Jobu Design HD4 Heavy Duty Gimbal Head Mk IV

After a lot of research, I ordered this gimbal head and it arrived in less than a week. It installed easily on my leveler using the screws provided for the purpose. I set it up with my camera and 300mm lens, marking the Arca Swiss style Kiwi plate at the balance point, and centered the lens barrel on the horizontal pivot. All adjustments were easy to make and very positive. Moving the lens and camera take almost no effort, and the camera will rock up and down several times if the friction brake is not slightly engaged. Swing is nearly effortless.In use in the field the one kg weight is appreciated, and the designers accomplished the weight savings over the previous version by removing un-needed material from the components while leaving them rigid and strong. The fit and finish is exceptional and as best I can tell, there is not a tool mark anywhere on the head. The head is designed to be maintenance free, and I can't imagine wearing it out with the bearings and tolerances being what they are. There is no play in the head in any direction, no flexing in any direction, and all of the sliders and knobs are very smooth. Tension adjustments are very positive, and graduated, tighter is tighter over a range, not just on and off, and when tension is applied, it can be set at the level that the user desires, and it stays that way.I also like that this gimbal allows room to mount a full sized DSLR with an Arca Swiss style plate attached so that it can be used in settings where a huge telephoto does not need to be balanced, leaving plenty of room to access the camera, attach flash cables, or external shutter switches. Ball heads are nice, but a gimbal head will allow all of the same movement with positive control throughout the positioning of the camera and lens.

Very well made. I rate this up with RRS and I in fact have a TVC 33 w/ a BH55 Ballhead. I didn't want to spent 700+ on the RRS Gimbal Head so I oped for this. Very fluid sweeping action, I use this setup with my Tamron 150-600 G2 and a D810 for wildlife shooting.

I can't afford a Bentley automobile but could just about make the $$$ this head. I researched and researched but just kept coming back to this. This is my Bentley equivalent, absolutely wonderful piece of engineering. One caution, the supplied lens plate is not long enough for a big lens, you'll need to shell out of a longer one - but no worries, Amazon has plenty at good prices.

I used a cheap Chinese knockoff gimbal head for 2 or 3 years. It cost maybe $125. It worked, but it felt sticky, or gummy. I never really liked it, but I made due because it's what I had. Then I dropped it and snapped off one of the adjusting bolts and it was unusable for me.I decided to bite the bullet and buy a "real" gimbal. After much research, I settled on this one.It. Is. Fantastic.Moving it under a heavy load is so smooth and effortless. It is absolutely worth the price difference compared to what I had before, and I regret not going with this from the start. I regularly use this gimbal with my Canon 500 mm f/4 L IS (original super heavy version), but I also find I love using it with my spotting scope when scanning for birds.

Awesome gimbal head. Work perfectly with my Canon 300mm f/2.8 IS II