N-Photo

104 March 2016 http://www.digitalcameraworld.com

NIK PEDIA HEAD TO HEAD

TRIPOD HEADS

Best support for long lenses

For shooting with heavy telephoto lenses, both of these heads

have a lot to offer, but which is best for taking the strain...?

Built from multiple, adjustable brackets connected via clamps and

roller bearings, the Gimbal RH2 enables you to keep the weight of

a camera and heavy lens centralised, even during panning and

vertical tilting. This makes it ideal for tracking subjects like birds.

A ball and socket head is a more conventional support for cameras

and lenses. However, this one is less conventional than most. It has

an internal chamber containing fluid which, when pressurised

upon tightening the locking knob, exerts a more even locking force.

Wonderfully smooth panning is assured by the gimbal’s roller-

bearings, washers and ‘soft-touch’ control knob. The knob enables

you to apply adjustable friction damping without any wobbling, as

well lock the panning movement completely for static shots.

Unlike some ball heads, the Manfrotto includes a separate

pan-only release and locking knob. This enables easy panning

through the same 360-degree range as the gimbal head. The base

plate is marked with a scale calibrated in degrees.

The RH2 is made of aircraft-grade aluminium. It secures to a tripod

via a 1/4-inch or 3/8-inch thread (adaptor provided) and comes

with both 50mm and 140mm quick-release plates, making it

suitable for mounting both cameras and lens collars.

The 16 kilograms maximum load rating of the Manfrotto doesn’t

compete with the 45 kilograms of the gimbal. However, at just 700

grams, it’s little more than half the gimbal’s weight. The compact,

magnesium-alloy design boasts excellent strength and rigidity.

The main claim to fame of this or any other full gimbal head is that

vertical tilt adjustments have the same smoothness and ease of use

as horizontal panning. A separate ‘soft-touch’ locking and variable

friction knob works in exactly the same way as the panning knob.

Whereas a gimbal head retains balance for heavy camera and lens

combinations during vertical tilt adjustments, ball heads can’t do

this. Even so, the Manfrotto head’s variable friction damper (in

addition to its main locking knob) enables fairly smooth movement.

One thing that’s impossible with a gimbal head is to tilt the lens

and camera laterally to enable portrait orientation shooting. It’s

not a problem though, because gimbals are designed for use with

big telephotos that generally have tripod collars to enable this.

Good for use with small lenses that lack a tripod mounting collar,

the Manfrotto has a cut-out in its socket section, enabling full

90-degree tilt both to the left and to the right. However, you still

need to rely on the mounting collar of big lenses to retain balance.

Lensmaster

Gimbal RH2

Manfrotto

468MGRC3 Ball Head

Design

Build

Panning

Tilting

Portrait

TYPE Gimbal

MAIN MATERIAL Aluminium

RELEASE PLATE Arca-Swiss style

HEIGHT 250mm

LATERAL TILT None

PANNING LOCK Ye s

WEIGHT 1.2kg

MAX LOAD RATING 45kg

PRICE £148/$220

TYPE Ball

MAIN MATERIAL Magnesium alloy

RELEASE PLATE Arca-Swiss style

HEIGHT 120mm

LATERAL TILT +/-90 degrees

PANNING LOCK Ye s

WEIGHT 0.7kg

MAX LOAD RATING 16kg

PRICE £174/$320

The LensMaster Gimbal RH2 wins

out over the Manfrotto 468MGRC3

for freedom of movement and easy

tracking of subjects that require

vertical tilt. Not just for shooting

birds and aircraft, it’s also usually

preferable for things like motor

sport. The Manfrotto is lighter,

much more compact, and more

suitable for static shots, while

still enabling smooth horizontal

panning – perfect for panoramas.

VERDICT

NEXT MONTH: TRIPOD VERSUS MONOPOD

Vs