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Gimbal / Sidekick mounts on ebay (1 Viewer)

This could also apply to a gimbal head particularly one of cheaper construction hence my comment on top quality materials. You get what you pay for.

Sorry I will ask the question differently, do you have personnel experience with the equipment I have bought? I was wondering why you believe it is of inferior quality? In this world there are lots of companies whose equipment come from the same factory, supplier, source. (In the 70s I had a VW Beetle, same brakes as a early Porsche 924!!)
There are lots of people in this world who genuinely believe that more expensive mean better quality (I've seen the price of wine in restaurants in the US), I have no doubt that this can be true a lot of the time but is not a rule.
I only comment on equipment that I have 1st hand experience of, I try to keep an open mind and not jump to conclusions when other people try alternatives.
As for not posting any pictures because of copyright, you're decision, but seems a shame not to occasionally contribute......
 
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What is there in my original post that you seem to take such poorly disguised offense to? It was in no way patronizing or condescending towards your purchase. Far from it I even added the comment that I hoped you would be happy with you new purchase. The first part of the post was simply a warning to protect your hard earned lens and camera from a possible failure of your new head. It is after all a very unknown quantity at this point in time. If you are suggesting that your 57 pound Indian made knock off is in any way comparable to a Wimberley gimbal head then I think you are being extremely naive. There are many accounts of cheap ebay purchases failing, cheap batteries, cheap Sandisk CF cards the list goes on. While I agree that more expensive not necessarily mean better I would still be very careful and safeguard your camera and lens while carrying them mounted on your new head.
 
If you are suggesting that your 57 pound Indian made knock off is in any way comparable to a Wimberley gimbal head then I think you are being extremely naive.

Thanks no disguised offence intended and yes I'm pleased you realised that I had taken offence by your uninformed comment.
£57 where did this come from? Again I have absolutely no idea why you need to quote that the head is an "Indian made knock off" The company selling them are based in India, I've no idea where they are manufactured, they could come from the far east, the US or from the same factory as well known brands for all I know.
My point which you have missed on both occasions is "do you have personnel experience with the items being discussed to comment so negatively" to quote you "knock off, cheap and an assumption that the manufacturing materials are substandard" seem to indicate that you have played, handled, used, broken these items, if not all your comments are unfounded based on assumption or hearsay.
If you wish to discuss items you have no knowledge of you must expect some sort of reaction
 
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Any one seen, bought, heard about the Indian company selling mounts and plates at a fraction of the cost of the real macoy?
Had an email exchange with them and I could but a sidekick for my 500sigma and a PT-50 plate for £80.00 inc shipping.
Okay I'm not that naive but its might be worth a chance, gotta be better than my trusty old benbo ball head

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI....m=130174756306&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=003


Comments anyone?

Your original post. Go back and read the last line. It does not exclude people that makes a comment that disagrees with you does it now? As I happen to own the real original Wimberley Sidekick I thought I would give you a friendly warning about construction. As for the 57 pound... well if you following the url you provided it does say 57 pounds as the price for your purchase. Anything else you want to bitch about?
 
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Come on outboard keep up if you notice I changed from a sidekick to a full gimbal mount for larger lenses........at a cost of £100.00 as mentioned in a more recent entry and yes thanks for asking if there are any other points I wish to raise, a reply to my original question would have been good but I will accept that your lack of a response is agreement that your comments were unfounded. I consider the subject closed.
 
Well if Wimberley is the Rolls Royce of Heads you bought a Yugo! Good luck with it but as several people have mentioned in other threads about very suspect quality with these heads I suspect you will have nagging doubts about your purchase.
 
I bow to your better intellectual debate, your words of wisdom and complete understanding of the motoring industry
PS if Henry Ford is the father of modern motoring does that make a Rolls Royce a knock off copy.......
 
After a lot of dialogue with the uninformed I decided to put my mount where my money was.......
I have dissected my Asian Mount to look for signs of poor quality and am pleased to report that the unsubstantiated claims made by some who have never seem one of these devices in the flesh are inaccurate.
When I have nothing better to do I will happily supply photographs but I can report that without the aid of an x-ray machine the casting appears 1st class, no signs of porous surfaces and the machining is 1st rate, a mirror finish on all surfaces that have been machined, the nylon bearings are a perfect fit as are any spindles (is Nylon the best choice for bearings?), the powder coating is smooth and even with no signs of poor adhesion of finish. My head sits firmly on my tripod mount and comes with an alternative plug for smaller threaded heads (wouldn't wish to put this on anything less than 3/8" though), all nuts are nylock to keep them in place, backed up with self locking washers. I would say that in some areas it may be a little over engineered which may add to the weight.
My only criticism is the plate mount clamping screw which has a knob made of a hard plastic which is not pleasant to turn and may be too brittle to stand a hard hit which is strange because the axis clamping heads are absolutely fine and finished in a much better plastic the plate clamping screw is a common thread so replacing it would be very simple.
Looking at it in detail and looking on line at the original Wimberley Mk1 head (don't have one to hand) I wonder what the company did with the original copyright and castings, it wouldn't be the 1st time that Asian companies have purchased out dated designs, (Vauxhall and Deawoo spring to mind).
I'm sure that there is a world of difference between an Asian Gimbal Head and an original Mk1 Wimberley but whether or not it justifies the huge price difference is a matter of opinion.
If any one wishes to have any supporting photographs, please email / pm me and when I get time I will happily send some out although not sure if my macro photography will be up to it......
 
