XF150-600 tripod

Hi

I'm considering buying a XF150-600 lens for wildlife and bird photography as I find the XF70-300 a bit on the short side for these purposes. Aim is to shoot mainly handheld but when visiting photo huts I've read tripods and / or ballheads or a gimbal head are a must.

Whats your experience on this - would you shoot handheld in these situations or go with one of the solutions above? Also, I do have a tripod (Leofoto LS254C + LH30 ballhead) but highly doubt whether this combination is stable enough for the XF150-600. Any thoughts based on your practical experience?

Most of my work is also birds and wildlife. I shoot handheld most of the time because things happen so fast, but when I do use a support (mostly for long static shoots, like a local bald eagle nest or your hut/blind/hide situation) I prefer using a gimbal. I have several ball and video/fluid heads but the gimbal seems best for balance and fast movement when necessary. I use the Sevenoak SK-GH04 Carbon Fiber gimbal adapter for ball heads because it is far cheaper and easier to carry than a full gimbal head.

P.S. Be very careful using a bare ball head with a heavy/unwieldy combination like this because everything can just flop over in an expensive manner.

I'm not familiar with the Leofoto set up so I cannot comment on that.

Have you considered a monopod? I've found using a monopod keeps me so much more mobile, more inclined to move around and this in turn I think improves my photography.

When I used to use a wimberley gimbal and tripod, it seemed to take an age to get set up and level and moving around seemed a ballache as a result. If you do choose this, I'd also recommend a levelling head. Panning with a gimbal head that isn't level becomes counter-intuitive and constantly fiddling with tripod leg heights is frustrating.

My preferred set up now is a monopod. I use Alana from 3LeggedThing. With this you can get 'Docz' which is a monopod stabiliser. Primarily useful for video I feel but it doubles up as a mini table top tripod. Not only that, it's useful in a wildlife hide/blind especially where there is a shelf. Shelves seem popular in hides in the UK but even the wall can also prevent you getting a tripod as close as you can to the opening otherwise.

I also add the new Airhed Trinity which works very well as a tilt head with a perfect centre of gravity on a monopod. It can also pan with both pan and tilt independently lockable / unlockable making it asuperb light-weight travel option on a tripod.

Have look here: https://alanhewittphotography.co.uk/review-3-legged-thing-airhed-trinity

p.s. ballheads are very poor on a monopod or tripod with a long heavy lens for panning, you spend more time correcting unwanted movement than anything else. The same goes for gimbals on a monopod.

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limbo8 said:

Hi

I'm considering buying a XF150-600 lens for wildlife and bird photography as I find the XF70-300 a bit on the short side for these purposes. Aim is to shoot mainly handheld but when visiting photo huts I've read tripods and / or ballheads or a gimbal head are a must.

Whats your experience on this - would you shoot handheld in these situations or go with one of the solutions above? Also, I do have a tripod (Leofoto LS254C + LH30 ballhead) but highly doubt whether this combination is stable enough for the XF150-600. Any thoughts based on your practical experience?

Click to expand...

My advice: buy the lens and try it with tripod/head you already have (it's enough according specification with appropriate margin). If you decide you need something more stable or gimball is a must then you can add it.

At home I use very stable Manfrotto 190XPRO, but for field I bought cheap carbon K&F https://www.amazon.com/Concept-Professional-Lightweight-Portable-Monopod/dp/B06WVK91FY

and it works well enough (seems your Leofoto is better). I used even standard K&F ballhead as a gimball ln the way shown in this video (look from 4min 5s) :
with my heavy Sigma S60-600 (with caution of course).

At some point of time I bought carbon gimball head Sirui PH-10:
and it serves me well for both S60-600 and XF150-600, but I wouldn't say it's a must - however much more convenient than my ball head.

It's up to your personal preferences and needs, I think what you have is good enough to try before you buy sth.

Cheers,

Artur

Artur Darulewski said:

My advice: buy the lens and try it with tripod/head you already have (it's enough according specification with appropriate margin). If you decide you need something more stable or gimball is a must then you can add it.

At home I use very stable Manfrotto 190XPRO, but for field I bought cheap carbon K&F https://www.amazon.com/Concept-Professional-Lightweight-Portable-Monopod/dp/B06WVK91FY

and it works well enough (seems your Leofoto is better). I used even standard K&F ballhead as a gimball ln the way shown in this video (look from 4min 5s) :

with my heavy Sigma S60-600 (with caution of course).

