Equipment - Wimberley Sidekick - Arnoud Quanjer Wildlifephotography

Equipment - Wimberley Sidekick

Saturday, 13 March 2010 10:27 |

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Full gimbal head (Wimberley) One of the most important pieces of equipment when using long lenses for wildllfe photography is a stable platform on which you can place your camera. This platform should enable you to pan smoothly and effortlessly. To get this stable platform you'll need a sturdy tripod or window mount and a heavy ballhead. To get the stable platform you could also use a beanbag, but this will not enable you to pan smoothly (or at all). l've found that wildlife photography in Africa is done 99% of the time from a vehicle so I own an array of window, and other, mounts which I can use from a vehicle. Check the Camera Supports article for more information on these mounts. The window mount gives you the stable platform, but nothing else. To get a system that gives you smooth panning you'll need to get a gimbal type ballhead. Gimbal heads allow you to rotate your lens around its center of gravity and thus easily manipulate very large lenses.

Gimbal heads come in two options. The first options is the so called "Full gimball head" and the second options is a heavy ballhead with a Wimberley Sidekick. The full gimal head is a dedicated solution for long lenses (300mm and more). This is probably the best soluton if you're primarily shooting with long lenses, but if you also shoot short lenses and also want to use these lenses on a tripod then there is a more economical solution to a full gimbal head.

If you don't care about price or portability then a dedicated full gimbal head is the way to go. These full gimbal heads are superior to a ball head and Sidekick combination. They are heavy though and you can only use long lenses on them. I decided on a Sidekick as I already own an Arca Swiss B1 ball head and I also want to use short lenses on a tripod (for instance for startrail photography). This means that I have to bring a ball head with me to Africa and that means that using a Sidekick instead of full gimbal is more weight efficient (always something to take into account when you have to fly to Africa).

Wimberley Sidekick

For lenses up to the size of a 500mm f4 you can use a Wimnberley Sidekick in combination with a sturdy ballhead. You probably already own a ballhead so all you have to buy is a Wimberley Sidekick. This combination an economical way to turn a heavy duty ball head into a gimbal action mount. Smaller lenses can also be used on the Sidekick as well provided there is a rotating collar on the lens. Like the full size Wimberley Head, the Sidekick works by creating a balance system that allows the lens to move about its own center of gravity.

The Sidekick can be used in any sturdy duty ball head that uses the Arca Swiss style mount and a panning base. Ball heads on which the Sidekick works perfectly are theKirk BH-1 and the Arca Swiss B1. To connect the Sidekick to the ball head you have to rotate the mount on the ball head to the vertical position and lock the main ball knob completely down. The Sidekick then inserts into the ball head mount, which should then also be completely tightened down. The Sidekick is now ready for action. You can attach your lenses, which should have Arca Swiss style plates, to the Sidekick. As you can see in the picture on the right the lenses connect to the side of the Sidekick. This means that you can only use lenses with rotating tripod mounts on the Sidekick.

Each time you connect a lens to the Wimberley you need to find the optimum balance for the lens/camera combination. To achieve optimum balance you can slide the lens forward or back until the lens stays level on its own with the tilt knob on the Sidekick loose. If you for instance add a converter to the combination you need to find the point for the optimum balance again as the balance will have shifted forward. I've been using the Sidekick for five years now and finding the optimum balance point has become second nature. When I now connect a camera and lense combination to the Sidekick I'm usually only millimetres away from the optimum balance point. To be able to position on the optimum balance point you need to make sure that you use the correct lens plate. Each lense requires it's own length of lens plate. Wimberley makes mounting plates for each lens that will work with the Sidekick. Check the Wimberley website to check which lens plate is required for your lense.

Using a Sidekick in the field

Using the Sidekick in the field is an absolute joy. Slightly loosen the panning knob on the ball head and the tilt knob on the Sidekick and you are ready. Following birds in flight or panning to follow a cheetah chasing a Springbok is effortless. You can litteraly move your lens/camera combination using just one finger. I usually loosen the panning knob on the ball head all the way to give me the smoothest panning action. How smooth the panning action is, is up to the quality of you ball head. On my Arca Swiss B1 the panning action is unbelievably smooth. The tilt knob on the Sidekick I set up to give me a little resistance as this seems to improve my accuracy.

I've used the Sidekick with 70-200 f/2.8 IS L, a 300 f/2.8 IS L and a 500 f/4 IS L lenses and with all these lenses the Sidekick excels. Panning is smooth and even the combination with the 500 f/4 is rock steady and very easy to handle. I even think I prefer the combination of the 500 f/4 with the Sidekick over the 300 f/2.8 on the Sidekick. When I purchased the 500 f/4 I was a bit worried how the 500 f/4 would handle on the Sidekick. I thought the 500 f/4 might be too heavy for the Sidekick, but I was wrong. I'm extremely happy how well the combination of 1D Mark III and 500 f/4 handles on the Sidekick. I won't be buying a full gimbal head any time soon.

Pro's and con's of the Sidekick

The obvious advantage of using a Sidekick instead of a full gimbal is the price. A Sidekick is much cheaper than a full gimbal. The downside is that a Sidekick can only be used for lenses up to a 500 f/4. Longer lenses will require a full gimbal. The reason for this is weight. A Sidekick can be used comfortablty for combinations of up to around 5 kg.

Another disadvantage of the Sidekick which is reported by some users is the number of knobs that are involved. You have to lock down both the main knob on the ball head, the ball head knob which locks the Sidekick to the ball head mount and the knob on the Sidekick which locks the lens plate to the Sidekick mount. Other knobs involved when using the Sidekick are the tilt knob on the Sidekick, the panning knob on the ball head and the tripod ring knob on your lens tripod collar. That's a lot of knobs that need to properly fastened and which can accidentaly be unfastened. I personally haven't ever had any problems with this, but I have read stories on the Internet from people who have accidentally dropped their lense/camera because they unfastened the wrong knob.

Photo gallery

This photo gallery shows a 1D Mark III and 500 f/4 IS in combination with a Wimberley Sidekick, Arca Swiss B1 ball head and a CamStedi window mount. The 500 f/4 is equiped with a CP-51 custom lens adapter plate as a replacement for the standard tripod foot. This custom lens adapter plate moves the center of gravity of the lens closer to the lense and therefor closer to the center of the ball head which increases stability.

Arnoud Quanjer Wildlife Photography