redfordl Loc: Carver,Ma.

Can you rotate your camera to the vertical position with a gimbal head or do you still have to attach an L bracket to your camera to rotate from horizontal TO vertical position? Thanks!

cmc65

I use my gimbal for my long lens with a collar. The lens collar is attached to the plate. To rotate the camera to vertical it's a quick loosening of the bolt on the lens collar, rotate and tighten.

MT Shooter Loc: Montana

You do NOT mount your camera itself to a gimbal head. They are designed for use with a long lens and that lens mounts to the gimbal via its tripod collar mount.

rwilson1942 Loc: Houston, TX

One the lens is attached to the gimbal, you can rotate the lens/camera to vertical about the lens collar.

DaveO Loc: Northeast CT

Just for giggles,if you want to mount your camera with an L-plate to your gimbal with a lens that doesn't have a collar,there are a couple of mounts for your gimbal to accomplish this. Saves carrying a ball head and a gimbal.
http://www.amazon.com/Desmond-DAC-01-Tripod-Compatible-Oversized/dp/B01NAPAIYC/ref=sr_1_87?m=A117K1DEQYNJIS&s=merchant-items&ie=UTF8&qid=1487525724&sr=1-87

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/search?Ntt=waa2&N=0&InitialSearch=yes&sts=ma&typedValue=&Top+Nav-Search=

redfordl Loc: Carver,Ma.

Thanks all for your help!! Had I looked more carefully at the foote on my tamron 150-600mm g2 hooks up to a collar and yes when the knob is loosened you can rotate the camera. Sorry!!

MikieLBS Loc: "Southeast of Disorder"

Glad you figured it out but if you happen to be looking for an all purpose Gimbel, lightweight, that you can easily switch out check this one. It attaches to a ball head. I use it in the field with my nikon 200-500 but I can quickly pull it off the ball head and attach the camera to the ball head so the tripod can be used with shorter lenses.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0170RHC8S/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

Always attach the camera by the tripod collar on the lens to the gimbal head, that way you can easily swing the lens from horizontal to vertical with the twist of the wrist. And your balance will also be better.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

Gimbal heads attach to a tripod mounting collar on the lens... not to the camera itself. The collar on the lens allows you to rotate the entire lens/camera rig to vertical/portrait or horizontal/landscape orientation. (The lens' tripod mounting foot needs to have an Arca-Swiss dovetail type lens plate on it. That lens plate needs to be a little extra long to allow the camera and lens to be slid forward or backward to achieve balance.)

Now, there are some exceptions... Some full size gimbal heads and all gimbal adapters are "side mount". So, with them you can mount a camera w/short lens vertically, so long as you have an Arca-Swiss plate on the camera too.

But with "bottom mount" full size gimbal heads (which is most of them) it isn't possible to directly mount the camera without some additional adapter.

Full size gimbals completely replace any other head on the tripod and provide both panning axis and tilt axis movements.... Gimbal adapters fit into a ballhead and rely upon it to provide the panning axis. The Wimberley WH-200 is an example of a full size, bottom mount gimbal head, was one of the originals in fact. Wimberley "Sidekick" SK-100 is an example of a gimbal adapter with side mount, intended for use with a heavy duty ballhead. Wimberley also makes a full size, side mount gimbal (WH-200-S). All three types can be seen at www.tripodhead.com. Wimberley also offers an Module 8 (M-8) Perpendicular Plate accessory that makes it possible to mount a camera w/A-S plate directly to the full size, bottom mount gimbal head (such as their WH-200). But, it appears to me the Perpendicular Plate would limit mounting a camera in horizontal/landscape orientation only, unless it also were fitted with an L-plate (instead of a standard A-S camera plate).

L-brackets are primarily used with shorter lenses that don't have a collar and are used to mount camera & lens directly on ballheads, not gimbals. But with any sort of "side mount" gimbal an L-bracket would work in the same manner as a standard Arca-Swiss camera plate. Makes little sense to do so, though, if you're using a gimbal adapter. If you have an L-bracket on a camera and are using a gimbal adapter, why not just remove the adapter and mount the camera w/L-bracket directly on the ballhead?

Personally I use a full size, bottom mount gimbal on one tripod (making it pretty much a long-lens-only tripod) and a Wimberley Sidekick with a heavy duty (Kirk BH-1) ballhead on another. I don't like L-brackets because they are expensive and add a lot of bulk to the camera, but I do have all my cameras fitted with A-S plates (same with all my longer lenses with tripod collars), and I do sometimes use the Sidekick for vertical/portrait camera orientation. With smaller, shorter, lighter weight lenses using the Sidekick this way makes for better balance than tipping the ballhead off to the side with camera mounted, for vert/port orientation... and I have no need for an L-bracket.