koosh Loc: NC

Anyone out there in UHH-land use a sidekick? Any balance problems with Canon 100-400 or Tammy 150-600 on a tripod? Which ball head do you use?

treadwl Loc: South Florida

I have side the Sidekick for the last 7 years to support a Nikon D800 & D810 and a Nikkor 200-400mm f4 lens usually with a Nikon TC1.4 attached. The camera weighs about 3 pounds, the lens weighs 7.5 and the TC is about a pound. That is about 11.5 pounds. I have never had any problems with balance. I will note that it takes a few moments to mount the camera rig onto the sidekick when I first started using it. To speed up the process I marked the lens foot with a dot of nail polish and put a dot on the mounting plate on the sidekick. I love my sidekick it. I think it is a lot more practical full gimbal because I can switch back to a ball head only is only seconds. Don't get a second party "sidekick" get the Wimberly. I have a couple of friends who got the second party sidekick and were unhappy.

I forgot to mention When I got the sidekick I attached it to a Benro ballhead. I later got a Really Right Stuff Ballhead as a birthday gift. The sidekick worked just fine on both heads. When I got the Sidekick, I also ordered the extended foot to attach to my long lens (the 200-400mm) The extended head makes it much easier to balance the lens. Properly balanced the lens can be moved to any position, any angle and stay exactly where it is when you let go.

Happy shooting.

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

I have owned both and I prefer the Wimberely WH-200. Which, in my opinion, is the nicest, toughest, smoothest, longest lasting, never losses it's value Gimbal Head on the market today hands down. No other head even comes close. Yes, it is expensive, so is my camera equipment.

koosh Loc: NC

Thank you for the quick reply. I am thinking of purchasing a ballhead that is rated for 36lbs. I was also considering a Gitzo off center, but don't know if that would work well with the sidekick. Do you have any advice on that?

cjc2 Loc: Hellertown PA

I also use a Wimberly 200 Gimbal which I have owned for many years. If I were buying one today I would also consider the Nest which MTShooter sells on here. Best of luck.

nikondoug

I myself and a friend of mine have the same camera/lens as you have. My friend loves his side kick, I have the Wimberley WH-200 that I keep on a dedicated tripod, this way I never have to change the head on a tripod.

the f/stops here Loc: New Mexico

Not only do I have the WH-200 but I also have and use the Sidekick. I use the Sidekick when traveling on a RRS BH-55. I use the WH-200 locally around the SW. I use them to hold the Canon 100-400, sometimes equipped with a 1.4 extender or the Canon 500 f/4 again sometimes with an extender. My favorite body is the 7D II but I’ll use a 5D III sometimes. Am I pleased? If I weren’t, I wouldn’t continue to use them. I’ve recommended the Sidekick to many and have yet to hear of anyone not happy with there’s.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

I've been using a Sidekick with a variety of lenses and cameras for over 15 years. Works great.

Mostly I use it with a Kirk BH-1 ballhead (on a Gitzo Series 3 Systematic tripod w/leveling platform... the head and tripod are about the same age as the Sidekick).

Gimbals of any type work best with internal focusing and zooming lenses. Any lens (like both of yours) that extends during focusing and/or zooming will change balance a little and slightly upset the equilibrium on any gimbal mount. This really isn't a big deal and doesn't stop me from using the Sidekick with my Canon 100-400 II (I don't have the Tamron lens, so haven't tried it). Most of the time I already have one hand on the knob that locks the tilt function of the Sidekick and it only takes a quick turn of that to lock the whole rig in place (I leave the panning movement of the ballhead loose). That prevents the rig from accidentally "flopping" if the balance isn't quite perfect.

I shoot an event that involves three 12 hour days and a shorter fourth day. The last time I shot that event, I took 17,000 images. I use two cameras... usually one with the 100-400 set up on the Sidekick and tripod, the other with a shorter lens that I use handheld. I really wouldn't want to be without the gimbal and tripod for those really long shooting sessions!

