Manfrotto Gimbal Head

[Dave_S]

Following my recent addition of a pop-up hide to my photography 'tool kit', a foray into the garden with the 400L + 1.4x TC on the camera, and all setup on the tripod in the hide, I found an obstacle that cost me some good shots.

This the inability to swing the Pan-Tilt head of the tripod, smoothly and quickly enough between the two feeders, and the bird bath.

So, I have ordered a Manfrotto 393 Gimbal head, that will hopefully provide greater ease of camera movement. I went the 393 because of it's simplistic design, and comparatively low cost, compared with the likes of Benro.

The were some cheap' chinese copies' of the Benro design on e-bay, but I didn't fancy trusting them with £3k+ worth of gear attached to them.

I shopped around on-line, and managed to secure one at £117 inc next day delivery. It should hopefully be with me tomorrow.

Just need all this rain to move away.

Dave

[the black fox]

Re: Manfrotto Gimbal Head

The 393 is a good sturdy model and works well ,saying that the Chinese ones also do the job .Always handy if your waiting around for shots though both are very heavy to carry around .

TIP
Leave the plate attached to the lens all the time ,it provides a stable grip for hand held shots

[Dave_S]

Re: Manfrotto Gimbal Head

TIP duly noted Jeff, thanks.

Dave

[Dave_S]

Re: Manfrotto Gimbal Head

I now have the item, and have to say that in engineering terms, it is a pretty basic design, but well thought out and put together.

It is quite heavy, built to 'battlefield' standards, and a little chunkier than I expected, but without doubt will support the heaviest of 'kit'.

Dave

[the black fox]

Re: Manfrotto Gimbal Head

yep got to agree on that i only sold mine a few weeks ago ,due to the fact that i was having problems with it due to the 1d3 ,i.e i only used it rarely and when we went to gigrin i used it first time with the camera attached ,the problem being that the 1d3 is so heavy i had to move it near the gimbal head to balance and having rather large hands i couldn't get in to grip the camera or indeed fire the shutter let alone swing it up to track .and as my lad was also upgrading a few weeks back i bought his off him complete with arca plates for less than i sold the manfrotto for RESULT LOL

[Dave_S]

Re: Manfrotto Gimbal Head

as my lad was also upgrading a few weeks back i bought his off him complete with arca plates for less than i sold the manfrotto for RESULT LOL

.

Did you tell him that (lol).

I haven't tried mine yet, but as the 5D3 is lighter than the 1d3, and being only a 'wee chap' at 5'6", with no larger than average hands for my height, I shouldn't have a problem.

Dave