due to wrist injury, i am unable to hold up a camera much bigger than the SL1 for more than a few minutes, not long enough to track birds in flight. i'm wondering what kind of tripod head is recommended for this kind of shooting. at the moment i have no long or really heavy lenses due to wrist, so my longest lens is the 55-250STM, but with the right tripod, maybe i could go longer and heavier. i'm unfortunately on a budget but would consider going used. a gimbal head or pistol grip head seem like they could have advantages, but i'm not using a tripod mount on my lenses at this time. i used to use a pan head, but am only now realizing how crappy it was. suggestions?
A monopod and one of these heads would work a treat for your kit. The head moves up and down and you simply rotate your monopod to track the birds left and right.
I don't think that is sufficient for any lenses bigger than the 55-250 she already owns. If you are thinking of a tripod and head combo that will pretty much just be used for a long telephoto lens I would suggest a sturdy tripod of choice and the gimbal as it is ideal for supporting really long lenses. The second choice would be a good solid ball head, Benro g2/g3 heads are good and support 40lbs (if you want to go with that brand); the DJ80 mentioned above only supports 5 lbs and you will easily exceed that weight. General rule is to get support for 2 times what you actually have in equipment. Either way good long lenses are not cheap and neither is a proper tripod and head solution.
That I totally agree on, I was just trying to give them an option for their current kit. I used to use this head with my old 60D and the 55-250 without any problems at all.
samy's was very useful, although they have less brands than they used to. i tried pretty much all the tripods including ones outside my budget. as we were leaving, i came across the Slik PRO 500HD kit that includes AMT legs and a SH-736HD head. the head was really smooth beyond anything in its price range that they had, and beyond anything i've owned. i was surprised it wasn't a true fluid head. the legs had much faster and more sure clips than my previous cheaper slik and other tripods. it falls inside my limited budget, and i quite liked it. heavy enough to be steady, yet not insanely heavy, although it's almost as heavy as my husband's 1970s tiltall, but due to how you can hold it, it feels lighter. i also checked out some monopods - i tried 'em all, and i really like the benro A48FD, which includes little feet. i played with it, and it's fairly stable (it stood up without my assistance, although i would never leave my camera alone on it. and the stick can pan and tilt as the feet are on a ball joint that i found quite easy to move and flex in ways i usually use my camera, and it would allow me to actually grasp the camera and keep my eye on the viewfinder, which would make shooting a lot more intuitive. i would like to be sure that the feet can be removed if i want to use it as a regular tripod. all the others in its style do have removable feet.
loved the Slik PRO 500HD kit that includes AMT legs and a SH-736HD head, so my husband bought it for me for my birthday. 2 1/2 more weeks to go. and i'm going to also try a monopod with feet.