At some point of time I bought carbon gimball head Sirui PH-10:

and it serves me well for both S60-600 and XF150-600, but I wouldn't say it's a must - however much more convenient than my ball head.

It's up to your personal preferences and needs, I think what you have is good enough to try before you buy sth.

Cheers,

Artur

Click to expand...

That Sirui PH-10 sounds quite good as it's rather comfortable compared to some other gimballs that I've seen. Could be a nice solution with the tripod I currently have (if the tripod will hold the pack). Think also in some hides there's shelves where you can mount the gimballs on a plate - would that work with the gimball head you mentioned?

Alan Hewitt Photo said:

I'm not familiar with the Leofoto set up so I cannot comment on that.

Have you considered a monopod? I've found using a monopod keeps me so much more mobile, more inclined to move around and this in turn I think improves my photography.

When I used to use a wimberley gimbal and tripod, it seemed to take an age to get set up and level and moving around seemed a ballache as a result. If you do choose this, I'd also recommend a levelling head. Panning with a gimbal head that isn't level becomes counter-intuitive and constantly fiddling with tripod leg heights is frustrating.

My preferred set up now is a monopod. I use Alana from 3LeggedThing. With this you can get 'Docz' which is a monopod stabiliser. Primarily useful for video I feel but it doubles up as a mini table top tripod. Not only that, it's useful in a wildlife hide/blind especially where there is a shelf. Shelves seem popular in hides in the UK but even the wall can also prevent you getting a tripod as close as you can to the opening otherwise.

I also add the new Airhed Trinity which works very well as a tilt head with a perfect centre of gravity on a monopod. It can also pan with both pan and tilt independently lockable / unlockable making it asuperb light-weight travel option on a tripod.

Have look here: https://alanhewittphotography.co.uk/review-3-legged-thing-airhed-trinity

p.s. ballheads are very poor on a monopod or tripod with a long heavy lens for panning, you spend more time correcting unwanted movement than anything else. The same goes for gimbals on a monopod.

Click to expand...

Little bit in doubt of monopod as I see the benefit of portability but I think outside I will be mainly shooting handheld (reviews seem to say that it's quite possible). Its mainly inside in hides where I think I'll be using extra support. So in that regard the added weight / size of the tripod isn't that much of an issue. That minitripod together with Airhed Trinity could be a solution for when there's shelves, can that head be mounted on the tripod I have as well?

limbo8 said:

Little bit in doubt of monopod as I see the benefit of portability but I think outside I will be mainly shooting handheld (reviews seem to say that it's quite possible). Its mainly inside in hides where I think I'll be using extra support. So in that regard the added weight / size of the tripod isn't that much of an issue. That minitripod together with Airhed Trinity could be a solution for when there's shelves, can that head be mounted on the tripod I have as well?

Click to expand...

Yeah, it absolutely is light but only in comparison to other similar lenses. It depends how much time you are actually panning and photographing. If the activity is constant or you are awaiting for a specific moment, it does get cumbersome when the arm shake sets in.

The Airhed Trinity will mount on any tripod / monopod.

I have been happy with a 3-legged thing Leo 2 with airhead pro. But in a hide you will find, that because of the bench and the ledge, you will be a bit away from the window opening and might not be able to sit down. I therefore diassemble the tripod and only use it as a monopod but I add the doc feet on the bottom. I find that the latter is great for walking about and give a bit more stability than hand-holding.

Your tripod's max load is more than sufficient to support your camera and lens. If you like it there is no reason to change. This is also true of your ball head yet most photographers find that ball heads are too tippy to use with long lenses. A gimbal is used by most with long lenses on a tripod. I use the Jobu Design BWG-J3K gimbal and it's been very reliable for over 10 years. There are better gimbals yet it's sufficient with it's biggest downside being height adjustment for balancing yet one can make up for this by adjusting tension. Operation is very smooth and that's critical. My tripod is the Sirui W-2204 Waterproof Carbon Fiber Tripod, light and stable and again one can get better yet this tripod keeps going even when I submerge the legs.

I'm a big fan of shooting from a tripod and will only go handheld to get into positions that the tripod prohibits or for very quick action. The biggest advantage of shooting with a tripod is it makes it extremely easy to stay on a subject for a very long time waiting for something interesting to happen. Can you hand hold dead still for 30 minutes?

