Induro Gear Guide Part 5 - Balancing Your Camera/Lens on the GHBA Gimbal Head

Welcome to Part 5 of my Induro Gear Guide. This part was originally going to be the wrap up but while reading some documentation about the GHBA Gimbal Head I decided to add another part before the wrap up. Basically the documentation said that a properly balanced camera/lens should remain in the last position you place it even with the main tension knob for the Gimbal Head completely loose. This got the wheels turning because I was wondering how close to achieving this I have been with the way I have been mounting the camera/lens onto the Gimbal Head. Normally I would align the center marks on the clamp and quick release plate and shoot away as shown below.

Initial Installation

Normally I keep some tension on the camera/lens using the main tension knob so for grins I decided to loosen the tension knob completely to see what would happen. The result is shown below.

Not Good

Not good at all! Clearly the camera was way out of balanace and needs to be adjusted within the quick release clamp. Since it was tail heavy I knew I needed to slide the camera/lens forward in the quick release plate and try again. I tried moving the camera forward about half of the available distance I could move it forward. Locked it down and then manually leveled the camera. When I released the camera the nose still tilted up, but no where near as bad as it did the first time. I don't have a picture of the camera/lens that's not zoomed in on the clamp but you can get an idea of how it looks based on the angle of the camera/lens as shown below.

Better

While the balance was certainly better after the first adjustment I decided to move it a little further and try the test again. This time when I released the camera/lens it didn't move or if it did it barely moved. As you can see from the picture below I had to move the lens plate pretty far forwad to achive the proper balance. I haven't had a chance to shoot with the camera/lens in this new postion but I'll be trying it out this coming weekend and will post a follow up next week.

Balanced

If/When you buy a Gimbal Head you'll probably want to invest in an extra long lens plate which is what I have attached to the 400 lens. The one I bought is from Berno and costs $27.00. The link below is for the plate on Amazon. If you use it to buy the plate I'll earn a small commission and you'll get a plate that'll allow you to achieve a perfectly balanced camera/lens combo on your Gimbal Head.

Induro Gear Guide Part 4 - Induro GHBA Gimbal Head

Welcome to part 4 of my Induro Gear Guide. In this part we'll take a look at the Induro GHBA Gimbal Head. Which I'm sure stands for Gimbal Head Bad Ass because it totally is :). According to the Induro web site it weighs 1.1 pounds and for lenses up to 300mm. But Zack you're using it with a 400 are you stupid or what for exceeding the lens focal length recommendation? Well here's the scoop on that. I bought the GHBA before Induro added the the focal length recommendation. When I read this on the web site I contacted Induro asking for clarification. I'll summarize the response I received from Induro and then move on with my discussion of the GHBA Gimbal Head. The short direct answer is: it works with the 400, don't sweat it. :)

The longer answer is: Seems a lot of folks were asking Induro about a maximum focal length or lens weight for the various Gimbal Heads so Induro added this information to their web site just recently. Because there are so many different factors that come into play: camera body/lens combo, battery grip installed or not, flash attached or not, the length of the lens, etc they decided using a focal length was the best way to make a recommendation.


While I was waiting to hear back from Induro I did some of my own investigation. I wanted to see how the weight of my EF 400 lens compared to the EF 300 f/4 and EF 300 f/2.8. According to the specifications I found on the B&H Web Site my 400 weighs 2.8 pounds. The 300 f/4 weighs 2.6 pounds and the 300 2.8 weighs 6 pounds. Let's assume the camera body weighs another 2 pounds that would put my 400 with body at 4.8 pounds, the 300 f/4 at 4.6 pounds and the 300 2.8 at 8 pounds. Based upon that I would say as long as your camera/lens combo weighs 8 pounds or less the GHBA Gimbal Head should support it just fine. One very important caveat is that you are using a lens that has a tripod collar and you're mounting it to the GHBA Gimbal Head using that and not trying to attach it using the camera body.


Here's what I'll do since I'm such a nice guy. If you have any doubt that your camera/lens combination will work with the GHBA Gimbal Head send me your camera and lens for testing and I'll let you know if it works or not :)


With the Ballhead quick release plate locked into the groove on the side of the ballhead you slide the GHBA Gimbal Head into position and lock it down as shown below. You'll also want to tighten the main tension knob on the Ballhead. You don't want the Gimbal Head moving around in the Ballhead socket while you're trying to use it.

Induro GHBA Gimbal Head on BHD3 Ballhead

One thing that concerned be before I bought the Gimbal Head was how is it held in position so that it can't accidentally slide out of the quick release clamp if it should accidentally loosen up. See those two little tabs in the picture below -- that's how it's done. What you do is open the quick relase clamp and insert the Gimbal Head then slide it down until the tabs are resting against the side of the clamp and the securely tighten the tension knob to lock it into place. Once that's done you're ready to mount your camera/lens and start shooting.

Locking Tabs

Depending on who you ask you'll get different answers to the question -- Which side should be used when mounting the lens? According to famed wild life photographer Moose Peterson you should use a right side mount as pictured below. His reasoning is this allows you to rest your left hand on the lens for proper long lens technique. He recommends placing your left hand on top of the lens when shooting. He may be on to something since he routinely shoots with 500 and 600mm lenses but he's also using a different Gimbal Head so perhaps that has something to do with it as well.

GHBA Gimbal Head with Canon EF 400 Lens Right Side Mount

My preferred method is to mount the lens as shown below. Instead of resting my hand on the lens I normally rest it on top of the "T". This allows me to accomplish three tasks without removing my hand from the shutter button: (1) I can manually focus the lens, if needed, (2) I can loosen/tighten the tension knob on the lens if I want to change orientation, and (3) I can control the tension on the main tension knob if it needs adjustment. So who's method is better? Well mine of course, but seriously it doesn't really matter which method you use. Try them both and see which one works best for you. If you're currently using this style of Gimbal Head I'd love to hear if you use a righty or lefty mount.

