My Wildlife - Setup

Hi There

I have had a couple of requests on the setup that i use for my wildlife shots, so i thought i would post a photo showing the typical setup that i used for the Kestrel shot at the Hawk Conservancy last weekend.

If i am just using the 500mm lens and am after birds in flight i would generally be handholding it.
I find i can do that for 30-45 seconds at a time before i need to lower it down. However with the Kestrels i needed a bit more reach by adding the 1.4 TC and was sat in a hide at the side of the meadow, so i decided to use a monopod to take most of the weight and provide a bit of extra stability.

I have 2 Monopods a 20 year old Gitzo and a newer Manfrotto 682. Either would handle the load but i opted for the Gitzo on that particular day.

Because I have a Wimberley P40 lens plate on the 500mm I need something with an Arca style quick release head to mount the lens to . Now i could have unmounted the lens plate, but that takes a hex type wrench and is a hassle to do each time, so i opted for putting the Kirk BH1 ballhead onto the monopod and fixed the lens to that.

I adjusted the height of the monopod to get a comfortable shooting height out of the hide observation flaps when i was sat on the wooden benches and i was ready to go.

Panning was pretty straightforward with this setup, and i found i could help with stability by resting my left hand on the end of the lens hood, this also helped if i needed to point the lens up and down as well.

Overall it worked well and is a good compromise from the full Wimberley Sidekick head in the confines of the hide. I will post details of the tripod and Wimberley setup if anyone is interested.

Any questions please ask away, and if this is in the wrong forum section can someone please move it and let me know

John

I have "lens envy."

Rachel Foster said:

I have "lens envy."

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Rachel

I have the antidote to that...... Its called the "credit card bill"

John

John thanks for posting your setup, it is fab to get to see how other guys operate. I was planning on putting a BS head on my monopod & have found many arguments against it. However, I am not convinced & will most likely go down that track.
How do you find it to operate...

John,

Do you have a close up picture of the lens fitting the the ballhead?

Since one can rotate the monopod, why isn't swinging up and down in one axis sufficent?

Asher

Asher Kelman said:

John,

Do you have a close up picture of the lens fitting the the ballhead?

Since one can rotate the monopod, why isn't swinging up and down in one axis sufficent?

Asher

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Hi Asher

I put the ballhead on the monopod only so that i can then connect the lens without having to remove the Wimberley P40 lens plate that is attached to the foot of the lens. The ball head itself is locked off solid i just need it for the quick release plate on the top.

Should i want to use it as a more conventional ball head and slacken off the locks, that could be done but it would need careful adjustment not to go too loose and let the lens and camera flop over.

John

It would be nice to have say 20 degrees degrees of possible tilt up and down so that one is not going to crush one's fingers and does not have to lean the monopod too much.

Asher

I'll use a similar setup at times (when I'm not using the tripod, that is), and will put the Wimberley sidekick on the ballhead. Gives me excellent stability and maneuverability, along with tilt. It really doesn't add much bulk to the setup, and I'm curious why you don't use it here.

You refer to the "full Wimberley sidekick head" so I'm not sure if you mean the full head, which might be bulky and overkill in this setting, or the sidekick, which is pretty small and light.

Don Cohen said:

I'll use a similar setup at times (when I'm not using the tripod, that is), and will put the Wimberley sidekick on the ballhead. Gives me excellent stability and maneuverability, along with tilt. It really doesn't add much bulk to the setup, and I'm curious why you don't use it here.

You refer to the "full Wimberley sidekick head" so I'm not sure if you mean the full head, which might be bulky and overkill in this setting, or the sidekick, which is pretty small and light.

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Hi Don

Strange as it sounds i hadn't even thought about using the Sidekick on the monopod. But thinking about it it does make a lot of sense. The shots i was taking of the kestrel didn't require that i needed to tilt the lens up very much as he stayed close to the ground so having the ball head locked off was not a problem. But with the Sidekick i think it would give a lot more flexibility.

Thank you for the advice and i will try it on my next shoot

John

Hi guys using the airport wifi (going to Cannes and Mon aco for some shots…)

I use

on my monopod witht he same 500 as John.
I have top balance boat movement so I don't tight the head, just slow down it using the brake, and it just do it!

It needs some practice, but its fabulous!

Well they call…

I use an Acratech v2 on my Monopod, have done for a year or so, The weight loss and flexibility is great, while the ability to add resistance and lock it off is huge advantage.

I'm tempted to get the new Acratech, as they have revised the ball stem to enable it to be used as gimbal. I tried one last week and it's a great design.