imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

........I do understand that tripod/gimbals are relatively necessary for lenses 6 lb. and over and when used in a blind or at a feeding station or nest site - otherwise, you WILL be missing lots of shots to do immobility and slowness - something I do not want to afford.

There are better/more mobile/faster solutions for lenses 6 lb. and under IMO. - like a video fluid head on a monopod.

..

Bozsik Loc: Orangevale, California

Same here. Once you are use to the gimbal, it becomes second nature with the shooting. They are perfect support when shooting wildlife if that is your intention. It will also provide you with the constant preparedness when waiting long time stints with a particular subject. Trying to hand hold for long periods can be lots of extra work.

CJ2

Take a look at the Acratech and read some of the comments - it is quite versatile and will give you what you want I think - also can be used solely as a ball head - really nice design, and depending on which one you get it is rated to 25lbs +

mborn Loc: Massachusetts

No

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

Only useful for heavy lenses that are hard to hand hold. It's overkill for small lenses like the 150-600's from Tamron or Sigma! But for BIF it is best to not use any heads or tripods at all. Hand holding gives you the most and best mobility!

johnpolizzi

An Acratech GPs or GPss ball head will act as ball head, gimball head, and pano leveling base all in one.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

Ron, I've used a tilt/pan head almost my entire photographic time, some 50+ years. I'm not fond of ball heads at all. If I were to be doing a lot of flying bird photos, I'd still use a tilt/pan, but perhaps mount a NEST Carbon Fiber Gimbal head on it. I'd purchase that from Carter's Camera Cottage.
--Bob

d2b2 Loc: Catonsville, Maryland, USA

I have an 80-400mm that works great with a tripod and ball head unit. When I am ready to move to a 600mm, I will also buy a Gimbal.

Picture Taker Loc: Michigan Thumb

Look at ProMediaGear 800 473-3332 jut got the Katana Junior Gimbal Head will hold 50pounds.

christinortham

I have a 150-600mm, a gimbal, and a monopod. Love love love the gimball when I'm shooting birds or moving subjects. The monopod is a p.i.a. with the big lens. Get a gimbal

Spirit Hawk Loc: Michigan,Sunrise side

Wow ! lots to consider ?? have to think it over??i want a swiss clamp ??NO ball head
Cheers Ron

wvTom

As a side to this discussion, what's the thinking on fluid head vs gimbal head?

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

fluid head just means the head, no matter the type has the movement dampened/smoothed out by fluid in a sealed head. Some gimbals are fluid dampened. The Nest is fluid dampened, and in two versions - normal for use most places and "Arctic" which is designed for very cold conditions.

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

I use a video fluid head on one of my monopods and one of my tripods - very nice for tracking movng subjects - less finnicky than gimbals and practical for use on monopods.

..

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

Gimbal heads are ideal for large lenses and moving subjects.

There are several different types of gimbal heads:

1. U-post have two uprights that can support the heaviest gear, but are themselves large and heavy. Replaces any existing head completely and cannot be used with shorter lenses w/o tripod rings or mounting the camera directly. Tripod becomes "long lens only" unless you switch it back to a standard head.
2a. J-post (bottom mount) are also able to support heavy lenses. Replaces any existing head completely and additional accessories are needed to be able to mount shorter lenses w/o tripod rings or when mounting the camera directly, or replace the gimbal with a standard head. Without added accessory or switching head, tripod is "long lens only".
2b. J-post (side mount) are typically rated to support slightly less weight, though still able to support fairly heavy lenses. Replaces any existing head completely but camera with an Arca-compatible plate installed can be directly mounted in portrait/vertical orientation. Other than that additional, tripod becomes "long lens only" unless you switch it back to a standard head.
2c. Some J-post type can be converted from bottom to side mount and back again.
3. Gimbal adapter (side mount) are used in conjunction with a heavy duty ballhead already on the tripod. The gimbal adapter provides tilt control, while the ballhead provides panning movement. Adapters have more weight restrictions than other types of gimbals, but they leave the tripod intact with a standard head so it's easy to switch back and forth between them.

Here's a pretty comprehensive list of brands and models of gimbals: http://www.carolinawildphoto.com/gimbal_list.htm
(Note: There are a number of cheap Chinese-made knock-offs that sell under a variety of name brands, not all of which are listed but are essentially the same.)

