MT Shooter Loc: Montana

I have had a couple of customers ask me about the MOVO GH700 gimbal head and since I have never seen one, or even heard of them since this month I decided I might as well buy one and put it through its paces just to see what it had to offer the low end gimbal head market.

The first thing I noticed after opening the box was that it looked a LOT like the Gepe GH01 gimbal that I had bought and tested about 2 1/2 years ago. Same design, same finishes, but this one was $100 less than the Gepe at only $149.
Then I opened the instructions and lo and behold the instructions were all for the Gepe head, this <MOVO is simply a renamed, and cheaper, copy of the exact same head. I have no idea if either brand is the actual manufacturer or if they are both just buying from a generic manufacturer and labeling them as their own, which is my suspiscion.
The neck has a textured paint finish over its cast aluminum components which in itself is nice and reminiscent of the Wimberley finish. The swing arm and mount base are all cast aluminum, but appear to have a heavy powder coat finish which I really do not like as it is prone to chipping and gouging. Most manufacturers use an anodized finish which I much prefer.
I assembled it and mounted it on a Manfrotto 055XB tripod, and set a Sigma 150-600mm Sports lens and Nikon D800E body on it. The swing action was smooth, but very loose with no resistance, it was either swinging or locked. The panning base motion was kind of like driving with a flat tire, it was nothing short of terrible! Loose in places and so tight in others that it wanted to move the whole tripod, and this was with the panning lock completely loose to the lock position.
Since I had never taken the Gepe apart to try to improve its action, I decided that I had to see what I could do with this MOVO. Maybe I could improve its action much like I had the Beike/Opteka and the Flashpoint gimbal heads.
The swing arm center screw was apparently superglued in place as there was no way I could get it loosened so I quit before I completely stripped it out. Heavier grease would have probably given it some resistance and made its action smoother.
The center bolt of the panning base was glued in also but I did manage to get it loosened and out. I did notice the screw had no tension bearings on it but only one pre-load washer. Taking the neck off the base I was surprised to see a Torrington style bearing in it, and almost as surprised to see it was totally dry, NO LUBE AT ALL! I knew why as soon as I looked for a seal and saw none. No lube is used as when used outdoors on a hot day it would likely liquefy and run out all over the tripod. The top of the panning base, having no bearings, ran directly on the inside of the neck surface, this also had no lube. The panning clamp is a one piece block that has two slots in it and the panning clamp screws against the smaller arc of the block distorting it and making the block squeeze the center arbor as it flexes to lock the panning. Anyone who knows aluminum knows that it only will flex so many times under pressure and eventually break. This is far inferior to the Wimberley and Nest "sliding block" designs that are much more durable and have 50% more clamping surface. But it is much better than the Beike/Opteka/Flashpoint designs which just simply screw a long bolt into the center pivot directly leaving gouges and metal shavings behind everytime it is clamped.
I cleaned the entire assembly of metal filings and debris and reassembled it all with an appropriate amount of White Lithium grease applied to the bearing and both friction surfaces. After mounting up the Sigma again I was pleased to see a significant improvement in panning action, but it still had 2 spots that were slightly resistant and I attributed this to likely non-concentric machining of the components.
Since neither this MOVO or the identical Gepe heads list a load rating, but B&H lists the Gepe as capable of supporting up to a 600mm F4 lens, I decided to try it out with that beast. I mounted a Canon 600mm F4 IS lens and 6D body on the head and gave it a whirl. It actually was almost as smooth as with the Sigma. But when I locked down the swing arm I noticed a sizable jump up in the lens! Unlocking it caused a clearly visible drop of 1/16th inch, and audible clunk. I locked and unlocked the swing arm several times and had the exact same result. Clearly there is a machining issue inside the swing arm pivot that I was unable to access or diagnose, and it is disturbing. I rechecked it with the sigma and it was there also, just not as prevalent.
As a conclusion I will compare this MOVO favorably when put up against the Opteka because of the Torrington bearing which the Opteka/Beike head does not have, but the Beike may well win out over both simply because of its sub-$100 pricing if you can live with its somewhat jerky action and having to take it apart for a good cleaning and re-lube once a year.
Would I buy the Gepe/MOVO gimbal myself? No, for several reasons. But for someone looking for a cheap gimbal head to use on rare occasions with a camera/lens combo weighing less than 8 pounds, it might be a good fit at the $150 price, but a very poor bargain at the Gepe $250 price.
Since I have taken mine apart and lubed it I have obviously left a few marks on it so I seriously doubt it would be returnable, so I will be adding it to my gimbal head collection for in-store comparisons by my customers.

