Gitzo GFH2W 2 Way Fluid Head for Wildlife?

[maranoblet]

Does anyone have any experience of the Gitzo GFH2W 2 Way Fluid Head for Wildlife?

I'm looking for a lighter weight alternative to a full sized gimbal as the biggest lenses I use are the Nikon Z100-400 and 400 4.5 with TC's. I may possibly add the 180-600 at a later date. The Gitzo seems to offer a decent solution, packs into the space for a standard zoom, is cheap at £279, lightweight and is arca swiss compatible unlike most other video heads. I don't do video at the moment but it is something I might look at doing in the future.

The other alternative is the Jobu Jnr 3 but whilst being very lightweight and compact it is still much more bulky to pack compared to the Gitzo.

Would I be missing out on anything by not going for a traditional gimbal here?

Hoping someone has first hand experience of the gimbal (or the Jobu too). There are barely any reviews out there for the Gitzo or the Jobu.

 

[wotan1]

The reference for gimbal performance is the WImberley 200. I have a friend who uses the Jobu Jr. because of its lighter weight and he swears by it, I have not tried to use his gimbal for comparison, I have the Wimberley 200.

the point of a gimbal is to put the lens/camera in perfect balance so it moves smoothly in all directions with minimal resistance and it stays balanced in the position you left it when you take your hands off. That allows you to move the camera freely into position and also allow you to leave it in that position without having to tighten anything to hold it there. the idea is that you get the lens pointing where you want it while you wait for something to happen. since you could wait a long time the idea is for the lens to stay in that position on its own.

You can't achieve perfect balance unless you can sit the pivot point at the center of gravity of the lens. This means you have to be able to adjust the lens position in three dimensions to get it balanced. The fluid head only adjusts fore and aft and you can't control the height of the pivot point of the lens.

What you are referencing for comparison is a fluid head. These are typically used for video work, the point with videos is the movement has to be smooth and steady as jerky movement does not look good on video.

I don't think a pan head is a substitute for a gimbal. You don't get thet full center of gravity balance that you need for the camera to hold in place when you let it go and you are going to have to tighten knobs to hold it in position. the whole point of the gimbal is to make the lens balanced, weightless and very easy to move yet holds its position on its own because it is perfectly balanced. With a well adjusted gimbal you can wait a long time then spring quickly into action when something happens. If you have to
adjust knobs to loosen or if you have movement dampened you don't get the free movement you may need to get that elusive shot.you were waiting for.

The Jobu Jr is a less expensive, smaller and lighter gimbal. People who use it swear by it.

Perhaps the most sophisticated design is the Really Right Stuff pano-gimbal head. It not only allows lens position adjustment fore and at ft and vertically, it also allows the whole pivot mechanism to move laterally so the lens pivot is centered directly over the center point of the tripod. Having the lens pivot point centred over the tripod pivot point is reportedly important for panoramic shots because things stay in alignment when you turn the pivot for the next shot in the panorama. I don't shoot panoramas so I can't vouch for the logic. You don't have to be over the tripod center of pivot for a gimbal to work correctly,

The bonus of the Really Right Stuff unit is that it can come apart and be folded into a small package for storing in a backpack. They even provide a carrying case. The negative as with many Really Right Stuff products is that it is very expensive.

 

[maranoblet]

Thanks for the reply. I take your points about a gimbal setup, if I had a heavier setup I would definitely be going down this road and I might yet though the wimberley is way too heavy for my needs.

The gitzo does include a counterbalance system which can apparently work with lighter set ups and I like the fact it's very portable and could be brought on landscape trips as a second head. But it has to be able to do it's 1st job as a wildlife head.

I am not familiar with the rrs head but I'm in the UK so all rrs stuff is pretty unobtainable and very expensive due to import duties.

 

[fcotterill]

Have you seen the parallel gimbal thread? with several links to options, reviews and other shared advice
Steve did a useful video describing how to balance a gimbal with a Telephoto rig

The S African made Gimpro is my standard for gimbal quality, together with their dual Gemini gimbal for pairing two telephoto rigs, which is designed to record stills and video of the same Subject.
The only reason to use another model is have a lighter rig. More here :

Best travel tripod/gimbal setup?

I'm going on some bird trips this year and need help choosing the best travel tripod with lightweight gimbal head set up for my Sony A1 with 200-600. Closer to home I use a monopod and Wimberly head. I have a fine RRS tripod with gimbal head - but it's too heavy to carry more than a short...

bcgforums.com

 

[Charles Loy]

That looks like it will fill your desire to lighter, plenty of solid reviews on the net. The fluid head is tended to the video shooters, but should be perfect for still shooting too. On sale at 100 $ off - why I would not buy it: Load Capacity: 13.2 lbs.