New Monopod Head sidekick solution

Gungnir wrote in post #18260410
Started using this setup a while ago and love it.

Sirui P 204 monopod (no particular reason, it was a gift) made it a bit simpler as the base is removable to flip reversible 1/4-3/8 screw.

The reduced diameter without the base lets the right angled clamp fit downwards allowing use of both clamps and negating the need for mounting plate.
......

I like the sound of this! I might see if I can do it this was as well.

Blackey Cole wrote in post #18260791
I went a simpler route. I had a big ebay full gimbal. And put it on my Manfrotto monopod works great smooth balances out great pans perfectly etc....

Very cool. Years ago, Manfrottos huge steel gimbal was being marketed as being for video on a monopod. Most people scratched there heads, but a gimbal on a monopod is a GOOD THING!

Since I *finally* got a sidekick a couple weeks ago, I'm really glad to see this forgotten thread resurrected and updated! More shopping coming... Gotta' try this.

Like Jake, I've had really good experiences with a variety of Arca-Swiss this and that by Desmond, most of it from OEC on Amazon. Likewise good experiences with RRS, Kirk, and Acratech - they're all great, too...

UPDATE;

The new Wimberley Monopod gimbal changes things quite a bit in this regard.

https://www.tripodhead​.com/products/monopodh​ead-main.cfm

I'd consider this before the sidekick at this stage.

I'm actually surprised that Wimberley's MonoGimbal concept hasn't hit the market at least a decade ago with so many bird/wildlife/sports photographers using monopods out in the field. I suppose the reason for that is simply because so many haven't been sold on the idea of a need for a Gimbal head on their monopods as much as on their tripods.

I for one am a huge fan of having a Gimbal head on my monopod, so I've been using the Sirui L-20s (with RRS Lever QR plate) with a great satisfaction. If I had known about the MonoGimbal by Wimberley at the time of shopping around, I'd have gone that route instead of the Sirui's. The main difference between Wimberley's MonoGimbal and Sirui L-20s-as-Gimbal, however, is the free weight balancing with the Wimberley's whereas with the Sirui's your hands cannot entirely be freed without having to tighten the knob first. This minor inconvenience hasn't bothered me a bit and certainly not enough reason for me to replace the Sirui with the MonoGimbal, especially when I'm not a big fan of Wimberley products to begin with.

A few days ago I sent an email to Wimberley with the question as to whether they're planning on coming up with v.2 of MonoGimbal, and the answer that I received today was no. As a big fan of ProMediaGear, I then sent an email to request that they come up with their own version of the same if they aren't currently in the process of making one already. It'd be interesting to hear what they have to say about this or whether some other Gimbal producing companies would follow suit in the near future.

SYS wrote in post #19021015
I'm actually surprised that Wimberley's MonoGimbal concept hasn't hit the market at least a decade ago with so many bird/wildlife/sports photographers using monopods out in the field. I suppose the reason for that is simply because so many haven't been sold on the idea of a need for a Gimbal head on their monopods as much as on their tripods.

I for one am a huge fan of having a Gimbal head on my monopod, so I've been using the Sirui L-20s (with RRS Lever QR plate) with a great satisfaction. If I had known about the MonoGimbal by Wimberley at the time of shopping around, I'd have gone that route instead of the Sirui's. The main difference between Wimberley's MonoGimbal and Sirui L-20s-as-Gimbal, however, is the free weight balancing with the Wimberley's whereas with the Sirui's your hands cannot entirely be freed without having to tighten the knob first. This minor inconvenience hasn't bothered me a bit and certainly not enough reason for me to replace the Sirui with the MonoGimbal, especially when I'm not a big fan of Wimberley products to begin with.

A few days ago I sent an email to Wimberley with the question as to whether they're planning on coming up with v.2 of MonoGimbal, and the answer that I received today was no. As a big fan of ProMediaGear, I then sent an email to request that they come up with their own version of the same if they aren't currently in the process of making one already. It'd be interesting to hear what they have to say about this or whether some other Gimbal producing companies would follow suit in the near future.

Funny you should mention,.

I too have been kicking myself over never dreaming this one up before it was already in existence.

