Balancing your camera and lens on a Wimberley Head (WH-200)
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- Опубліковано 7 вер 2024
- In this video Clay Wimberley discusses proper balancing of your camera and lens on a Wimberley gimbal head. Your gear should balance properly for the lens support to be effective and give you optimal results. We define “Gear” as your camera, lens, and all other accessories used to photograph your subject. This could also include lens hoods, flash units and brackets, quick-release plates, extension tubes, teleconverters, and camera or lens carrying straps.
Your goal is to have the weight on your head distributed such that, with tilt and pan mechanisms loosened to move freely, you can point your lens in any direction and it will stay there without moving. Once you have the weight of your gear evenly distributed (1. on either side of the quick release clamp, and 2. above the center of gravity) the movement of your camera and lens should be practically effortless.
Think of your gimbal head as a see-saw. The more weight you add to one side, the lower it drops on that side. The quick-release clamp on the Sidekick or the Wimberley Head is basically the center of the fulcrum. Your camera body is on one side and the bulk of your lens is generally on the other. Just as you would try to level a see-saw, you must add weight to the opposite side of the fulcrum to level your gear. There are a few ways to do this.
Reposition the lens/camera combination by sliding the quick-release lens plate or replacement foot forward or backward in the clamp. When the weight is evenly distributed, the lens should not tip to one side or the other. On the full Wimberley Head there is also a vertical adjustment you can make if the set up is hyper-stable (you point it up or down and it returns to level from either direction). This is why the use of a shifter plate or replacement foot to adjust the vertical position of the lens relative to the balance point on the Sidekick is very important.
Additional accessories may or may not add a significant amount of weight to either side. If you add a flash bracket and flash unit to the front side of the lens plate of the Sidekick, you may see the front of the lens droop downward. You will therefore need to reposition the lens plate so that more of the plate is on the back side of the clamp to compensate for the change in weight distribution.
If you add the weight of the flash unit and bracket to the back end of the QR plate by attaching the bracket behind the clamp, you may see the camera end droop and the lens tilt up. Sliding the plate forward in the clamp, which moves more weight forward, will redistribute the weight and allow you to rebalance each end equally.
Our lens plate recommendations were originally determined to be sufficient for an average weight pro film camera body to be balanced with each lens. With the advent of heavier digital pro bodies, and smaller digital SLR's that have large mega pixel ratings, not all lens/camera combinations are going to work optimally. If you plan to use a heavy digital pro body with a lens smaller or lighter than a 300mm f/2.8, a longer lens plate than recommended may be required to allow you to redistribute the weight properly for optimal balance.
Note: if you have an exaggerated differential in the weight of the two ends, as with a very heavy pro camera body and a really light lens or a light camera body and a large heavy lens, moving the plate within the clamp may not redistribute enough weight to equal both sides, and therefore you will not be able to achieve optimal balance or performance by plate repositioning alone. This only happens in just a few lens/camera combinations.
If you have trouble getting your gear to to balance on one of our heads, contact us and we will be happy to assist you in finding a solution.
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Wimberley is a father-son partnership dedicated to the design and manufacture of the highest quality professional photography equipment. We make tripod gimbal heads for large telephoto lenses, macro accessories, modular flash brackets, Arca-Swiss style quick-release clamps & plates, and more... www.tripodhead....
loved the real world use on this one - excellent demonstration... with a little extra flavor. Very nice work!
Wimberly team... I picked mine up about 2 months ago. ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT.
The only thing I would change? I need mm scale on the side of the plates.
The balance is different if I have the lens hood on, or an L plate, or a different combination on camera lens....of course... but once I know where to set it, I could just always get back to that spot if there were mm markings on the side of the base and side riser, too.
Just a thought. (I'd even buy another one just to have that to be honest :) )
Just got mine. It's amazing! Well worth the cost!
Well done. Most videos don't address the vertical adjustment for center of gravity. Thanks!
The Wimberley Gimbal Head WH-200 is suitable for lenses from 70-200mm all the way to 800mm and the heaviest of lenses.
+Wimberley Inc Im buying this. Thanks Mr Wimberley :)
Thanks. Let us know if you have any questions or comments.
+Wimberley Inc Yes i need a Heavy Tripod that is compatible with this Gimble head! can you send me a link to this gimble head and also a link to a heavy high quality Tripod..
+XTREME PC GAMER We generally recommend a Gitzo (or equivalent) Series 3 or higher tripod, and a link to our Wimberley Head is: www.tripodhead.com/products/wimberley-main.cfm
Wimberley Inc Thank you.... Wimberley sets the standard for quality and precision tripod heads.
I put color coded index marks on the clamp and my lens mounting plate for the fore and aft balance. I put the same on the vertical slider. Now no matter which lens I use I can quickly get it in to almost perfect balance. It might take a tiny bit of adjustment, if any. For example I might use red marks for the 70-200 and blue marks for the 100-400, and so on.
Thanks Clay
Where did the black slide rack come from? Is that supplied with the gimbal head? The one I have is much smaller than that. Also, how do you balance with a zoom lens? The center of gravity changes as it zooms.
Hello! Nice video. I just purchase the Wimberley Gimball MH-200 brand new from B&H, for my Canon FD 800mm F5.6 L lens, weight around 9.4 lb, total weight with my camera, extenders, about 14 lb. Which Quick Release plate length and thickness (1 1/2" or 1 5/8" double dove) you would recommend to get it properly balanced and also be able to carry the whole rig over my shoulder securly? All mounted on a Gitzo 410 R studex tripod.I know it's very heady, need to loose weight. I do have an RRS 7.5" QR Plate but not sure it will be enough. Someone recommended me to get a 250mm plate!! Need an expert's opinion.. Thank you for your assistance.
Thanks
You may want to fix the link provided! You have "..." on your text for the link, but the actual hyperlink is "http//..." with no colon before the backslashes! So it goes to a "buy this website" page.
I'm contemplating this gimbal head. Would my current MeFoto Globetrotter tripod (rated for 12 kilos) be sufficient? I'm also planning to get a heavier Gitzo tripod but for budgeting reasons that will have to wait a bit!
+Anthony Webster Yes, that tripod is rated for 26.4 lbs and will support you Wimberley Head and large lens.
What kind off bearings are inside the head??????