The red arrow points to the Wimberley Sidekick gimbal head in use.

If you are at all familiar with avian photography then you know that very large, heavy, and expensive lenses are a must have piece of equipment. These huge lenses require tripods and tripod heads capable of supporting heavy weights but also must be able to allow the lens to be positioned, almost instantly, at nearly any angle and with little or no resistance while following quickly moving birds. Large ball heads can be used to support the lenses but, if you have ever used a large ball head to support, say, a 500mm lens, then you know about "ball head flop" and the damage it can do to fingers! The ideal support for these large lenses is a gimbal mount that allows effortless support of these large lenses and allow positioning these lens in nearly any orientation. In effect, gimbal heads are big, sturdy swivels!

I have previously been supporting my Canon 500mm f 4L IS lens using the Wimberly Sidekick gimbal head (image at right). This is a simple gimbal arm, supported by a large ball head, into which the 500mm lens is supported laterally from a pivot bearing at the top of a long support arm. A sturdy ball head is used to clamp the upright arm vertically and the ball head is used as a panning bearing to rotate the lens around the vertical axis. This is the simplest of gimbal heads and I have made many thousands of images using this head. However, there is a downside to this design. As you can see in the image to the right, I have my flash attached to the camera. With the flash attached it is impossible to balance the camera/lens/flash combination such that, when the camera is moved off level just a couple of degrees, the whole combination doesn't swing down and slam the lens against the tripod. I decided there are better systems. The Wimberley Sidekick is a good gimbal head and supports the 500mm lens well and I still recommend it to people who need a gimbal head and ball head at the same time.

So, I recently found myself shopping for a sturdier, heavy duty, "full" gimbal tripod head. The heavier duty gimbal heads support the lens/camera combination on a sturdy aluminum platform suspended from a drop-down arm attached to the upper pivot bearing. This is by far the strongest and most versatile manner to support the heavy, bulky lenses avian photographers use. Two brands stand out from all of the other gimbal heads: Wimberley, Inc. and Jobu Designs . Wimberley enjoys a fine reputation among avian photographers as "The" gimbal head to buy. Jobu, on the other hand, produces a very similar heavy duty gimbal head which, unfortunately, is not the rave I believe it deserves. (Are you getting a hint of which gimbal head I bought? ;) ) The only real substantive differences I found between the Wimberley II gimbal head and the Jobu Black Widow Heavy Duty head, besides price, are the way the panning and pivot bearings lock. The Wimberley II head sells for $595.95. The Jobu Black Widow gimbal head sells for $469.95 at the time of this writing (06/2007) from B&H Photo. In short, I bought the Jobu Black Widow Heavy Duty gimbal head and I am so glad I did!

Note: I am going to review the Jobu Black Widow Heavy Duty gimbal head and present my findings and opinions regarding this product. Please keep in mind that these are my opinions and no one else's. Your mileage may vary. I do not intend this review to be a comprehensive comparison to the Wimberley II gimbal head but I may make a comparison of features from time to time. This review is not going to be a comprehensive tear-down. The gimbal head is expensive and brand new! After reading this review it will be up to you to decide which gimbal head best suits your needs.

Also, I am a bird photographer, not a small product photographer. I would like to apologize in advance for the quality of my photos used in this review. It was my intention to photograph the gimbal head and setup outside but it is just too darn hot in Phoenix, Arizona, USA in June! You'll just have to put up with my closet doors as a "seamless" background!

Here's a look at the major components of the Jobu Black Widow Heavy Duty gimbal head. (Please refer to the numbered arrows in the image at right.)

#1 Bottom panning bearing. The panning bearing allows you to swing the camera/lens about the vertical axis. The panning bearing is tapped 1/4" x 20 to attach to the head screw on your tripod leg's head plate. The panning bearing also has a set screw to tighten on the camera mount threads to prevent the gimbal head from unscrewing from the tripod head plate.

