Steve, once again you helped me. I never thought of this annoyance before, because I used to just Lock it in place. After seeing your Video multiple times I put my Nikkon Z7 II on my Robus Tripod, with Sigma 150-600 Lens and balanced it out. I extend it all the way and rebalance as necessary, but now the idea is there for me to rebalance as necessary in the future. Such a small change in my habit but boy does it pay off. Thank You Sir. 👋

I watched the video, bought a gimbal and went step by step and it was balanced on the first try.Thanks

Super clear and helpful -- thank you

new to gimbles .. so this is much appreciated. TY

Very informative and helpful.. Keep the tutorials coming Steve!

Cheers Steve! This is my first time using a gimbal head and I had no idea how to set it up. I do now!

Thank you soooo much! It took me all of 2 mins to get my gimbal head balanced!

Excellent vid! Tks for the info re: gimbal heads.

Just got myself a gimbal head and this was so helpful, thanks.

Thank you Steve, I just got a Gimbal Head and was out with it today, the balance was causing me all kinds of problems with the camera moving away from the subject. After following you setup video no more problems. Subbed and liked

Great info Steve, can't wait for the Exposure System book!

Just got a gimbal head, your video is just what I needed. Thanks!

Great tips Steve, thanks mate!

Awesome video Steve as usual!!

Awesome Steve as usual. RIght to the point without useless info. Now I just need to buy a gimbal head still!

I got my first gimbal head two days before you published this video and now, as if by magic, you're here teaching me how to use it. Love it! Thank you so much for all your great work.

Thank You. Very helpful.

Thanks again Steve for another thorough but concise tip.

Great vid, thanks!

Steve, your work is so inspirational and I've learned so much from your videos and eBooks. They've helped to vastly improve my bird photography. Thank you so much.

Excellent informative video as always Steve. Turns out I had my gimbal set up correctly already 8^).

Awesome as usual.. I can see lots of analysis and experimentation went into it... Great Job Steve.. Waiting for you Exposure system book..

Thanks a lot! Very helpful

Amazing Video Steve> I have had my head (Gimbal I mean), for a short time and was just the other day trying to get it right. That vertical adjustment of yours did just the trick. Thanks again.

Such a great video Steve! Well done!

very nice video. thanks

got my Gimbal and used this video to set up, great info and to the point.

That's great Steve, thanks for showing us how. I had no idea that a gimbal needed to be balanced. I assumed we had to put up with searching for the subject all the time like I've seen other guys doing. Enjoying your channel and tips now, from the UK.

This was so good. I love your clear instructions and demonstration! Thanks!

Hi I saw this video and I had to try out your suggestion. Well Steve I can’t thank you enough, it really works. I have used all my large primes with this simple method and it really does work. Thank you for sharing. TonyH

Thanks for a very useful video - I never realised what the vertical adjustment was for!

Just got a gimbal head this spring and have been trying to get balance it on my own with no success. this is some great information! Thanks a million!

Yay! Balanced my gimbal today! Thanks for the video, it clinched it for me!

Very nice & helpful video. Will you please share a video about how to properly use monopods with telephoto lens ? I use Nikon 200-500 with D7200 battery grip attached

Thanks a million Steve. I didn't have a clue about balancing - 45 years of photography but no experience with long lenses, etc. I recently began nature photography. Much heavier lenses, etc. Got a lot to learn. Just subscribed. Keep it up! ;-)

Steve your the top man good to understand with handy hints, In this lockdown in the UK I have just build my own gimbal and now the base. It will be used with a spotting scope, balanced it up and then realised i had to do this without lens covers, live and then.

I just got a gimbal Head and you‘re Video helped a lot

Thanks for your books and great videos

My new gimbal is arriving tomorrow, this is a real help thx. I’m upgrading from a ball head and found that shooting an air show with a ball head (video) at the weekend was real tricky even with the R5 in camera stabilisation + plus the lens stabilisation too. I usually shoot birds so I’m looking forward to the upgrade. Should also help later in the year when I’m going back to the Mach Loop in Wales to video the jet fighters.

You must have known I ordered a gimbal head and just received it by UPS this evening... Perfect timing for the video and as usual very clear and useful info. Promediagear has some fun stuff.. got their gkjr gimbal and 344L tripod today.. Soo happy

I learned something new today

That was a pretty good idea, I was able to balance my gimbal head like pro . Thanks

Many thanks for this quite useful video, Steve !!! I am just received my Gimbal Head for this new phase with Telephoto Lens and, your guidelines will help me a lot to get the best of it 🤙🏻 Better adjusment, better takes 👍🏻 See ya, blue skies 🍀📸 take care

You the man Steve

Steve 'simply the best' Perry.

I do like the idea of the RRS PH-CC Clamp for my Wimberley Head WH-200

Thanks. Very useful. Now I know, how to use the vertical adjustment.😅

recently bought a used Feisol with the Feisol Gimbal, now i know what i did wrong :) thought i had to tighten the friction more to keep the positions fixed

I received a Gimbal head for Christmas. I read through the instructions but was still having some balance issues. Your tutorial was just what I needed. The tip on the battery grip was perfect. Now I can’t wait to get outside and give it a try. Thank you!!

Hi Steve just belatedly found this video.Thanks - I thought that I'd found the answer to my problem but, alas, no. I'm using a lightweight mirrorless camera with a Sony 200-600mm lens and it is impossible to balance it unless I add extra weight on the camera, which I don't want to do. It means I've had to try and perfect a technique of tightening the tilt control knob just enough to hold position while at the same time meaning I only need to make a small movement of it to release the grip enough for me to move the lens again. Not ideal but all I can do.