Some time back, my brother in law and I (he runs a machine shop) were in the early prototype stages of of a,. "Tilt Only" dedicated monopod head. we were looking at what was then the only option (that I actually used to use, a Manfrotto cast magnesium job) and comparing to the quality Arca stuff compatible stuff being made by Wimberley, Kirk and RRS (no Chinese stuff available yet at the time) and working to be the first to market a solid tilt head.

I think we were about a year out from possible marketing on a limited scale when the RRS hit the shelves,. and we just packed it up.

A bit ironic that again I've been shooting with the sidekick all these years, and never saw the potential here. At least this time I didn't get half way there and get "scooped" again.

I thought about making a Mono Gimbal in late 2013 I designed one and started selling in 2014 I too wondered why no one had thought about it hence i decided to add it to our range of Gimbals i'ts not our biggest seller but was well worth doing .

Rob.

GyRob wrote in post #19021369
I thought about making a Mono Gimbal in late 2013 I designed one and started selling in 2014 I too wondered why no one had thought about it hence i decided to add it to our range of Gimbals i'ts not our biggest seller but was well worth doing .

Rob.

And your Lensmaster is far more monopod friendly than the Sidekick solution I was using, the only reason I stuck with the Sidekick was I already had one

Well if you ever lose it Jake and want the lens over the center of your mono pod give me a shout

Rob.

GyRob wrote in post #19021598
...the lens over the center of your mono pod....

I've been thinking about this since a week or two ago when I first laid my eyes on Wimberley's MonoGimbal. The only reason that I can think of as to why Wimberley's is designed off-centered in spite of it therefore being a bit off-balanced, is for allowing unhindered vertical movements of the camera/lens. A centered MonoGimbal, on the other hand, provides a better balance but vertical movements are hindered. Either way, I'm not sure if it makes any significant difference.

SYS wrote in post #19021923
I've been thinking about this since a week or two ago when I first laid my eyes on Wimberley's MonoGimbal. The only reason that I can think of as to why Wimberley's is designed off-centered in spite of it therefore being a bit off-balanced, is for allowing unhindered vertical movements of the camera/lens. A centered MonoGimbal, on the other hand, provides a better balance but vertical movements are hindered. Either way, I'm not sure if it makes any significant difference.

Being offset makes more of a difference with larger lenses as you feel like your fighting the weight as the mono pod is at an angle .
I know this because when I first made my mono head prototype and trying to keep it as small as possible the bend was tighter this put the lens to the right of center and to me it did not feel right so I changed the bend .

On some of my gimbals if you really want unhindered vertical movements i.e 360 degrees you just revers the clamp simple to do 20 second job .

Just a bit of info on my findings .

Rob.

Do you think it would be possible to flip the right angled bracket over so to mount the side click lower down on the side of the monopod? Daft question but I would like to keep the overall height of this setup as short as possible as I shoot from a wheelchair ♿️

Thanks

NickR wrote in post #19319132
Do you think it would be possible to flip the double sided bracket over so to mount the side click lower down on the side of the monopod? Daft question but I would like to keep the overall height of this setup as short as possible as I shoot from a wheelchair ♿️

Thanks

(if I understand you correctly?) Yes, it works both ways, no problem. The difference is minimal, but yes.
Or do you mean have the right angle going down instead of up? In that case, no, I'm afraid not with these parts, the dovetail would be on th wrong side. I do believe there are other parts out there that might help do that though.

I feel it is important to mention again a new product available since this was posted. (I linked to it on the front page of this thread a year ago)

Wimberly has fairly recently released a new Monopod dedicated gimbal of extraordinarily low profile. It's really quite a nice solution that has pretty much relegated my own option to history;

CyberDyneSystems wrote in post #19319148
I feel it is important to mention again a new product available since this was posted. (I linked to it on the front page of this thread a year ago)

Wimberly has fairly recently released a new Monopod dedicated gimbal of extraordinarily low profile. It's really quite a nice solution that has pretty much relegated my own option to history;

https://www.tripodhead​.com/products/monopodh​ead-main.cfm

I was looking at that and the LensMaster version, they look great and light. I found a cheap sidekick which imo might be better for me as well be better centred . I’ve got a ball head but using that it might make the setup too tall.

I guess you’re saying the right angled arca dove tail is not cut all the way through the piece like a normal arca receiver. ?

Thanks

Scrub my last message, I would just screw right angle thing straight onto the mono pod and not use the Arca plate.

I should have read the all the comments, I see Rob as contributed