#2 Panning lock knob. Tightening this lock knob keeps the gimbal head from turning around the panning bearing.

#3 Panning clamp that locks the panning base in place.

#4 Cast aluminum upright that is solidly welded to the panning bearing clamp and the upper pivot bearing clamp.

#5 Quick release clamp that accepts Arca-Swiss style lens mounting plates. The clamp is CNC machined from solid aluminum stock, not stamped or extruded.

#6 Camera/lens support platform. The platform is machined from solid aluminum stock, not cast aluminum. The camera platform is adjustable in height to center the center of gravity of the lens/camera combination about the center of the upper pivot point for perfect balance.

#7 Lock knob that locks the camera platform in position on the drop-down arm. The lock is absolutely secure and has shown no signs of loosening under hard use.

#8 Drop-down arm that is attached to the upper pivot bearing and allows the camera/lens combination to tilt frontwards and backwards. Again, this is machined from solid aluminum and is not cast aluminum.

#9 Upper pivot bearing.

#10 Upper pivot bearing lock knob.

#11 Upper pivot bearing lock clamp. When tightened it locks the pivot bearing clamp and the camera/lens cannot be tilted. This is a very strong clamp.

#12 This is a "fail safe" pin. When turned 1/4 rotation, the pin drops down into a hole in the panning bearing and prevents the camera/lens from tilting. In my opinion, the locking clamps work so well, this locking pin is totally unnecessary.

The Jobu Black Widow Heavy Duty gimbal head stands 11.4" tall and weighs 3 pounds 5 ounces. In comparison, the Wimberley II gimbal head stands 9.4" tall and weighs 3 pounds 3 ounces. The Jobu is a little taller but weighs nearly the same as the Wimberley II head. For a photographer who travels a great deal, the Wimberley II may pack a little easier. Before you can mount your lens/camera combination on the Jobu head your lens must be equipped with an Arca-Swiss style lens plate. These lens plates can be purchased from several online/mail order photography equipment retailers or may be ordered directly from Really Right Stuff, Kirk Enterprises, and Wimberley, Inc. Alternatively, Wimberley, Inc. and 4th Generation Designs make replacement tripod collars and replacement tripod collar feet with the Arca-Swiss dovetail machined directly in the feet. The lens plate and tripod replacement feet are so important I highly DO NOT RECOMMEND the purchase of these items from Chinese and India knockoff companies as found on Ebay.

Attaching the Jobu gimbal head to your tripod is just like attaching any other tripod head. The Jobu has a 3/8" x 16 thread in the bottom of the panning bearing. Simply screw the Jobu head directly to the 3/8" x 16 stud sticking up from your tripod's base plate. Some tripods have a 1/4" x 20 thread head stud so you may have to use a reducer bushing to attach the Jobu head to your tripod. (If your tripod does have the 1/4" x 20 thread stud, I would be concerned that the tripod may not be strong enough or stable enough to support a large birding outfit.) The Jobu panning bearing has an Allen headed set-screw that is tightened against the threads of the head mounting stud to keep the gimbal head from spinning off the tripod stud during panning.

Once the Jobu head is attached to your tripod and you have attached the lens plate/replacement tripod collar to the lens, tighten the upper pivot bearing clamp tightly and then simply open the jaws of the quick release clamp, set the dovetail of the plate or foot in the clamp, and screw the clamp tight. I'll warn you, be sure to do this all at once! Because the lens sits naturally in the quick release clamp and is supported horizontally, it would be easy to become distracted and forget to tighten the quick release clamp. Do it all at one time! If you forget to tighten the clamp and throw the tripod and camera/lens over your shoulder, the whole rig is going to crash to the ground. I have heard many tales of this happening.