I've used the Sidekick with up to 500mm f/4 and 800mm f/5.6 lenses that weigh a tad over 8 lb. (Total weight with camera, teleconverter, flash, etc. was probably well over 10 lb.) No problem! I don't know if it's still the case, but when I bought mine many years ago the Sidekick wasn't recommended for heavier lenses such as some 400mm f/2.8 and 600mm f/4... but I know folks who have used it regularly with those size lenses and not had any problem. You certainly won't have any concerns using it with your 3.5 to 4.5 lb. lenses. If I were using a 35 lb. Sigma 200-500 f/2.8 or the massive Canon 1200mm f/5.6, I'd probably find some beefier type of gimbal! But it's worked great with all that I've used.

The two ballheads I use with the Sidekick are "large/heavy duty" rated to support 50 lb. But I imagine you could get by fine with a "mid-size/medium duty" ballhead rated for around 30 to 35 lb. I wouldn't go any smaller than that, though. (My tripods are older models rated for around 33 lb., if I recall correctly.)

Incidentally, another benefit I've found with the Sidekick is that I don't need an L-bracket on my cameras. Many people use those for better balance on a ballhead, when they put the camera in the portrait/vertical orientation. Since the Sidekick is a "side mount" it can be used to vertically orient a camera that has an Arca-style plate on it. I do this at times when I'm using a shorter lens (without a tripod mounting ring and lighter weight). Works fine or my purposes, and saves the cost and bulk of the L-bracket.

You will need a slightly oversize Arca-compatible lens plate on your tripod mounting ring foot. That allows the camera/lens rig to be slid slightly forward or backward for best equilibrium. Once set, even rigs can be swung and tilted smoothly with a light touch.

If yours is the 100-400L "II", instead of a lens plate I recommend a replacement tripod mounting ring foot. Really Right Stuff, Kirk Photo, Hejnar Photo and a few other folks make them. I bought the Hejnar for mine. All these have a built in Arca-compatible dovetail, so there's no need for a lens plate, too. The OEM Canon foot on the 100-400 II is curved and doesn't work well with lens plates. It also uses that thumb screw fastener, which never felt all that secure to me. The replacement feet for the lens use a hex head bolt instead. Dabbed a bit of blue Locktite on mine, just to be sure (this makes removing the foot impractical, but I have little reason to do so anyway... it makes a good handle when carrying the lens and using it handheld). The cost of the replacement foot is a bit more than a good lens plate, but worth it IMO.

If yours is the newer Tamron, I see that they are now providing an Arca-style dovetail on their tripod mounting ring feet. The 150-600mm G2's included tripod ring and the optional ring for the relatively new Tamron 100-400mm both include that..... some of their other lenses w/tripod rings may, too. That's a nice feature I wish Canon would take note of and start doing too! There's little reason not to, since it doesn't effect using other mounting methods, if not using the Arca-style.

I mentioned above in passing that I also use a leveling platform. That's a helpful accessory with any gimbal, since they typically need to be set up relatively level. While it's possible to "fiddle" with the leg lengths each time you move the tripod, it's a lot faster, safer and easier with the leveler (my tripods w/gimbals don't have center column... the leveler takes the place of it. But there are levelers designed for use with center columns, too). The leveling platform I use adds about 1 lb. weight to the tripod.

Finally, there are some alternatives to the Sidekick (it was the only game in town, when I bought mine). The Induro GHBA is very similar to the Sidekick. The Jobu BWG Micro is a smaller, lighter design... has a lower load rating but might be sufficient for lenses the size of yours (double check this, don't take my word for it!) There may be some others I'm unaware of. I have only used the Sidekick (and a full size gimbal head), so can't really say how well these others work or their build quality.

via the lens Loc: Northern California, near Yosemite NP

I use with a D500 and a RRS medium sized bullhead. Never had a problem. Love the control it gives.