[cali92rs]

I have been playing with my 60-250mm + 1.5 kenko TC at the local lake, trying to get birds in flight. I was wondering if you guys thought a gimbal head for a lens this size is really worth it or is a ball head ok?

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Last edited by cali92rs; 03-08-2014 at 11:34 AM.

[JayBee451]

I will be following this thread, as my newly acquired DA* 60-250 should be arriving next week.

[maxxxx]

How does the TC work for you?

[crewl1]

I find when shooting BIF, handheld is most flexible in terms of following the birds if flight paths are random.
More predictable flight and a gimbal might help. (Birds such as planes at an Airshow )
If your AF tracking works well you might consider a red dot sight to make it easier to find and center the bird.

[cali92rs]

How does the TC work for you?

The TC works great. There is a tad more CA than the lens by itself, but nothing that cant be taken care of in PP.

But, this is not the best lens for capturing birds in flight...it just does not focus very fast. I tried both with and without the TC and my keeper ratio was about the same.

[derekkite]

I use a gimbal with my DA*300 and Sigma 150-500. It give me the possibility of shooting in low light with slower shutter speeds. For following a flying bird for example, it is better than a ball head. But it limits where you can follow; something coming towards you either overhead or on either side flies out of range, where handheld you can pivot to follow.

I use a light gimbal on a monopod most of the time. It is very hard to hold steady hand held for any period of time, and the support allows me to watch something for a long time and catch them doing interesting things.

Anything you do will lose you some shots and gain you others.

[vrphoto]

question for derekkite - I'm also looking at ways of stabilising a DA*300 - would you mind telling us what monopod/head/gimbal you are using?

[derekkite]

Jobu Jr. 3 Fast Action Kit

This is what I have with the fanotec tripod mount and plate sold in the marketplace.