Bob Rigby Photographic have been the sole UK Distributors of Wimberley products for 10 years.

The Version II Gimbal Head is the professional photographers 1st choice for quality & durability.

We stock all Wimberley Heads, Plates, Replacement Feet, Clamps and 'The Plamp'.

Check out the Version II Head review by Andy Astbury

A review by Andy Astbury

I must admit to being totally sold on this revised version of the Wimberley ever since I first clapped eyes on it, and here we are
12 months on and my feelings about it have not changed one iota.

In the time that I have been using it ( and I did buy it ! ) it has become like an extension of my hands, so simple is it to use, and with the small twist of two knobs the entire rig is held securely for slinging over your shoulder and moving on to the next shot.

I always felt wary of the Sidekick style head because of the side-mounting method of lens attachment it uses – a lens like the Sigma 300-800mm weighs in at just shy of 6 kilograms which is an awful amount of leverage on the lens foot and the mounting plate – simple common sense physics tell you it’s a risky design and the head actually strains to keep hold of the lens.

The original Wimberley V1 corrected this design flaw by supporting the lens from underneath, thereby creating a head that actually utilizes the lenses own weight, but the new V2 version head takes things to a whole new level.

Compact, super strong and light weight, the V2 head holds a 14lb lens securely and with such poise and balance that the lens feels totally weightless.

Both main tension adjusters can now by operated with one hand as they are on the same side of the head, the adjuster knobs themselves are lobed and covered with a soft-touch rubber making them very easy to operate in all weathers and with thick gloves on.

All the bearing surfaces are precision engineered with no discernable backlash or play.

And after well over a year of being thrown into the back of my vehicle to take its chances in what looks like a veritable scrap-yard; after being scoured with wind-blown dune sand, half-drowned with water, the finish and function of the Wimberley V2 has yet to differ from what it was ‘out of the box’.

Panning and tilting in order to follow larger birds in flight with 5,6 and 800mm telephoto lenses suddenly becomes much less of a ‘black art’ and more of a joy as the precision bearing surfaces make any and all movements silky smooth.

A lot of photographers state that there is no tension setting on either the pan or tilt action – WRONG!

To set the tension first lock the head then unlock, then just using light finger pressure turn the knobs back towards the lock position a bit at a time – you’ll soon find a tension that feels comfortable for the pan and tilt actions using this method.

To get the very best balance, firstly ensure that your tripod is set level, then lock the head in both directions and slide the lens mounting plate into the mount clamp and keeping the vertical part of the lens foot roughly on the centreline of the head, tighten the clamp screw.

Now holding the lens slacken the main tilt clamp – if you feel the lens is going to tip then you need to move the lens plate back or forward in the clamp to achieve a perfect horizontal balance.

Now comes the bit not everyone knows!

Tilt the camera skyward and let go – chances are the lens will slowly return to its horizontal position – the lens balance is still not fully optimised.

There is another adjustment that allows movement of the whole clamp assembly up and down the main tilt arm, if your lens returns to a level position then the whole setup needs moving UP the tilt arm a bit at a time until the lens stays exactly where you put it – the heavier the lens the higher up the tilt arm everything needs to be.

Fore and aft balance will need to be reset whenever you remove the lens from the head, but the vertical balance need never be adjusted again unless using more than one lens, or changing camera bodies.

You’ll notice below that I also use the head on my home-made ground pod as well.

Overall, the head scores 10 out of 10 in my book.

There is no other head on the market in my opinion that will secure big glass so well and yet allow it to be used with such grace and ease that photographer fatigue becomes a thing of the past.

It allows you to push the limits of your photography in terms of available light no bad thing here in the UK – and I now regard it as my standard head and use nothing else, save for macro and wide-angle work.

If you really want to get the very best out of your major investments you’ll be very hard-pressed to find anything else to wring the ‘nth’ degree out of your equipment and yourself.

Mounted on a substantial tripod like the Gitzo 1548 in conjunction with the Gitzo levelling base you have a big-glass support system that is without parallel.

Well worth every penny – the best is hardly ever cheap to buy but is ALWAYS cheap to own!

Andy