I hope this has been of interest to one or two of you out there. I have tried to present this evaluation in an unbiased manner based on the head and its performance only. Make of it what you will.

Panning block clamp

(Download)

Torrington bearing

(Download)

Reassembled and lubed

(Download)

Head bare

(Download)

Sigma left

(Download)

Sigma right


MOVO Manual

(Download)

All Gepe instructions inside manual

(Download)

With Canon 600 F4 mounted

(Download)

Hankwt Loc: kingsville ontario

Much appreciated MT I always put stock in your eval !!

Erv Loc: Medina Ohio

Nice to have a great review on some thing you are looking to buy. Still saving up for one. You will be hearing from me!:)
Erv

mtparker Loc: Cape Charles & Springfield, Virginia

MT Shooter -

Which gimbal do you consider to be the best value at any price point?

I use the older heavier Wimberley on a Gitzo GT5531S. The biggest setup it has to support is D800E w/grip or a pro body with a Sigma 300-800/5.6. If I were to get a smaller lighter unit what, based on your testing, would be your recommendation?

MT Shooter Loc: Montana

The best overall value is clearly the Nest NT-530H. I do love the Wimberley WH-200's, I used to have 4 of them, 3 in the rental inventory and one personal unit. They work quite well, but are overpriced and suffer from no fluid dampening in the swing arm pivot. I replaced them all with the Nest at exactly HALF the price, lighter weight, more rigid, and both pivot systems are fluid dampened.
One problem with any gimbal head is that they tend to be less stable in the wind due to the fact that they have a very long connection distance between the tripod mount and the lens mount (the distance up the gooseneck and back down the swing arm). The most stable gimbal I have ever found if using in a windy situation is the Kirk King Cobra side mount gimbal. Its a beast, its awkward to mount the lens on, but its definitely stable in the wind, almost as good as a top quality video head.
I have owned, tested and compared pretty much every gimbal head on the market at one time or another, most are quite good within their own design limitations, many are ridiculously over-priced for what they offer, and some are just, well...........junk.
Overall the best bang for the buck is clearly the Nest Carbon Fiber gimbal head, and I don't just say that because I had a hand in designing it, I say that because it is. At only $298 I would put it up against anything out there at any price.

mtparker Loc: Cape Charles & Springfield, Virginia

Thanks for the quick response.

Will the NEST unit accept Arca-Swiss plates or am I going to have to replace all my plates?

MT Shooter Loc: Montana

The Nest accepts and locks down on all standard and double bevel ARCA plates. You do need to remove the front tiny locking screw from them in order to slide the lens into the mount. The Nest has a unique quick release security system that makes setting up much faster but it is only compatible with the Nest brand plates.
I should note that this compatibility does NOT extend to the International version of the Nest heads, but only to the USA version of that head. This was one of the design changes I made to the head to make it compatible with the demands of the American market sector.

SonnyE Loc: Communist California, USA

I was just browsing Youtube on my HDTV last night, and looking at Gimbal reviews. But mostly to see if I could find a pearl in there. As in something I didn't already figure out.

And I ran across a review of this MOVO head. Certianly not a good one either (some people should not do You Tube, they come across as You Boobs.)

Anyway, it is always good to see what is out there. Thank You for your evaluation MT Shooter. It's good to see the guts as well.

I'll be shooting the Grand Son's soccer game tomorrow with my new Nest Gimbal head. Really looking forward to that!
I've been practicing on my Humming Birds when I could. (Busy week!) But tomorrow should be great.

gwong1 Loc: Tampa, FL

MTShooter, Thank you for the review. I unfortunately purchased a Beike Gimbal Head from China and got the bait and switch. This thing is as stiff as a board. I am negotiating the return, and once I get the credit will plan on contacting you to purchase a Nest NT-530H from you. Thanks for the review, Gary

Bill MN Loc: Western MN

Looks like something I could improve and make it smooth as silk. I already have 4 good different brand ones and only 2 hands.

Bozsik Loc: Orangevale, California

Thanks. Nice thorough review.

SonnyE Loc: Communist California, USA

Another "review" I watched (Thank God it was <1 minute.)
Shown a lens and camera mounted on some Gimbal Head, and consisted of an arm spinning the head around, and around, and around, .....
I suppose it could be said it shown there was no dampening in that otherwise overpriced head.
My plan is to use mine as a Photography tool.
Not a toy.

Carl 383 Loc: Southampton UK

Thanks MT Shooter, a very informative review and willing to take one for the team, what a guy :) :) :)
You have given me some very useful advice, you're a credit to the HOG

brucewells Loc: Central Kentucky

:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

pat4ster

Are these pics of disassembly of the base pan or swing pivot ? Thanks.
Pat