Now it's time to balance your rig. Hold onto your camera/lens and loosen the upper pivot bearing clamp. To balance the camera/lens combo horizontally, just loosen the quick release clamp a little and slide the camera/lens combo back and forth until it no longer wants to tip horizontally by itself. You're halfway there. To balance the rig so that it won't tilt on its own when you let go of it requires centering the center of gravity opposite the center of the upper pivot bearing. To accomplish this, support the camera/lens combo with one hand, loosen the platform lock knob slightly, and slide the camera/lens platform up the drop-down arm, and lock it back in place. Carefully tilt the camera/lens off level and watch to see if it continues tilting on its own. This takes a little experimentation but once you find the right height of the camera platform on the drop down arm, lock the location with the platform lock knob. With the center of gravity properly centered opposite the center of the upper pivot bearing, you'll be able to tilt the camera/lens any number of degrees and the camera/lens will maintain that position when you let go of it. Please, be careful doing this adjustment and be sure to support the camera/lens while you find the right position. This will prevent the camera/lens from over-tilting and crashing against the tripod, possibly doing damage to the lens or camera. That's it! You're now ready to go out and make images.

I want to take a moment and address a concern of some photographers that have tested the Jobu Black Widow Heavy Duty head. Some photographers have complained that there is too much bearing looseness in the Jobu design. The panning bearing and upper pivot bearing do have a little looseness but it is as a natural consequence of the excellent design of the clamping mechanism. (Please refer to the images at right.)

The panning bearing and upper pivot bearing (#1) are completely enclosed by the locking clamps (#2) except for the small gap, as indicated. When the locking knobs (#3) are turned down tightly the locking pressure is distributed over almost the entire bearing. This minimizes the amount of pressure necessary to fully lock the movements and distributes any wear over a large surface area. This locking style is the most secure and longest wearing locking system that can be designed.

Really Right Stuff is known for manufacturing some of the highest quality ball heads to be found. This is exactly the same type of locking mechanism Really Right Stuff uses to lock the ball in their ball heads. I own both the RRS BH-40 ball head and the RRS BH-55 ball head. No other ball heads I've used lock the ball tighter and more secure than the RRS ball heads. However, for this locking system to work properly there has to be just a little play in the bearings. True to form, when all of the tension is released on my RRS ball heads, there is a little play between the ball and the clamp.

This little bit of play in the bearings does not affect the strength or usability of the Jobu gimbal head. Once you mount the camera/lens combo to the head you cannot feel the bearing play at all. If the tiny bit of bearing play does bother you, you can still set just enough tension on the locking clamps to remove the bit of play and still have a freely and easily moved gimbal head.

The panning bearing and the upper pivot bearing are made of stainless steel and nylon. The bearings are sealed in a heavy duty grease that not only prevents wear but also seals the bearing from moisture. The bearings are simple, strong, and long wearing and can support much more weight than Jobu rates them for. #4 in the bottom, right photo is an additional lock that can be engaged to completely lock the tilt head, if you so desire. I find the clamps lock the pivot bearing so well, I never have a need for the "Fail safe" lock.

Panning base bearing and clamp.

Upper pivot bearing and clamp.

Here's how it's done. (Refer to the image at right, please.)

1) Lock the upper pivot bearing tightly.

2) Remove the 2 Allen head screws that attach the quick release clamp to the camera/lens platform using the supplied Allen wrench.

3) Remove the 2 Allen head screws that hold the drop-down arm to the upper pivot bearing. These screws are longer than the screws used to hold the quick release clamp to the camera/lens platform. Set these 2 screws aside.

4) Attach the quick release clamp to the upper pivot bearing using the 2 shorter screws that attached the quick release clamp to the camera/lens platform.

5) Tighten all of the screws very tight.

You're done! You now have a "Sidekick" style of gimbal head that does not require an additional ball head for support.

The Jobu converted to a "Sidekick" style is shown at right. This configuration easily handles the weight of the 500mm lens and 1D MkII, as shown in the photo, bottom at left. I have used this configuration in the field with no worries at all. In fact, I will be using this configuration whenever I do not need to mount my flash. As a "Sidekick" style of gimbal head, the Jobu Black Widow only weighs 2.5 pounds. This is easily 1+ pound lighter than the Wimberley Sidekick supported by a heavy duty ball head.

