I've recently been getting into landscapes and milky way photography more, and I was wondering what the best way to hook an L-bracket onto a gimbal head would be, or if there are any other ways to shoot portrait orientation on my gimbal.
Would prefer not to have to buy and lug around a second tripod head if I don't have to.
Thanks in advance.
The Wimberley M-8 is specifically designed for the Gimbal head and works in either orientation. It is short and lightweight compared to most of the bulky nodal rails.
Thanks for the suggestions everyone. That's just what I was looking for.
Might be worth going the nodal rail route as the main reason I would want to shoot vertical is for panoramas.
I recently purchased an inexpensive system from Amazon that allows me to set my nodal point for panoramas while using my 150 x 170 Haida filters on my EF 14L II.
I can set camera position and nodal point independently, unlike a bar with a fixed clamp position.
I level the base, then am ready for panoramic landscapes, or just as a head for Arca Swiss quick release base on the camera or L-bracket. It is very solid and stable. It works very well for astrophotography
