Like most people who get into wildlife or aviation photography, and after acquiring a reasonably sized/heavy zoom lens, thoughts soon turn to supporting the thing.
One thing I've learnt over the last few years is that even a 300mm lens needs proper support if you're going to get results anywhere near what we all lust over on the picture forums...
So, I started researching Gimball heads etc and sat down to price up what I'd need. So, after selecting a sidekick, arca swiss ballhead, and a lens plate, I was soon up to about £600, and that's without buying a decent set of tripod legs!
I don't know about anybody else, but I do baulk a little at paying that kind of money for a head, especially when for the same cash I can get a Nikon 105mm VR Macro lens! I understand the importance of a good support though, so thought I'd go and have a look on ebay.
A quick search soon found a company in India churning out what can only be described as Wimberley Sidekick clones, but without the need for a ballhead as it's all one piece and screws onto your existing tripod legs. A couple of adaptors were supplied to fit 1/4 or 3/8 fittings.
So, for approx £93 delivered (including the lens plate), I thought I'd give one a go. The worst case scenario was that it would be a pile of rubbish and that I'd only end up going out and buying a Wimberley setup anyway, but for the cash I thought it was worth a punt.
So, after about a week, the head turned up yesterday and I've set it up and had a play around with it, so thought I'd share a few pics/comments with you guys in case any of you were thinking along similar lines. (Excuse the pics, I received a Fuji S5 Pro in the post this morning too for a try out, so thought this was as good an excuse as any, but I don't know my way around it yet!)
First up, the finish is not anywhere near as good as the Wimberley stuff, but then I guess this is why they are priced as they are. It's a powder coated finish that looks pretty tough, but clearly the metal underneath isn't all that nicely finished. My view on this is that as long as it does the job, I will forgive it the aesthetics!
The longest/heaviest lens I have at the moment is a Nikon 300mm f4, which is pictured below with a 2x converter. With the lens plate pushed all the way forward in the clamp, it balances as shown, and you can move the camera/lens very easily with the two knobs backed off. The action is really quite smooth, which surprised me. The body is a D300 with grip/AA's, so probably as heavy as you're going to get body wise, but with the grip removed you can slide the lens plate further back to balance it out.
The next shot is a close up of the lens clamp/lens plate assembly. It looks worse than it is due to harsh flash/dust, but it's really to show that it does all fit together nicely. The lens plate has two additional allen bolts that stop the lens plate sliding all the way out of the clamp forwards or backwards, but it's basically a clone of the Wimberley plate, albeit a less well finished one.
The whole setup is quite solid, and I have to say I'm quite impressed. The two big round tension knobs are smooth in use, and they also only wind out so far that there is no chance of you detaching the lens clamp and crashing your kit to the ground. Once you find the balance point, it works just the same as a Wimberley Sidekick setup.
It has actually revealed the limitations of my tripod legs, as they are the only thing that flexes/wobbles now! So, a good set of legs are my next purchase.
This is not meant as an advertorial, and I have no connection with the company concerned, it's just that I see lots of discussion on heads of this sort and I thought this would help some people make up their mind, and perhaps be reassured that alternative lower cost solutions exist.
I have no idea how long this head will last, it may fall apart after 6 months occassional use, but I will report back if that happens! Looking at its construction, and the simple and proven tech involved (ie clamps/screws/bolts/welds) I don't fear that will happen.
I have no idea of any copyright issues involved with this, as although it is like a sidekick, it is different, and I'm not sure if it's possible to patent such a relatively simple device anyway, certainly outside the US. I'll leave the ethics of that one up to you guys, so please take this as the helpful post it was intended to be!
One thing I've learnt over the last few years is that even a 300mm lens needs proper support if you're going to get results anywhere near what we all lust over on the picture forums...
So, I started researching Gimball heads etc and sat down to price up what I'd need. So, after selecting a sidekick, arca swiss ballhead, and a lens plate, I was soon up to about £600, and that's without buying a decent set of tripod legs!
I don't know about anybody else, but I do baulk a little at paying that kind of money for a head, especially when for the same cash I can get a Nikon 105mm VR Macro lens! I understand the importance of a good support though, so thought I'd go and have a look on ebay.
A quick search soon found a company in India churning out what can only be described as Wimberley Sidekick clones, but without the need for a ballhead as it's all one piece and screws onto your existing tripod legs. A couple of adaptors were supplied to fit 1/4 or 3/8 fittings.
So, for approx £93 delivered (including the lens plate), I thought I'd give one a go. The worst case scenario was that it would be a pile of rubbish and that I'd only end up going out and buying a Wimberley setup anyway, but for the cash I thought it was worth a punt.
So, after about a week, the head turned up yesterday and I've set it up and had a play around with it, so thought I'd share a few pics/comments with you guys in case any of you were thinking along similar lines. (Excuse the pics, I received a Fuji S5 Pro in the post this morning too for a try out, so thought this was as good an excuse as any, but I don't know my way around it yet!)
First up, the finish is not anywhere near as good as the Wimberley stuff, but then I guess this is why they are priced as they are. It's a powder coated finish that looks pretty tough, but clearly the metal underneath isn't all that nicely finished. My view on this is that as long as it does the job, I will forgive it the aesthetics!
The longest/heaviest lens I have at the moment is a Nikon 300mm f4, which is pictured below with a 2x converter. With the lens plate pushed all the way forward in the clamp, it balances as shown, and you can move the camera/lens very easily with the two knobs backed off. The action is really quite smooth, which surprised me. The body is a D300 with grip/AA's, so probably as heavy as you're going to get body wise, but with the grip removed you can slide the lens plate further back to balance it out.
The next shot is a close up of the lens clamp/lens plate assembly. It looks worse than it is due to harsh flash/dust, but it's really to show that it does all fit together nicely. The lens plate has two additional allen bolts that stop the lens plate sliding all the way out of the clamp forwards or backwards, but it's basically a clone of the Wimberley plate, albeit a less well finished one.
The whole setup is quite solid, and I have to say I'm quite impressed. The two big round tension knobs are smooth in use, and they also only wind out so far that there is no chance of you detaching the lens clamp and crashing your kit to the ground. Once you find the balance point, it works just the same as a Wimberley Sidekick setup.
It has actually revealed the limitations of my tripod legs, as they are the only thing that flexes/wobbles now! So, a good set of legs are my next purchase.
This is not meant as an advertorial, and I have no connection with the company concerned, it's just that I see lots of discussion on heads of this sort and I thought this would help some people make up their mind, and perhaps be reassured that alternative lower cost solutions exist.
I have no idea how long this head will last, it may fall apart after 6 months occassional use, but I will report back if that happens! Looking at its construction, and the simple and proven tech involved (ie clamps/screws/bolts/welds) I don't fear that will happen.
I have no idea of any copyright issues involved with this, as although it is like a sidekick, it is different, and I'm not sure if it's possible to patent such a relatively simple device anyway, certainly outside the US. I'll leave the ethics of that one up to you guys, so please take this as the helpful post it was intended to be!