Personally, for many years I've been using a Wimberley Sidekick gimbal adapter in conjunction with a heavy duty Kirk BH-1 ballhead. When I bought it, the Sidekick was recommended for use with up to 500mm f/4 lenses (with camera, approx. 10 lb.), but I don't think the manufacture states a limit any more and have seen folks use one with larger lenses (400/2.8, 600/4, 800/5.6). The BH-1 ballhead is rated for 50 lb. and the Gitzo Series 3 Systematic tripod I use them on is rated for about 35 lb.

I also have a second, similar tripod set up with one of the cheap J-post (bottom mount) gimbals... So that whole rig is pretty much dedicated to "large telepotos only". I'm a little leery of putting an 8 lb., $9000 lens on a $100 knock off gimbal head, so I'll probably upgrade to a better head sometime in the future.

I use both those rigs with a number of different lenses... but mostly with 500mm f/4, 300mm f/2.8, 100-400mm and occasionally with vintage 400mm and 800mm. By the time they're mounted on a camera, all of those weigh between 5 and 10 lb. approx. Less often I use gimbals with smaller and typically lighter 70-200 and 300mm f/4 lenses... simply because I tend to shoot those handheld most of the time.

To use it with any of these gimbals, first a lens must have a tripod mounting ring. Then you need to install an Arca Swiss quick release lens plate on the tripod ring's foot (some have a built-in Arca-compatible dovetail). The plate needs to be a slightly extra long to allow you to adjust by sliding the whole rig forward and backward a little to set the balance. Gimbals work best with internal focusing/internal zooming lenses that don't change length when focused or zoomed... telephotos that change length when zoomed and/or focused are okay, but won't stay as perfectly balanced.

If using one of the gimbal adapters, the ballhead used in conjunction with it must have an Arca-compatible QR platform.

"Bottom mounting" means that the QR platform that the lens attaches to is positioned at 6 o'clock, underneath and sort of "cradling" the lens.

"Side mounting" means that the QR platform the lens attaches to is positioned at either 9 o'clock or 3 o'clock.

As a side note, using an adapter with side-mount design I discovered I don't need a bulky, expensive L-bracket on my camera. The gimbal adapter works great to be able to mount a camera with shorter lens in vertical orientation, using only a standard Arca-compatible camera plate. To switch back to horizontal/landscape use on the ballhead, just remove the adapter. In each case, the camera is relatively centered over the ballhead, which makes for a more stable setup than simply "flopping" a ballhead off to one side with a camera & lens mounted on it.

EDIT: Oh, and I do have a larger (and heavier) tripod with a pan/tilt head too. I used to carry that in the field, but I ain't gettin' any younger so it stays in-studio now. The protruding handles of the pan/tilt head made it a bit of a pain to pack and carry around, anyway. As others have mentioned, there are various types of fluid dampened heads. However, fluid dampened "video" heads are no good for a couple reasons. First, a true video head only provides means of horizontal/landscape orientation of the camera, unless using them with a lens fitted with a tripod mounting ring. A video head has no provision for or need for a tilt movement to give vertical/portrait orientation. Also, true video heads (fluid dampened or not), tend to be quite heavy and they usually have even longer control arms than pan/tilt heads.

I've experimented with some other types of heads in the past... Pistol grip are fast to work with, but rely upon a spring loaded mechanism to lock and that can be less secure with heavier gear, especially once there's some wear and tear on it from regular use. They also are essentially small ballheads, with rather low weight ratings.

I've been using the Sidekick gimbal adapter for over fifteen years now... and the J-post (bottom mount) full size gimbal head for about two years. The latter makes the whole rig about 6" or 8" taller when stowing it for travel. (In contrast, the adapter can be removed or rotated to shorten things up for storage.)

Finally, a useful accessory with gimbal heads is a leveling platform. That goes underneath the head... between it and the tripod. When using a gimbal it's best that the head be on a relatively level base. There are various types of levelers (depending upon the tripod being used), but they all basically make setup and adjustments a lot faster. Without a leveler, any time the tripod is moved around on uneven ground you have to fiddle with leg length to re-establish level. The type I use with my Gitzo tripods has a single handle that's twisted to loosen the lock, allows quick leveling, then twists to re-lock it in place. It takes mere seconds to do and has enough adjustability that the legs themselves don't have to be perfectly leveled. (It takes the place of any center column, which is okay in this case because I avoid using one anyway... raising a center column reduces stability and my field tripods are plenty tall without needing it. There [i] are other leveling platforms that can be used in conjunction with a center column, if need be.)

Hope this helps!