OPTEKA GH1 Gimbal: I am considering this gimbal for pano photography. my main interest is getting full arch of milky way. not really interested in 360. I know this gimbal might be...

jmeco73

I am considering this gimbal for pano photography. my main interest is getting full arch of milky way. not really interested in 360. I know this gimbal might be overboard but price is good. what would you recommend for this type of pano shots. 4-5 shots, milky way arch?
the king pano was also a consideration.
I current use canon 6d with 16-35 II. or the standard 24-105 L

Shellback Loc: North of Cheyenne Bottoms Wetlands - Kansas

Please read the following posts for good info on the GH1

http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-182397-1.html

http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-180049-1.html

http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-200684-1.html

http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-101078-1.html

WayneT Loc: Paris, TN

I have the MOVO aluminum unit and it works very well. They look the same and for all I know they might be made by the same factory.

WayneT Loc: Paris, TN

Looks like the MOVO aluminum is no longer available but they do still make their carbon fiber unit. One of the best on the market that I have seen other than the Wimberly is the Nest and MTshooter carries them at his store so you might want to check with him.

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

jmeco73 wrote:

I am considering this gimbal for pano photography. my main interest is getting full arch of milky way. not really interested in 360. I know this gimbal might be overboard but price is good. what would you recommend for this type of pano shots. 4-5 shots, milky way arch?
the king pano was also a consideration.
I current use canon 6d with 16-35 II. or the standard 24-105 L

Why look at a gimbal with such tiny lenses?

jmeco73

thanks Wayne. i'll look into this

jmeco73

hi Speters

yes, i know the gimbal is mainly used for large lenses. as i mentioned "it is probably over kill" but i am considering this gimbal because i can get it at good price.
the main reason for inquiry was if a gimbal is good for small panos (not 360 but 4-5 frames) options on pano heads would also be good? king pano any good?
thanks

rgrenaderphoto Loc: Hollywood, CA

Why would this even help with a Panorama? I've used a RRS Pano rail and pano head, and found that what really makes a difference, unless there are near view verticals or horizontals, is an "L" plate.
This allows you to flip the camera vertical and rotate along the center line, which makes for very good panoramas.

Manglesphoto Loc: 70 miles south of St.Louis

jmeco73 wrote:

I am considering this gimbal for pano photography. my main interest is getting full arch of milky way. not really interested in 360. I know this gimbal might be overboard but price is good. what would you recommend for this type of pano shots. 4-5 shots, milky way arch?
the king pano was also a consideration.
I current use canon 6d with 16-35 II. or the standard 24-105 L

Almost any good ballhead or Pan/tilt head will do what you want, they all have a panning movement.

pahtspix

For what you want, get a decent ball-head..The gimbal is primarily for long lenses and zooms that have a male arca type plate attached to the lens.. If you do get a ball-head, make sure it's Arca compatible and doesn't shift when you lock it down on your subject. expect to pay a min of around $200 USD.

Blurryeyed Loc: NC Mountains.

I have a Gimbal head and my camera body will not mount to it because of the reinforced corner of the mount. All the gimbals I have looked at seem to be the same, they are designed for long lenses with a mounting ring, they are not designed to mount camera bodies. I don't think that yours is a good idea, gimbals are great for birds in flight etc, you will still need tripod legs, buy a good tripod and if you want add a gimbal later.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

jmeco73 wrote:

I am considering this gimbal for pano photography. my main interest is getting full arch of milky way. not really interested in 360. I know this gimbal might be overboard but price is good. what would you recommend for this type of pano shots. 4-5 shots, milky way arch?
the king pano was also a consideration.
I current use canon 6d with 16-35 II. or the standard 24-105 L

There are several reasons why this may not be a good solution to what you want to do.

1. Camera plates are 90 deg to the clamp, and you may not be able to fit the camera on the clamp due to insufficient clearance between the camera and the vertical arm of the gimbal
2. Balance will be off, which will adversely affect stability
3. Vertical tilt will hit a hard limit when the camera hits the base of the gimbal and you rotate everything upwards.

You might be better off with a Nodal Ninja, which will give you 90 vertical rotation, is designed to attach to the camera (not just a lens collar) and will provide decent stability.

One of these will definitely work, but they have heads that start at $150 - less stable, no vertical click stops at different angles, etc. But all designed to attach to either the camera or the lens collar.

ORpilot Loc: Prineville, Or

The idea you have is great. I see their may be one problem. The terrain isn't going to move during your long exposure and pan but the Milky Way is going to move. The only way to stop the star movement is short exposure, or a clock drive like used on a telescope. But if you use a telescope clock drive the the terrain will be blurred. It is possible that tha Sony a7s ans a7sll have high enough ISO to have short exposures. I am interested to see how well your experiment works. Happy Night Shooting

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

jmeco73 wrote:

I am considering this gimbal for pano photography. my main interest is getting full arch of milky way. not really interested in 360. I know this gimbal might be overboard but price is good. what would you recommend for this type of pano shots. 4-5 shots, milky way arch?
the king pano was also a consideration.
I current use canon 6d with 16-35 II. or the standard 24-105 L

One thing I didn't mention. I would use a shutter speed between 25 and 30 secs, to avoid star trails, with the 16mm lens wide open. The ISO will end up being whatever it needs to be to record the sky. The shutter speed is based on the "500" rule, where you divide 500 by the focal length to arrive at the time, in seconds for your exposure, or the more conservative "400" rule. Stitching should be pretty simple, and the merge/blend masks will ensure that you won't get double stars as long as you work quickly to sequence your shots. Keep your camera level, tripod level, and shoot manual, and pre-focus your camera when there is light on something far away, and tape the focus ring in place. You will not be able to focus in the dark.