Jobu sells this configuration as the "Black Widow Lightweight" gimbal head ($399.00) and, also, sells the drop-down arm and camera platform ($125.00) to convert the Black Widow Lightweight gimbal head to a Black Widow Heavy Duty gimbal head. Jobu rates the "Lightweight" model to easily support the 500mm f 4L lens.

For those of us who own smaller, lighter telephoto lenses with tripod mount collars in addition to our "big guns" and want to have the advantages of a gimbal head, the Jobu Black Widow Heavy Duty head converted to a "Sidekick: style is just the answer for our needs. It takes less than 5 minutes to make the conversion from "Heavy Duty" to "Lightweight" and we don't have to purchase a second gimbal head.

Making the conversion to the "Sidekick" style of gimbal head and then converting back to the Heavy Duty configuration doesn't require the big lenses to be re-balanced Everything bolts back just as it was before the conversion and the balance for the big lenses is retained.

The Jobu head in the "Sidekick" configuration is ideal for the 300mm f 4L lens + 30D dSLR.

Conclusions and Opinions: I have been using the Jobu Black Widow Heavy Duty gimbal head extensively in the field. There is just no substitute for "real world" use. I am absolutely thrilled with this gimbal head. Given the choice between the Wimberley II gimbal head and the Jobu Black Widow Heavy Duty gimbal head, I believe I have made the right choice in purchasing the Jobu. I have not talked much about ergonomics as that is a highly individualistic matter of personal taste. The Jobu gimbal head is a better match for my style of photography than is the Wimberley II gimbal head.

My preferred setup with the left side of the lens entirely open. The panning lock knob on the Jobu Black Widow Heavy Duty gimbal head is easily reached with my left hand while keeping my right hand on the camera and lens.

When I'm in the field I want to have the entire left side of my lens completely free of any obstructions. I don't want knobs in the way. I don't want cables and support arms in the way. I like to be able to instantly grab the focus ring of the lens for manual focus and I want to lay my hand and arm over the front of the lens to add mass to reduce vibrations. To setup a gimbal head in this manner, the support upright must be on my right side. (See the image, at right.) When I'm "spotting and stalking" birds I don't always have time to level the tripod and head accurately. Because of this, if I let go of the camera/lens the gimbal head wants to swing to the lowest angle of the tripod. This is not always a good thing! I prefer to be able to reach down with my left hand and tighten the panning lock to prevent the gimbal head from swinging without having to take my right hand off the camera/lens. The Jobu is perfect for this having the panning lock knob on the opposite side of the support arm. I very seriously considered purchasing the Wimberley II gimbal head but the panning lock is on the same side as the upright support arm. To lock the panning base on the Wimberley II gimbal head would require me to exchange my left hand for the right hand on the camera/lens and then reach down to tighten the panning lock knob with my right hand. This is just too cumbersome for me to do every time I want to lock the panning base. This may seem like a minor detail but when you are wrestling with big lenses and chasing small birds in the field, the minor details can make for some major headaches.

In my opinion, the Jobu Black Widow Heavy Duty gimbal head is a fine piece of professional equipment that I will not hesitate to recommend to anyone who needs to support "big gun" lenses. The design quality and manufacturing quality is easily the match of any other brand of heavy duty gimbal head. The easy method to convert to a "Sidekick" style of gimbal head makes the Jobu gimbal head the most versatile, and consequently, the most reasonably priced heavy duty gimbal head available. I love Wimberley products and I use several quality products made by Wimberley. In this instance, however, I feel the purchase of the Jobu Black Widow Heavy Duty gimbal head is a wiser choice than purchasing the Wimberley II gimbal head and offers the "best bang for your buck" and by purchasing the Jobu Black Widow Heavy Duty gimbal head, I was able to save 125 of those bucks!