Comments on: BWG-Pro Gimbal Head Video Review

By: Paul Burwell

Paul Burwell — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 19:14:40 +0000

Rickie,

Thanks for the compliment.

The Wimberley head works exactly the same way as the Jobu. You need to tighten it down to prevent the lens/camera from returning to center.

By: Rickie

Rickie — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 18:14:00 +0000

Hi Paul,

Enjoy you video. Thanks for showing that. I have recently acquired a copy of 500mm and a “JOBU BWG HD2″ Gimbal head and I love it. My question will be is the Jobu design work exactly like Winberly? I have never use a Wimberly before.
Someone told me if you leave the camera and lens on a tilt position it will not move but stay on that position on a Wimberly. I can only do that with tightening the tilting knob on the Jobu to the extend that the gimbal will give me the movement and still maintain the stiffness and maintain the lens position when my hands are off the camera totally. Does it work the same way on Wimberly and had to tighten tilting knob a bit?

By: Al

Al — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 04:02:56 +0000

I purchased the BWG Pro when I got my 500 f4 back in December ‘09 and will echo the reviewer here that it’s one fine piece. I use mine with the 7″ JoBu lens plate for extra capacity to balance the lens since I often mount the flash, flash bracket and Better Beamer. I only wish they had the black version when I got mine. I physically compared it to the new Wimberly (fellow photographer uses the Wimberly) and it’s definitely beefier and just as fluid…so fluid that I have to tighten down on the knob to slow it down, and as one person said, maybe overkill (build wise…never). I particularly like the locking mechanism. I also have the JoBu Jr. for my 400 5.6 and smaller lens, which also works great.

Btw, I have and use the JoBu flash bracket. It fits perfectly in the Arca Swiss plate and cost only about $115.

By: Paul Burwell

Paul Burwell — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 00:24:29 +0000

John,

Glad you enjoyed the review.

I currently own the Wimberley flash bracket, but if I were buying one today, I’d probably buy the Jobu Design full flash bracket because it is a bit lighter and cheaper and would work just great for my applications.

By: John Feikema

John Feikema — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 00:07:54 +0000

Paul,

Excellent review. I just purchased the BWG HDII. I love it. I am now in the market for a flash bracket. I have looked at the Kirk, The WImberley and the Jobu. Have you looked that these and (if so) which do you prefer?

If you use the Jobu, can in mount on the bottom of the arca plate?

By: Srinivasen

Srinivasen — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 03:47:40 +0000

Excellent review about this BWG Pro Gimbal Head. Very informative for the people intent to buy gimball heads.

Srini

By: Paul Burwell

Paul Burwell — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 15:09:06 +0000

Andy,

It could work for video but the head isn’t a fluid head.

By: Andy Darby

Andy Darby — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 13:48:09 +0000

Hi there. Would this work for video? I am looking for this in order to quickly secure a level platform for panning with video. The head then needs to be a fluid head for smootheness of the pan. So once the video camera is mounted and the gimble aquires the fix level platform – I lock down and then pan using the fluid head. The alternative is time consuming adjustment and re-adjustment of legs to aquire a level platform..

By: Stephen Cumming

Stephen Cumming — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 02:54:29 +0000

I own a BWG-Pro and am very pleased with it’s qyuality, design, value and country of origin.

One word of caution: first time out I wrapped my left hand around the vertical post , then (stupidly) panned the camera down, badly pinching my fingers. Now I keep the post on my right side. Your video shows the proper technique: left hand on top of lens, right hand on the shutter.

Only improvement I’d make is to have a bigger release on the swing lock: it’s too hard to grab in the cold with gloves on. (Welcome to the North.)

By: Paul Burwell

Paul Burwell — Sat, 16 May 2009 03:07:42 +0000

Jerry,

Thanks for the questions. Do you mind if I post them and my responses to the blog? Others most likely have the same questions.

a) In my opinion, the BWG-Pro is better built then the Wimberley Head II.
b) I find the BWG-Pro a bit easier to work with in terms of adjust the vertical and horizontal panning tension.
c) Mounting a camera body directly on a gimbal head is tricky because the lens plate on the body as the body facing away from the vertical arm. So, you need to get the tripod level to take a level image and you can’t easily adjust the vertical angle of the shot. This is true regardless of the gimbal head. Naturescapes.net sells an adapter from Visual Echoes for $125.00 that makes it easier to mount a body to a gimbal head.

I hope that answers your questions. Let me know if there is anything else I can clarify for you.