I have the Gitzo/sidekick combo. But after a year of dilligent
practice, I now always hand hold for flying birds.
Here is the problem. Your movement is backwards to intuition. If
the bird flies left to right, you need to move around the pivot
point right to left.
Then there is the problem of aquiring the bird with the 20D. Half
the time, I get the bird in the viewfinder and as soon as I press
the shutter to start tracking, the lens starts hunting and goes to
infinity and I lose the bird. I have better luck tracking and
re-aquiring the bird if I hand hold.
Remember for a flying bird, you need fast shutter speeds, up around
1/1000 or higher. This is fast enough to elminate shake. The main
reason for a tripod is to support the weight. I find I can hand
hold the 500 for 30 seconds or more, which is more than enough time.
You need a way to support it between shots. For this I have two
stratigies. For winter eagles, I take a portable chair and set down
while waiting. If hiking, I have a tool belt with a pouch to put
the tripod leg in, and it provides support while walking or
standing.
I find the Gitzo sidekick combo the best for static pictures of
perched birds, but never use it for fliers.
This is just my experience. If you have really good hand eye
coordination, you may get good with the sidekick. My keeper rate
went way up when I ditched it for hand held.
--
http://www.pbase.com/roserus
Ben
