Gimbal or Fluid Tripod Head?

While I look at this from the perspective of the wildlife photographer, the comparison could be helpful to anyone thinking about a purchase or upgrade

Manfrotto 502AH

Promedia Gear Katana Jr.

Robus 5888-3 (3 section, 58", 55lb load)

Robus RC-8880 (4 section, 80", 77lb load)

0:00 Intro
1:00 Gear Review
2:00 Gimbal
5:30 Fluid Head
6:00 Manfrotto to Arca conversion
10:00 Leveling base
12:45 Differences of Style
22:00 Who is each for?

[mauriciolee]

Thank Scott for this DETAILED of Gimbal and Fluid Tripod Head. It helps me make an informed decision of buying a tripod head.

[isoawe]

The Kirk replacement is worth every penny. Especially if you go from lens mount to camera mount. Quick and easy to change plate orientation. Also, you can change your handle mount to bring locking mechanism to the rear

[scottnj]

Thank you. I'm refamiliarizing myself with photography and because of digital cameras, video. I've more kit than knowledge. This is super helpful, helping me understand application of different tools.

[erikswenson]

Really appreciate that you made an actionable recommendation.

[cguerrieri]

Great explanation I can’t imagine you missed anything!

[cliftonwhittaker]

Good information, Scott. I've noticed that most of the wildlife photographers that I follow have switched to fluid heads because they shoot so much video now. I think Thomas Heaton was the first landscape photographer that I follow who illustrated the advantages of the easy leveling half bowl for photography. I watched your series of videos on gimbal heads and switched from a ball head to a Benro gimbal for all of my bird photography. Thank you very much. I chose the aluminum model because I'm doing most of my bird-art on a setup on the back porch and don't care about the weight.

[cameraprepper]

For use with a spotting telescope, a fluid head is great ! I use the MANFROTTO VIDEO MVH502AH Flat Base which I highly can recommend.

[GeoffCooper]

Cool discussion! Back when I had some big heavy f-mount supertele glass I tried everything from ballheads with 'sidekicks' (never smooth enough), video heads just like that 500 series (too heavy), and normal gimbals. In the end, I got a Gitzo fluid gimbal and that was my go-to for long glass for years!
These days I don't have any really heavy long lenses (my 400mm f/4.5 S is less than 2kg), so I am using a Flexshooter Pro for everything - it is somewhere between a ballhead and a video head in that it has a mode using spring loaded counterbalance and roll lock, but also a completely 'free' ballhead mode... It was outrageously expensive but it does work really well, and when I suffered a failure on part of it, they just sent me a replacement part immediately from Hungary!

[Reason-fgik]

I've been using the Manfrotto fluid head on the tallest Robus legs. I originally bought the combo for studio and landscape photography. The combo worked so well for wildlife I never went to a gimbal head.

[JACKnJESUS]

Good explanation. I used a gimbal until I stumbled across the manfrotto fluid head on sale. I think it matched my gimbal in photography performance...swings buttery smooth. In the end, the gimbal is in my closet and the fluid head remains on the primary tripod.

[tomubashir]

Even though I am not at all into videography, this is a very well explained video. Great content for anyone interested in learning.

[bradleyrex]

Great video. I am a big fan of a gimbal head for long lenses. I really like that you can just let go and not worry that it will tilt over and potentially make the whole tripod tip over. I shoot stills, so maybe I'd feel different if i shot video.
A set-up I like for pro soccer is my 600 f4 on a gimble and tripod set up someplace like a corner press box, and 70-200 on a 2nd body hanging from a strap. This why can shoot deep into the field with the 600, but also just let go and roam the area with the 70-200 when the ball is lose.

[felixifloresrodriquez]

I got a Benro gimbal head and love it. Thanks so much for the content

[jochenwuest]

I use both, a Sachtler FSB8 and the FlexShooter Pro (on Sachtler Flowtech legs btw) with my 400TC and 800PF. I think the traditional Gimbals are having a hard time with the FlexShooter being able to do everything I need 99% of the time. It's size and weight advantage over Gimbals were the primary reasons why I bought it and after using it for over two years I can now say that I don't regret it. However, I still keep the FSB8 for some special use cases where I just sit down or stand at a certain spot and when I don't have to do long walks. Right now I'm using it for Alpine Swifts and I think it still has some significant handling advantages when aiming at fast birds and for panning. I like have it all the way loose but with some amount of counterbalance in the horizontal axis it just feels perfect and I'd even say it helps me improving my keeper rate with the Swifts by providing even smoother motion than the Flexshooter. A guy from Austria has CNC-milled plates that go on top of the FSB8 and replace the original plate there so you have a real arca clamp without adding something additional to the existing base plate. Works like a charm! I'm sure similar plates could be made for other fluid heads as well.

[craigwallace]

Great info, especially the bowl and level unit and the arca Swiss adapter. it helps out in my decision

[angrybirder]

That Manfrotto 502 is the head allows me to make extremely fine adjustments at high magnifications with a spotting scope. The drag adjustment takes too much turning from min to max, but mine is set to max the entire time, so I don't care. the counterbalance is also just right for the scope. I can't imagine using a friction-based head for that. I used the 500 before and it was just a bit too twitchy to make fine adjustements at 60x magnification. When I turned up the friction, it just wasn't smooth enough anymore.

I would love to try out the Camgear Mark 4/Mark 6, which is the lightest fully adjustable fluid head.

[offthebeatenpathsafaris]

Great video and thanks for your advice regarding these in our cars on safari! The system you recommended for us is perfect and much more compact for travel!!!

[uaebifvideo]

Thank you for the information, Scott!!.

[craigpiferphotography]

For most of my photography I'm using a ball head now when using the tripod. That's because I don't use a tripod as often as I should, and I don't shoot only wildlife. I do have a cheap (sub $100) gimbal that I do use occasionally. I love seeing all these heads that are so far out of my budget that I can only dream about them. I'm just not at the point of being able to get all the gear that I really want, but perhaps someday I will get closer. Thanks for all your information Scott.

[stevethompson]

Thanks Scott. A couple years ago I opted for the manfrotto 500 and the kirk Bridge. I also have a Leofoto leveling base above the tripod apex. i use it for all my stills from Birds in Flight to tracked astro photography.