Dr J wrote:
I have a Monfrotto 294 tripod with their 496RC2 Ball Head and their 294A4 monopod with 234 RC Tilt head.... and recently "upgraded" to a Nikkor 200-500 with my D500 for wildlife photography. I think I could get more "keepers" with a gimbal head as fatigue, stability and maneuverability are issues with the current monopod and tripod set ups.
I don't plan getting a camera or lens that weigh more (I'm too dang old) than the D500 and 200-500 (about 7 lbs/3.2kg together). I have mainly used the ball head portraits and is probably not of Manfrotto's highest quality.
Any advise or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you very much!
I have a Monfrotto 294 tripod with their 496RC2 B... (
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I believe your tripod has a standard 3/8" coarse thread bolt used to attach the head... so you can pick and choose among the various available gimbal heads or other option, to install something on it.
There are two main types of gimbal heads. For lack of better terms, I call them "full size gimbals" and "gimbal adapters".
A full size gimbal completely replace any other head on your tripod, largely converting it to "long lens use only". In other words, to use the tripod for other purposes you'll need to remove the full size gimbal and swap back to a pan/tilt or ballhead or whatever you used previously. Full size gimbal typically "cradles" the lens by positioning the tripod mounting foot underneath the lens, at 6 o'clock. This might be needed for the heaviest lens & camera combos.
The gimbal adapter instead converts a standard ballhead for large lens use, making it quicker and easier to swap back to "normal" use because the ballhead remains installed on the tripod. Typically the adapters are "side mount"... meaning the tripod mounting foot of the lens is positioned at the 3 o'clock or 9 o'clock position. Depending upon the ballhead, this is a little limited in capacity. With a heavy duty ballhead, I've used up to 8 lb. 500mm f4 lens (plus a relatively heavy camera with battery grip and full size flash) without any problem. Gimbal adapters generally are not recommended for some of the very heaviest lenses such as 400/2.8 and 600/4... though I know folks who use the adapters with them and don't have any problem.
To utilize either type of gimbal, you will have to convert to the Arca-Swiss type quick release system. The proprietary Manfrotto quick release will not work with gimbals because they don't provide the forward/backward adjustability of the Arca-Swiss, which is needed to be able to set the camera/lens equilibrium on the gimbal. Arca-Swiss compatible ballheads, pan/tilt heads, platforms, camera plates, lens plates and myriad other accessories are made by a large number of manufacturers, in addition to Arca-Swiss themselves. It's easily the most "universal" QR system. (Incidentally, even Manfrotto and their sister company Gitzo have recently begun offering a few items that are Arca-Swiss compatible.... after many decades of using their own QR systems.)
If you decide on a gimbal of some sort and convert your QR to accommodate it, you'll likely want to convert everything else in your kit to Arca-Swiss too for most convenience and flexibility. So factor this into your budget. If you choose to get a gimbal adapter, AFAIK those will only work with A-S compatible ballheads. So your would either need to be replaced or modified with a different QR platform (if that's possible). Then, in order to mount the rest of your gear, you'll need camera and lens plates, too. Those cost between $20 and $55 apiece. There are also flash mounting brackets and other accessories, that you may or may not want.
Personally I use a Wimberley Sidekick gimbal adapter, along with heavy duty ballheads on a couple tripods.... and a full size gimbal head on another, large-lens-only dedicated tripod. In addition to the Wimberley, I'm aware of gimbal adapters from Induro and Jobu. Full size gimbal are made by probably a dozen or more different manufacturers. One that's mid-priced and popular is the Nest, sold by Camera Cottage, whose owner participates and contributes frequently here on UHH.
Yes, Manfrotto themselves makes the most full size gimbal of all... Instead of an "J-shaped" bracket, it's "U-shaped" and looks to be capable of supporting
a lot of weight (would be overkill for your 200-500mm, IMO). It also is one of the heaviest and bulkiest... It's relatively affordable, but even it isn't compatible with the standard proprietary Manfrotto quick release systems.
I don't use a gimbal on a monopod... I simply don't really see much reason it would be useful. I do use a small ballhead on one of my monopods (in fact it's a Manfrotto ballhead that's been modified to Arca-Swiss compatibility). The other simply has an Arca-Swiss mounting platform directly installed on it. There are also "monopod heads" which can be used. Those are simple, just providing a tilt movement (since panning movements are largely unnecessary on a monopod... you can just rotate the entire monopod instead).