Question concerning Wimberly Sidekick

Hi folks,

not being totally satisfied with my Nikkor 500/f4.0 P - Arca - Gitzo
combination when needing fast shooting sequences of moving animals
(there is much vibration from one shot to the other) I wonder if the
Wimberly sidekick can solve this problem.

So my question: Does the sidekick (besides being very handy in usage) also
reduce the usual long lens vibration? Any experience out there?

Greets form Germany

Thomas

From: Thomas Hintze

not being totally satisfied with my Nikkor 500/f4.0 P - Arca - Gitzo
combination when needing fast shooting sequences of moving animals
(there is much vibration from one shot to the other) I wonder if the
Wimberly sidekick can solve this problem.

Which Gitzo are you using? Some of the better known American bird
photographers recommend at least the 1325 CF or heavier for the long lens with
converters, even with Canon IS technology.

So my question: Does the sidekick (besides being very handy in usage) also
reduce the usual long lens vibration? Any experience out there?

I have the Arca-Swiss B1 ... take a look at the shots I posted on a recent
thread "Images from Bosque del Apache NWR", about half of these were taken from
a window brace in a vehicle (ie, not as stable as a tripod) with the AS and
either 1.4x or 2x tele-converters on my 500 f/4. So you can get pretty sharp
images with just the AS out to 1,000 mm, I feel. At least with IS ... too bad
Nikon doesn't offer VR on the super tele's yet.

I also have the Sidekick and also the larger Wimberley. The Sidekick works
well with the AS but the main benefit is the ease of panning and handling, not
extra stability. I'd guess if you are getting too much vibration now you won't
reduce this by adding the Sidekick, though one benefit is you can slide the
lens back and forth in the clamp to get it balanced precisely, something you
can't do easily on the ballhead, and this may help some.

But with a good stable tripod and the AS B-1 I'd think you wouldn't have
vibration problems to begin with.

Hope this helps a bit ... the Sidekick really helps when panning on birds in
flight or focussing on fast moving animals, and it eliminates the head-flop
problem of a ballhead, but since the AS will still be part of the assembly I
think you'll likely still have the same set of problems.

Bill

Thomas Hintze wrote:
not being totally satisfied with my Nikkor 500/f4.0 P - Arca - Gitzo
combination when needing fast shooting sequences of moving animals
(there is much vibration from one shot to the other) I wonder if the
Wimberly sidekick can solve this problem.

A Wimberly Sidekick does solve the problem and there are some
other good solutions too.

Just a few weeks ago I used the tripod head which Dietmar Nill has
designed. It was really fun to use a 600/4 lens plus 1.4x TC to get
pictures of running deer at shutter speeds of 1/8s.

A short report about this tripod head(in german) can be found he
http://www.imagepower.de/IMAGES/imgEQUIPMENT/D_Nill.htm

So my question: Does the sidekick (besides being very handy in usage) also
reduce the usual long lens vibration? Any experience out there?

This is a tricky question because at first you should know which
part of the whole setup is vibrating. It can be the tripod, the
tripod head, the tripod collar or even the lens barrel.

Bjorn Rorslett mentions on his website that the tripod collar
of the Nikkor 500/4 P needs some 'reinforcement':
http://www.naturfotograf.com/tripod_collar_rev02.html


--
Helmut Faugel

Helmut Faugel artikulierte sich am 14 Nov 2003
wie folgt:


Bjorn Rorslett mentions on his website that the tripod collar
of the Nikkor 500/4 P needs some 'reinforcement':
http://www.naturfotograf.com/tripod_collar_rev02.html

Helmut,

thanks for the good hints. Yes, I know Bjorns tip for reinforcing the a
bit weak tripod-collar. And in deed, this kind of vibration is the
major factor. I will adress this problem in the near future.

Greets from Germany

Thomas