Traditional ball heads are versatile and a geared head is great for precision work. But when it comes to supporting big full-frame telephoto lenses for wildlife or sports photography, you need a big head, or rather your tripod does.
Simply using a larger ball head isn’t ideal, as having the weight of a hefty 400mm+ telephoto lens and a full-frame DSLR perched on top will be a precarious balancing act.
What makes a gimbal head so special is it lets you lower your camera’s centre of gravity so it effectively hangs alongside the head, rather than sitting on top.
You’ll need to spend a few moments aligning your lens so it balances on the head’s mounting plate, and if you go for a gimbal with vertical adjustment, be sure to set this so the centreline of the lens is parallel with the gimbal’s tilt axis.
Once you’ve nailed the perfect point, your camera will effectively become weightless and able to hold any position, even if you loosen the head’s clamps and let go.
We’ve selected six gimbal heads which all use the same basic design principle, but as you’ll see, it’s the details that separate the best from the rest.
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Best gimbal heads: 01 Benro GH3
Price: £339/$425 – www.benroeu.com
Gimbal heads don’t tend to stray from a fairly standard recipe, but the GH3 stands out by being fully collapsible, with the main gimbal arm split into two pieces for more compact storage. It’s a neat trick – and rigidity isn’t compromised, as the GH3 will stay strong under a mighty 25kg of kit. Compactness doesn’t equal lightness, though: at 1.8kg, this is one of the heavier options here.
The GH3 incorporates an Arca-Swiss quick-release mounting plate, and there’s plenty of vertical adjustment. Large, grippy locking knobs are easy to use and lock solidly, while also undoing without introducing any play into the pan or tilt joints. The result? A clever, highly adjustable gimbal at a reasonable price.
Score: 4/5
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Best gimbal heads: 02 LensMaster Gimbal RH2
Price: £148/$230 – www.lensmaster.co.uk
Offering the RH2 at less than half the price of any of our other gimbal options, LensMaster appears to be on to a winner. You still get solid aircraft-grade aluminium construction with a choice of two, hard-wearing powder coated finishes, and payload capacity is 45kg.
However, there are some cost-cutting compromises. Most obvious is the lack of vertical adjustment, which means you can’t quite get the perfect weightless balance that other heads provide.
The pan-and-tilt locking clamps are slightly flawed: the latter doesn’t lock especially tightly, and the design of both clamps means undoing them also separates the joints between components. Still, it’s a decent budget option for occasional use.
Score: 3/5
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Best gimbal heads: 03 Nest NT-530H MK II
Price: £300 – www.nest-style.com
Carbon fibre is the material of choice for the NT-530H Mk II, with a 10-layer carbon construction giving a load-carrying capacity of 25kg.
At 1.16kg, it’s not substantially lighter than similarly sized aluminium options, but this is still one of the lightest gimbals around. There’s good vertical adjustment and a long Arca-Swiss lens plate is included for balancing adjustment.
While the tilting rotation is smooth and precise, some bearing slack is apparent when loosening the panning clamp.
The clamps themselves are wrapped in leather-like material that isn’t grippy enough for easy adjustment in the wet or cold. It’s a capable mid-range head, but its drawbacks could get frustrating.
Score: 3/5
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Best gimbal heads: 04 ProMediaGear Katana
Price: £563/$750 – www.promediagear.com
The Katana looks more like a weapon than a camera support, thanks to its macho design and 33cm height. A load capacity of 23kg isn’t especially impressive, but superb build and material quality give the impression it could hold much more. However, at 2.2kg, it’s heavy.
The top-notch build quality extends to the tilt-and-pan motion, which is perfectly smooth and has no bearing slack when the locking knobs are undone. When tightened, these will hold your SLR completely steady, plus they can be repositioned for easier access.
There’s plenty of vertical adjustment to perfectly balance even the largest lens. It’s pricey, but worth the money if you need to support especially bulky kit.
Score: 4/5
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Best gimbal heads: 05 Sirui PH-20
Price: £400/$519 – www.sirui.eu
We’ve been impressed with the quality of Sirui tripods, so this gimbal head has a lot to live up to. A carbon fibre arm gets things off to a good start, helping the PH-20 weigh in at just 1.1kg. Although its 20kg maximum payload doesn’t set any records, it’s still enough to support your SLR and a hefty lens with ease.
But it’s the PH-20’s details that impress most. Its tilt-and-pan bearings are silky-smooth, with absolutely no slack – even when fully loosened – and they’ll also lock securely.
The only drawback is the relatively restricted vertical adjustment, which means that when you mount a lens with a tall foot, its centre of gravity can be slightly too high.
Score: 4/5
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Best gimbal heads: 06 Wimberley Head WH-200 Version II
Price: £520/$595 – www.tripodhead.com
Wimberley has a strong reputation in the gimbal head world; the WH-200 certainly upholds it. There’s plenty of vertical adjustment, yet the head is still fairly compact at 23.5cm tall and tips the scales at a reasonable 1.4kg.
Panning and tilt rotation are smooth and can be locked completely steady by ergonomic knobs when needed. These also control the friction resistance in each joint, which is progressively adjustable.
The head uses the standard Arca-Swiss lens mount, and Wimberley offers replacement low-profile feet to help balance lenses with taller feet. This is definitely the best all-rounder here.
Score: 5/5
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5 things to consider before you buy a gimbal head
Vertical adjustment
A gimbal without vertical adjustment will do the job, but you’ll need it in order to get complete weightlessness, and the more vertical travel, the better.
Precision engineering
Loosening the clamps locking the pan base and tilt arm on cheaper gimbals can introduce slack and wobble in the joints. Better designs will have tighter tolerances.
Ergonomics
Wildlife photography isn’t just a fair-weather activity, so be sure your gimbal of choice has large controls that are easy to grip in the wet or cold, and whilst wearing gloves.
Mounting methods
All the heads we’ve featured use the widely-compatible Arca-Swiss mounting plate standard. Go for a gimbal with a long plate and you’ll also get better adjustment.
Leg it
There’s no point in buying a great gimbal if you’ll be mounting it on a travel tripod. Stout, rigid legs are a must, even if the combined weight will be a pain on the go.
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