Awesome

Thank you! My gimbal head has always bugged the living daylights out of me and now I know why!

At last.. Someone shows what the whole point on a gimbal mount is and how to set one up properly 👍

I do follow your video and take decisions based on your Video. Thanks a ton! I like to buy a tripod & gimbal head soon. which gimbal head & tripod did you use here?

Hey steve as always great videos. my problem is that i often use a tall wimberley flash bracket up top with a magmod fresnel lens - and in doing so i cant drop the body low enough on the up down adjustment to get perfect balance. It is close on both my wimberley gimbal and my carbon fiber Zenelli. I use the latter lighter one on my 3 series gitzo when moving around and the wimberley on my 5 series gitzo when stationary or windy. I am not sure if there is a solution . the setup basically becomes top heavy. once i remove the flash and bracket i can move the body upwards and easily get perfect balance. any thoughts? i guess i could use a shorter flash bracket or lighter flash or the lighter but flimsy better beamer. I use the flash mostly with birds to get a better eye catch light and to provide better feather detail. I guess it isn't that necessary. And also i am already adding bottom wt with both the D5 or D850 (w grip) by using L brackets . thanks, Ian Sempowski , Kingston, Ontario

My Manfrotto 393 cannot be fine tuned up & down - there are just three positions. It was in it's lowest position when I got it, and I haven't bothered to change it as it seems to work fine. When balanced correctly front/back, there seems to be enough resistance to eliminate any problems with my relatively light set-up: APS-C body and Sigma 150-600 contemporary. However I do find it advisable to re-balance it every time I zoom the lens - when possible, that is.

when will you have dates for spring costa rica trips?

Thanks!

Thanks Steve. I must be the only one on here not getting it. I followed all your instructions and have tried every milemeterage on the up and down slide and nothing balances it. What should I do?

Thanks for the video @steve. How do you use this setup for vertical/portrait shots?

Thanks Steve. I have a series 5 Gitzo systematic tripod,a nikon D4S and the Nikkor 400 mm f2.8 AF-I sitting on a wimberly WH-200 gimbal. Using you technique I now can just hang out and wait for the action without messing with the gear. I really appreciate your thinking. i also bought your secrets to wildlife photography e-book. I have been a lifelong hunter transitioned to a photographer in the mid to northern rockies and have to say I learned a lot of new things from your e-book. One question -- have you found the nikon lens foot to be a stability problem? Is it something you felt had to be replaced?

Hello Steve, I have the problem that the tripod collar of my Nikkor 200-500 often gets loose when mounted on the quick release plate of my gimbal, since there is only one thread for a screw in the foot of the lens collar. I see that you shortly show the 200-500 as an example for zoom lenses in your video, how did you solve that problem? Thank you!

Genius.

Does the heavy Z9 in combination with lightweight e.g. 400 4.5S lenses mean the end of using a gimbal, because balance is too close to the Z9?

Hi Steve, gimbals can be mounted with the arch on the left or right side. I see yours is in the right side. Any comments about this preference?

My wimberly doesn't have a lever like that to slide the camera. Which model is that?

Steve, Can your recommend a few gimbal heads. I am using the Sigma 150-600 lens. I see the price range varies a lot. Mike

I have a GH5 and my biggest lens is a 100-300 it does not have a ring/adapter for the lens I would have to mount the camera directly to the gimbal head. Will I still be able to balance the camera on the head ?

I don't even know if it is possible to fine tune a 600mm AF-s F4 none VR version on a Wimberly with the original foot on the lens. I've tried, but it always comes down to having to have tension on the swivel.

Hi Steve. I am wondering if you have a tip how to balance a Lens / Camera combo if the camera body is still too heavy for the lens. I use a z9 + 400mm f/4.5 + 1.4 TC combination and the camera body is too heavy, so I don't get it balanced 😐

Hi Steve...I'm a little bit OT but probably leaving a comment here you will notice... I have an important question.. The shutter of my D5 has 170000 shots in his back.. I never noticed problems, but when I will have to replace it (or to send my camera to the nikon service for some checks)? I've bought the camera in Jan 2018. Thanks :)

Top Notch

"Perfectly balanced, as all things should be"

now i know how to setup my gimbal head

interesting.

Is that a Wimberley head with a RRS bottom arm?

Is there a reason the open side of Gimbal is to your left. Most other videos show the open side to right.Thanks

What brand gimbal is that?

I'm feeling really stupid right now because I do not understand why lowering or raising it in the vertical position helps to balance it...somebody help me!!!

what gimbel do you use?

What gimbal is it?

Hey Steve Perry'' Just wanted to let you know you are the #1 on my you-tube list for Nikon info' I got my D500 on fathers day and thanks to you so far I am set up and good to go. If your wondering who is #2? Its Theoria Apophasis aka Tattoo monkey ) he knows his stuff '' just got to get through the ranting ....lol If ? your wondering who is #3 ? Its Mark Smith from Florida my home State' he is pretty good too he's like the Mark Twain of nature photography fun to watch and story like videos ''How cool is that" You three guys should create a 24/7 Nikon help me Hot line that 'll work.. Ill keep watching

Never ever take your hands away from the camera as long as it is pointing at a bird. When you grab the camera, the bird will leave without fail. Especially if it mattters.

Pity I can't afford a quality tripod and head :(