Making long telephotos more portable

[KeithB]

LL has an interesting video about using a gimbal head with a monopod to make it easier to handle a large telephoto:
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/techniques/gimbal___monopod.shtml

This is intriguing, but I don't want to spend $200 at this time.

Any other ideas about getting hand-held convenieince without hand-held arm-ache?

I think I will try the monopd I have by itself.

[Bob Atkins]

Getting a lighter lens doesn't hurt! The new long telephoto zooms like the Tamron SP 150-600mm F/5-6.3 Di VC USD (4lbs) are a lot easier to handle then the long Canon telephoto primes and the image quality can be surprisingly good.

The Manfrotto 393 Long Lens Monopod Bracket at $175 is probably the cheapest "name brand" monopod (or tripod) head for a long and heavy lens.

However there is this for just $75 or so - BK-45 360° Gimbal Tripod Head. It looks interesting but I've no idea where or how well it's made. I think it's probably made by Bieke, a Chinese tripod maker in Guangdong though I don't see it on their website - http://gzbeike.manufacturer.globalsources.com/. I have seen other images of what looks to be an identical item with the Bieke name on them.

[KeithB]

I saw that one as well as a number of others like it. But it seems be different in design from the one in the LL article.

The promedia tomahawk has the rotation of the lens directly through the CG by rotating the tripod mount collar to the side. The physics of the thing is pretty self-evident. The one you linked to puts the tripod mount at the bottom and puts the lens on a little swing. I am trying to see in my mind whether the two are mechanically equivalent.

[Bob Atkins]

I believe they are. In both cases the CG of the lens is directly over the horizontal rotation axis. In the $75 mount the vertical position of the lens is adjustable so that the CG of the lens can be in line with the horizontal rotation axis, just like the side mount. In the case of the $75 mount, if the CG of the lens is positioned below the horizontal rotation axis the lens will self level if you let go of it, which is a good thing!