Question for Gimbal Head Experts

[HDNitehawk]

LOL, yea, noticed, that - trying out a gimbal and yep it makes for a large, space hogging hunk

Actually the Wimberley II separates in two pieces that fit nicely in the Tamrac Expedition outside pocket. It is a good stable choice for shooting and tracking birds. A poor choice for shooting Pano but it can handle the big lenses and I have made a few 500mm Panos with it. Like you say the offset is not ideal. It would be a ridiculous choice for shooting dedicated Pano with a short lens, you can just get to much for the same money.

RRS seems to have the best options.

[Busted Knuckles]

OK, so I popped for the Really Right Stuff pano head PG-02LLR. What a beast - I didn't get the vertical arm w/ cradle style clamp. When I am shooting movement, I can get to the center of gravity, or at least really close. Not sure I need the vertical arm & cradle, but we shall see.

From my understanding/perspective the side mount aligns the vertical center of the lens by default.

To find the offset on the horizontal base I used extension tubes w/ the camera/lens pointed straight down and lined it up w/ the crosshairs - Magic Lantern has a feature to find the exact center of the sensor with a uber small box for the magnification window. I used it to line up the with the markings for the base for center of rotation. I did this for my camera body (L plate) and my 70-200 (lens foot). The camera body setting should be the same regardless of the smaller lens mounted. The offset are 89 (vertical orientation) and 96 millimeters respectively. I won't be able to do this for my 150-600 but I should be able to really close by measuring the diameter of the lens ring & foot compared to the 70-200.

Now I need to find the nodal point, which is a trial and error effort for Saturday morning.

I am impressed w/ the fit and finish, I can see the difference of a Pano-Gimbal head vs. a Gimbal head that is focused on the super/uber telephotos.

I am good w/ the 150-600 on this, a 600 f4 etc would not break it, but I would think a dedicated Gimbal would be more functional for a swinging set of bird shots, etc. with such a hefty lens.

[neuroanatomist]

OK, so I popped for the Really Right Stuff pano head PG-02LLR.

I am good w/ the 150-600 on this, a 600 f4 etc would not break it, but I would think a dedicated Gimbal would be more functional for a swinging set of bird shots, etc. with such a hefty lens.

Congrats on the purchase.

I rarely use my PG-02 LLR for panos, but use it frequently for shooting BIF with my 1D X + 600/4 (usually with the 1.4xIII, sometimes with the 2xIII), and it's great for that use.

[Busted Knuckles]

that big of rig, I would suspect you use the vertical arm & cradle or just side mount?

[neuroanatomist]

I use the side mount, actually RRS recommended that over the full gimbal. I like that it allows space to reach under the lens to grab the MF/PF rings, and it breaks down smaller.