Wimberley Sidekick with 100-400 and 1D

Heya folks,

I know the Sidekick is designed for large lenses, but I was just wondering about the feasibility of using the 100-400 with 1D on this setup. It looks possible to me.. and a gimbal would be nice and smooth compared to locking and unlocking a traditional ballhead. My existing setup is Arca compatible so there should be no issue there.

Has anybody tried this? Or is the Sidekick best left for a large tele prime?

Lightstream,
i think you would find the sidekick a pain to use with the 100-400mm, as it is designed to work best with the camera/lens set to neutral balance so that it stays pointing in the direction you want.

Because the 100-400mm lens is push-pull you would have to keep adjusting the position of the lens to sidekick. because of the change in centre of gravitiy.

If you plan to leave it set to one focal lenth EG:400mm then it would sort of work, but is probley not the best option.

I have both the sidekick and the full wimberly mkII, and neither are comfortable the use with 100-400mm. but GREAT with a 500mm.

Hope the answers you question?

Thanks Glenn, it does. Agreed that one would probably have a lot of re-adjusting to do with the 100-400's changing center of gravity (CG).. would probably lock-it-and-leave-it though.

What would you recommend for the 100-400? Just a plain ballhead?

Lightstream,

I use a Kirk B1 ball head, which works fine with the 100-400mm, and the if at some time you get a telephoto prime then a sidekick will work well with this ballhead.

Lightstream wrote in post #2363967
Heya folks,

I know the Sidekick is designed for large lenses, but I was just wondering about the feasibility of using the 100-400 with 1D on this setup. It looks possible to me.. and a gimbal would be nice and smooth compared to locking and unlocking a traditional ballhead. My existing setup is Arca compatible so there should be no issue there.

Has anybody tried this? Or is the Sidekick best left for a large tele prime?

I can't think of any reason why you can't use the Sidekick with the 100-400. As you said, you would probably have it set at 400mm anyway. And besides, even if you didn't, balance is NOT that crucial with the 100-400/1d combo. It's not like we're talking about a very heavy object that needs to have the weight neutralized in order for you to be able to use it.

Just my 2 cents but I think the sidekick would be a better option than a ballhead by itself. I've used my 100-400 on a ballhead and swore off of it after that. I switched to the Manfrotto gimbal-type head and then to the Winberley full head. But then again, it also depends on what you're going to be using the lens for. If it's just going to be set on the tripod and locked, then a ballhead will do just fine. But I'm going to assume that's not the case if you are looking at the Sidekick.

Thanks Leo, I might give it a try if I can part with the $250. Wildlife, birds and action typically are not so kind as to sit in one place and let me take my time, otherwise I'd simply use my existing Arca B1 workalike (not the real thing, but pretty good stuff either way) - park it on top of that and leave it.

Lightstream,
My original answer was based on using a 100-400mm + 20d with grip, as you have a 1d, i've just been and tried my 100-400mm + 1dmkIIn(which should be compareable to your set up ) all i can say is it felt weird and un balanced, even when locked at 400mm.

I do not know where your based but would suggest you try to contact some near to you that may let you try a sidekick with your lens and camera, then if it works for you, question answered.

would hate for you to make an expensive mistake

Just a question but how does the sidekick work i think i read somewhere that you need a ball head for it??

Thanks

Brandon

canonshooter4life wrote in post #2367637
Just a question but how does the sidekick work i think i read somewhere that you need a ball head for it??

Thanks

Brandon

you do need a ball head with an arca setup. pretty much all you do is put the ball head in the vertical orientation and than just put the sidekick on it.

Glenn, that is a very good point.. I should find a place where I can actually try it before I commit to buying it. $250 purchased blind over the Internet could be a costly lesson if resale proves difficult

I might try a lighter body to balance it out as well, my 1D is currently the heaviest rig I use but I have a couple of small ones too.

I use the 100-400 and a 20D on a Sidekick and I'm very happy with the arrangement. I use it for zoo photography and for birds. Yeah, it doesn't balance well when the lens is extended, but will balance when the lens is closed up. And it takes just a quick twist to lock the gimbal when I'm not shooting.

Recently, in the process of researching ball head options to replace my Manfrotto 3030 pan/tilt head, I also stumbled upon the Wimberely Sidekick, shown here with a Canon 100-400mm.

The Sidekick balanced with the lens pulled out to 400mm, requires very little tension on the large tilt knob when changing focal length.

I'm very pleased with the flexibility of this setup.

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