GHBA Gimbal Head with Canon EF 400 Lens Left Side Mount

One thing you'll read about when researching Gimbal Heads is how they provide a near weightless feeling when your camera/lens are mounted and balanced properly. (Probably balance can be achieved by sliding the lens forward or backwards in the quick release mount. That's why I have a long lens plate attached to the EF 400). What they say is true, it's not marketing hype. I resisted going with a Gimbal Head because I felt there was no way that it would work for me. I felt I would be too constrained using it. My background is in sports photography so I'm used to being able to move the camera into any position I want as the action changes to get the shot. I don't feel the least bit constrained using the Gimbal Head and the set up you see above his now how I shoot most of the time.

I am 100% certain my birding photography has improved since I've started using a Gimbal Head. That being said is do I have any dislikes or regrets about buying it? Yes but again my dislike is one that I probably shouldn't mention but will anyway. I'm slowly incorporating flash into my birding photography and right now there isn't any kind of accessory bracket available that would allow me to mount my flash above the camera like you can with similary style Gimbal Head manufacturered by a different company. I have a son that is currently serving as an Aircraft Mechanic in the Marines (Quick shout out to all service men and women in all branches. A huge THANK YOU for your service) and I'm going to see if he can use his sheet metal skills to fabricate something for me. Of course the ultimate solution would be if Induro made one for all of their Gimbal Heads. That would make me one happy camper.

I also have one regret after buying this Gimbal Head. Had I known in advance that I would enjoy using it so much I wouldn't have bought the BHD3 BallHead and GHBA Gimbal Head. I would have gone right for either the GHB1 or GHB2 Gimbal Head instead. Using a Gimbal Head has changed my game that much that I always want to shoot with it. For now, though the combination of Ballhead and separate Gimbal Head gives me the best of both worlds. When I do get that Canon Super Telephoto I'll probably buy the GHB2 Gimbal Head to go along with it but we'll see by the time I can buy that lens Induro may have come out with a GHB3 or something else that would work better for me.

Cost for the Induro GHBA Gimbal Head - $204.00. The link below is for the Ballhead on Amazon. If you use it to purchase one I'll receive a little commission and you'll get an easy to use Gimbal Head that you'll love as much as I love mine.

Induro Gear Guide Part 1 - Introduction

Not long ago I posted a photo of my Canon PowerShot D10 mounted on my Induro Tripod/Ballhead. (Link to Previous Post). Below is a similar shot but this is my advanced set up for birding :).

Advanced Tripod Setup

Pictured is the Induro CT314 tripod, BHD3 Ballhead, and GHBA Gimbal head. This is the setup I now use for 99% of my shots taken with a camera mounted on a tripod. Normally I use a 7D and EF 400 lens and not that dinky Powershot D10. Over the next few days I'm planning to post reviews of each of these components.

Prior to buying this Induro gear I had been using a Velbon tripod and Kirk BH-3 ballhead. I liked this combination because it was light but there were a couple of major drawbacks with it. First the Velbon tripod did not extend high enough for me to use it without squatting down. As I have grown to use a tripod more and more this became a major problem. It was possible to get the camera to eye level but I had to extend the center column to do so and extending it just made things unstable. The Kirk BH-3 ballhead is a very nice one but it was rated for a maximum load of 15 pounds. While this may sound like a lot of weight I was experiencing some slippage with the ballhead. Upon returning the ballhead to Kirk they replaced it, no questions asked. Kudos to Kirk for the fine customer service. I'm going to sell the Kirk ballhead on eBay and stick with my current Induro one instead because the new ballhead is rated for a much heavier load and eventually I'm planning to add the Canon EF-500mm monster lens to my collection.

Investing in a tripod setup is something I spent a lot of time researching and fretting over. I knew I wanted something that would extend high enough that I wouldn't have to squat down and I also wanted something that would get down low to the ground. This was an essential requirement because I like shooting stuff up in the sky or trees and Donna likes shooting flowers so I wanted a tripod that would meet both our needs. I wanted it to be relatively light and rock steady. I find it somewhat funny when folks complain about the weight of their gear. If you don't want to lug around an extra 5 pounds then lose 5 pounds from your body :). While the new tripod setup is heavier than my old setup I'm kind of like an old pack mule -- the weight difference between the two isn't great enough that I've noticed any difference. I spent hours reading reviews and forum posts to find out which tripods people liked and didn't like and why. Gitzo was the name I saw most often and so I started leaning heavily towards Gitzo.

While doing my research I found the Photography Minute Blog by Eric Brown. Since he's a fellow Canon 7D and EF 400 shooter I knew his tripod needs were similar to mine. After reading his Induro CT314 Tripod Review I started looking at Induro's gear and it wasn't long before I knew I had found the compnay that I would be buying my tripod gear from.

In my reviews over the next few days I plan to write about the thinks I like and don't like about each of the products I now own. Hopefully this information will help the next person considering such an upgrade have an easier time making a decision that I had when I went through it. If you're reading this and are undecided and don't want to read all of the other posts here's the answer to the $64,000 question -- buy Induro. You'll love it.

As I write the reviews the text below will be turned into links to those reviews.

Induro Gear Guide Part 2 - Induro CT314 Tripod
Induro Gear Guide Part 3 - Induro BHD3 Ballhead
Induro Gear Guide Part 4 - Induro GHBA Gimbal Head
Induro Gear Guide Part 5 - Balancing Your Camera/Lens on the GHBA Gimbal Head
Induro Gear Guide Part 6 - Wrap up