Thank you, sir. I should have taken some more detailed photos of the camera mounts. I'll ask Plessner and Durango if they got any shots of them. Yes, they are a very nice gimbal mount that attaches to an arca-swiss plate on the lens. (They provided the plates too for those who didn't have them.) But the gimbal is mounted on a double jointed arm that gives you almost total flexibility for following animals. In turn, the double link arm swivels on a post that is attached to your swiveling seat. At that point you can loosen a knob and raise it up and down to suit your height and your target. I did often take it off and handheld for birds in flight.

If you google Pangolin Photo Safaris, Kasane, Botswana I think you will find some pictures and videos of the mounts. I know they have some YouTube videos also. I'll do some checking later to see if I can find you some links.

Gotta run....Vietnam is about to start on PBS.

This summer a group of us traveled to Africa for a photo safari. We started out in Victoria Falls for a few days and then headed to Kasane, Botswana where we embarked on the first leg of our safari - by boat on the Chobe River. Our safari company, Pangolin Photo Safaris has perfected the concept of a "photo boat". We traveled the backwaters of the Chobe and were rewarded with a non-stop supply of mammals and birds to photograph.

The boat is basically a very long Johnboat with 8 seats that swivel 360 degrees. Each seat has a superbly designed camera mount that adjusts for any size person. The mounts worked with our arca-swiss plates to make all-day photography quite pleasant. Pangolin said each mount costs over $2000 and I believe it given the full ball-bearing swivels and intricate machined aluminum.

But the real magic of the photo boats was our guides Fabian left rear who spotted so much wildlife and put us in perfect position to photograph it, and Charl an accomplished professional photographer who spent full time teaching us new techniques and helping us hone our skills. (They also mix a mean gin and tonic "sundowner" at the end of the day.)

Two fellow UHH members were with us - Plessner (Katherine - forefront in the first photo) and Durango (Lou in the widebrimmed hat at the back). And me.....(behind the camera where I wouldn't ruin the photo.)