Information Wanted -- Gimbal Heads and lens straps (1 Viewer)

Hi everyone,

My name is Anand and I am based in Hyderabad in India.

I have been photographing birds for more than 4 years now and I must say its a growing passion and as of now there is nothing else that I would rather do with my free (and not so free) time.

I used to do my birding with a Nikon D90 and Sigma 150-500 and was very very happy with the results. However, I decided to upgrade to the Nikon D600 and thereafter I also got myself a Nikon 600 mm f/4 VR. Nowadays, I do most of my birding with a Nikon D600 + Nikon TC 14 E + Nikon 600 mm f/4 combination.

Yes, you read that right, I don't use a tripod / gimbal arrangement

I find tripods to be a big pain in the field and would like to continue to not use them. While I can manage most of the times by handholding the lens (or bracing it) I do get fatigued after a hour or so and as I am wondering if there is any lens straps specifically made for the Nikon 600 mm f/4 which will let me carry the lens (and attached camera and TC) slung from my body, so that my arms need to take up the weight only when I need to take a photograph.

I do realize that I may be sounding a bit stubborn and impractical.

So I am open to advice on Gimbal heads and tripods too. Which would be best combination for me? Please note that I would like to ideally carry the entire rig (over my shoulder) safely and not have to dismantle everything again and again while in the field.

Thanks in advance and happy birding!

Warm Regards,

Anand

Anand. Probably you won't get many answers to this question in this sub-forum. You will need to post it (move it) to a camera gear forum. The Nikon one perhaps.

However, since I'm here

I don't use the 600 but a D3s (and D800E) with a 300/2,8 and TC20EIII, so just a kilo or so lighter. Personally I, like you, prefer to walk around rather than be in a hide in one spot. That means I use a Nest Chinese (HK) Carbon Fibre Gimbal NT530H that does everything safely and efficiently (and costs around US$200), that the Wimberley's do but at a considerable saving, it can take up to 25kgs.
If you buy any gimbal make sure you get one that also has a lock on the QR plate holder (I once had the QR plate slip out - very luckily catching my camera/lens before it hit the ground) !

I put that on a light but very sturdy Carbon Fibre monopod (Benro C49T - also about US$100) and it is very easy to carry over my shoulder (I have cut a piece of foam rubber that I put inside my shirt to prevent any soreness or blisters) but have ready for action within 3-4 seconds. The whole setup works really well IMHO !

As far as carrying it for handholding - I have a Cotton Carrier camera holster and a chest harness, that is designed for carrying a camera/lens on your chest, a better way to shift the weight, but you'd have to ask them if it would take the 600mm and camera.

http://www.cottoncarrier.com/

Hey Frogfish, thanks a lot for your reply and what you said makes sense to me too. Will check out the Gimbal and tripod mentioned by you. I wasn't aware that there are carbon fibre Gimbals as well! I am going through your work as I type this; you got some good photos there mate!

Thanks once again for your reply, really appreciate it.

Hi Frogfish, I just checked out the NT-530H Carbon Fibre Gimbal Head on the www.nest-style.com website and I see it is 300 UK Pounds and not 200 USD as mentioned by you. Well, at 300 UK Pounds it more or less as costly as a Jobu Design Gimbal!

Am I seeing the wrong site? DO let me know where it is available for 200 USD please.

Also, maybe we could catch up on GTalk sometime? I am [email protected]

Cheers,

Anand

Anand_Vishwanadha said:

Hi Frogfish, I just checked out the NT-530H Carbon Fibre Gimbal Head on the www.nest-style.com website and I see it is 300 UK Pounds and not 200 USD as mentioned by you. Well, at 300 UK Pounds it more or less as costly as a Jobu Design Gimbal!

Am I seeing the wrong site? DO let me know where it is available for 200 USD please.

Also, maybe we could catch up on GTalk sometime? I am [email protected]

Cheers,

Anand

Click to expand...

Hi Anand,

I am living in China and that is the price it is available online for. Try some HK sites, you are probably looking at their 'Suggested Retail Price' which we know are often well over the actual selling prices

Hi Anand, I moved this to the photography forum, hopefully you'll get some more replies here.