Hi Steve.

I've used the my 'sidekick' version for a couple of decent sessions now. It functions very well indeed although its casting, paintwork and so on are clearly not top notch. If I'd had the money to buy a new canon 500mm F4 I might have paid the extra and bought original Wimberley kit but on my budget I'm pleased with value for money. Enjoy using yours Steve.

Cheers, Tim B :)B :)
 
Tim, thanks, its does appear that those people who have purchased one do accept that it will not be as a top dollar mount should be, but by no means does it mean its going to fail, if we all avoided buying goods that have a history of failure or recalls we would be hard pushed to find anything that can be classified as 100%, If you look at the motoring industry every manufacturer has had issues and recalls even Rolls Royce, why only recently did Canon put out a statement regarding focusing on their "top of the range" D-SLR, does this prevent people buying them...... I think not.......
 
Tim, thanks, its does appear that those people who have purchased one do accept that it will not be as a top dollar mount should be, but by no means does it mean its going to fail, if we all avoided buying goods that have a history of failure or recalls we would be hard pushed to find anything that can be classified as 100%, If you look at the motoring industry every manufacturer has had issues and recalls even Rolls Royce, why only recently did Canon put out a statement regarding focusing on their "top of the range" D-SLR, does this prevent people buying them...... I think not.......

True, but if a tripod head fails you could end up with thousands of pounds worth of gear falling to the ground. I think that for this reason alone people are willing to pay more for the tried and tested heads. I've never heard of a Wimberley, Kirk or Jobu gimbal failing but I have read horror stories about the copies.
 
True, but if a tripod head fails you could end up with thousands of pounds worth of gear falling to the ground. I think that for this reason alone people are willing to pay more for the tried and tested heads. I've never heard of a Wimberley, Kirk or Jobu gimbal failing but I have read horror stories about the copies.

yes I agree but every choice is a risk but it doesn't mean that people can't try alternative products with people ridiculing their choice, which is why I have persisted with this thread. I can name so many top company brands that have failed with massive consequences and yet the product stay in circulation and are continued to be used.
Okay I bought a cheap product, I have taken it apart and see no visual signs of the claims some people are making.
If it works so be it if it fails likewise, but its my choice.

If posh stuff never failed Jobu wouldn't need this on their website

Warranty Information:

On most of our items, we offer a 1 year "No questions asked, fix-it and send it back like-new" warranty. The only cost involved is shipping back and forth, which is generally paid by the customer (we will only pay at our discretion). For the next 2 years, we will strive to offer free repairs, or only charge our minimal replacement costs for broken items, plus shipping costs. We have the best warranty in the business and will strive to make you happy.
 
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I've followed this thread with interest, though I'm not intersted in buying either a Wimberley, or the cheaper alternative. I do however think there is a general point to learn from what's been discussed.

If everyone only ever bought the expensive original item, newer and cheaper alternatives would never break into the market. Whilst some of them do turn out to be rubbish, just occasionally (often, even!) some of them do turn out to be almost as good, and at a fraction of the cost of the original.

I could site the examples of both Benro and Feisol tripods. There were large question marks over both brands when they first hit the western marketplace, yet I have genuinely never heard a bad review of either brand-and I've read quite a few! From my own personal experience of the latter, the company seem to be genuinely determined to offer good products at fair prices, and will go out of their way to satisfy their customers-even from the other side of the world (Taiwan).

A bit of healthy competition never did the marketplace any harm, and helps to keep the market leaders on their toes. It even, on occasion, prevents some of them from taking the p*@@ with ridiculously high prices for what are essentially quite simple products.

If the unthinkable should happen? Well isn't that what we pay insurance for? or am I missing something?
 
I've followed this thread with interest, though I'm not intersted in buying either a Wimberley, or the cheaper alternative. I do however think there is a general point to learn from what's been discussed.

If everyone only ever bought the expensive original item, newer and cheaper alternatives would never break into the market. Whilst some of them do turn out to be rubbish, just occasionally (often, even!) some of them do turn out to be almost as good, and at a fraction of the cost of the original.

I could site the examples of both Benro and Feisol tripods. There were large question marks over both brands when they first hit the western marketplace, yet I have genuinely never heard a bad review of either brand-and I've read quite a few! From my own personal experience of the latter, the company seem to be genuinely determined to offer good products at fair prices, and will go out of their way to satisfy their customers-even from the other side of the world (Taiwan).

A bit of healthy competition never did the marketplace any harm, and helps to keep the market leaders on their toes. It even, on occasion, prevents some of them from taking the p*@@ with ridiculously high prices for what are essentially quite simple products.

If the unthinkable should happen? Well isn't that what we pay insurance for? or am I missing something?

Steve,
I couldn't have said it better than you. I too have been watching the post with interest. I bought a Feisol tripod over a year ago and it has performed superbly - even though many told me not to trust it.
Lisa W
 
Thanks for your kind words of encouragement Lisa. As with many things, popularity breeds popularity. I can still remember when Swarovski were the 'the kids on the block', but look at them now!
 
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