SANParks.org Forums

Non cable release , beanbags work well .
Cable release , tripods or clamps work well .

Thars my take

Hi. I use a monopod in the car. By putting it in between the seat and the door I can now pan. The vertical movement is a bit limited but I think a good compromise

Try using a beanbag. You'll be amazed how much handier that is, especially when you need to move from the lefthandwindow to the right in a hurry. After two weeks your arms will look a little more muscled as well due to the tossing of 3 kilo's of rice to and fro the whole time.


The best money can afford. So that would be a Kirk BH-1 or the Arca Swiss B1. Don't go for models with just a small ball, you want stability!

That depends heavily on your budget. If you want top quality then go for either the Arca-Swiss B1 or the Kirk-BH1.

These ballheads use the Arca-Swiss clamp and that enables you to use a Wimberley Sidekick on both these ballheads. The sidekick turns the ballhead into a gimbal head and can be used with lenses that feature a rotating tripod collar.

I use an Arca-Swiss B1 with a Wimberley Sidekick and Wimberley lense plates. Panning with my 300mm f/2.8 IS is effortless and smooth as silk using this combo. The only downside to the Sidekick/B1 combination is the price. Both the ballhead and sidekick are pretty expensive.

M.

I paid about 420 euro for the B1 ballhead, 330 euro for the sidekick and I bought wimberley plates for my 300mm f/2.8, 70-200mm f/2.8 and one camera plate. The individual plates cost around 65 euro so 195 euro in total for the wimberley plates. That brings the total costs to 945 euro

Hi
we use my Gitzo head G1227M i have on my tripod which always goes with me on our trips
Works okay for me.
And as it is a ballhead the panning is no problem.

Found this on the web
Looks like a nifty tool for small digital camera's
http://www.joby.com/
Something for the xmas stocking

Yes
Difficult typing when colleges lurk around

Thanks

Know what you mean, sometimes you think there are spies about

Will look at getting it this weekend.

Got my 1.4 Canon extender/converter yesterday as well as some Eclipse Fluid with swabs, but still 4 and a half months off till the Kruger . Wish I was there now

Del

I use the Ergorest and have used a Manfrotto 128RC fluid head with good results when panning ect. Have also used it with beanbags and remote cable. As usual you have to be adaptable no one size fits all here I'm afraid.

Hi All
I have bought a Vanguard tripod with detachable window mount last year and used it during my trip to Kruger in July 2006.
For those in South Africa, they have an office in Centurion, and I paid R760 for the complete tripod.
I have found it to be very easy to use and with the quick release had no problem at all when I needed to close the window.
Look at the following site for further info.

www.vanguardusa.com/mgos.htm

I have a "home-made" beanbag (well its actually filled with rice), which I use over the window of the car when we're out in the parks taking photos. My problem is that although its better than nothing, it's not really doing the trick...
Can someone please advise me where in Cape Town I could bye the real thing? I live in the Southern Subs.

I have a very nice address in the UK, order by site or mail. It'll be axpensive for a Saffie though, something like R300 I believe.

Why doesn't it do the trick?
How large did you make it? To have a proper one for longer lenses you need one that takes about 3 kgs of rice...

I do use 3kg of rice, if not a bit more than that, and my mom made my bag identical to that of a friends bag, but the material is not all that thick and the rice seems to dissappear at the point where the bag goes over the window and therefore doesn't offer enough support for my 500 lens. What else could i put inside? R300 is quite steep for a pauper like me I'm afraid!

I always use pet animal feed.
Seeds etc which can be bought
Or use dried beans.
Or must fill it more