Blands vary a lot from little cabins with open windows to tents with windows. I find them cramped and difficult to operate a tripod as the windows limit movement. For the permanent structures, I've tried clamps on the windows and also bean bags. I find it easiest to rest my lens foot on the window and move my body to change angles. You need to experiment and find what works for you in the particular blind you will be working in.

Morris

Good points. I think in the hides I have set my eyes on people either use a tripod or you can attach a gimbal to a rail on the windowsill.

Based on your input think the gimballs might be a good solution, especially since I seem to be able to use them with the tripod i currently have. If I ever needed a monopod, I can use the gimball on that as well.

Out of the two provided options, what's the difference likely going to be with the setups as mentioned above? Price difference seems to be quite substantial.

- Jobu Jr. 3 --> 350 EUR

- Sirui PH-10 --> 210 EUR

First of all, do NOT use a ball-head for wildlife photography with a telephoto lens on a tripod foot unless you are looking to collect insurance on your equipment. You need to be able to move the lens quickly without risk of it flopping or falling. You really need a gimbal or something like a Flexshooter.

Your LS-254C tripod if fine is you are just going to be sitting in a blind, but it is not tall enough for standing behind unless you use the center column attachment, in which case it will not be stable enough.

I’m in my late 70’s, with arthritis and neurological balance problems. I like to shoot handheld, but in many situations a tripd or monopod is an absolute necessity. I spent a couple of years (and way too much money!) trying different tripod and monopod solutions for shooting wildlife with the XF150-600 (and before that a Sigma 150-600C) on Fuji cameras.

I currently use two different tripod+gimbal combinations. When I am going to be staying in a single spot for a while and want to be able to swing the camera around as quickly as possible, I use a Leofoto LS-364C tripod with a Leofoto PG-1 gimbal (essentially identical to a ProMediaGear Katana Jr.). When I am moving around and want something lighter to carry around and quickly set up in a spot, I use an Artcise CS60C tripod with a Flexshooter Mini Arca Lever head.

Both allow me to move the lens around, but also to quickly lift the camera off the tripod if a bird lands somewhere nearby and I need to move a little to get a clear shot. You also need a 100mm or longer Arca plate because the XF150-600 foot is not fully grooved to balance the camera+lens properly on a gimbal. Also, Fuji does not provide screw holes for safety stops, a necessity if you move your camera on and off the tripod.

A strong monopod with a side-mount gimbal (I use a Leofoto MG-1, essentially identical to a Wimberley Monogimbal) works in many circumstances but is much less stable than a tripod and you cannot let go or quickly lift the camera off of it if you want to, so I have pretty much stopped using a monopod except as a walking stick. You can't safely mount a regular gimbal on a monopod and I don't find adjustable monopod heads worth the effort.

Scott Keys has done a lot of comparative gimbal reviews over the past couple of years which you can watch on his Wildlife Inspired YouTube channel.

limbo8 said:

Good points. I think in the hides I have set my eyes on people either use a tripod or you can attach a gimbal to a rail on the windowsill.

Based on your input think the gimballs might be a good solution, especially since I seem to be able to use them with the tripod i currently have. If I ever needed a monopod, I can use the gimball on that as well.

Out of the two provided options, what's the difference likely going to be with the setups as mentioned above? Price difference seems to be quite substantial.

- Jobu Jr. 3 --> 350 EUR

- Sirui PH-10 --> 210 EUR

Click to expand...

I think you would be frustrated with either of these gimbals on a monopod. There are special heads for monopods.

The two gimbals are covered in this video:


Morris

+1 on the Leofoto LS-364C and the Artcise. Both are fantastic carbon fibre tripods. I use the Artcise AS95C with a Wimberley WH-200 gimbal head, but switch to the LS-364C when I want a lighter weight tripod solution.

I changed the top piece on my LS-364C Ranger with a kit (Leofoto LM Summit Series Tripod Apex with hook and spider - AS36), to essentially make it a Summit series LM-364CL. I like the slightly wider base for stability and because it's systematic, I can easily change from a gimbal to a ball head when using it for different purposes. I find that the Wimberley gimbal does not shift when locked down whereas some other very economy grade gimbals did (if you're just using the gimbal for fluid movement, this is not a concern). I also use a half ball leveler with the tripod base so it's quicker to level up the gimbal.

Good to hear that Morris uses a tripod and gimbal (I'm always amazed at his super sharp shots of birds in flight)!

Morris0 said:

I think you would be frustrated with either of these gimbals on a monopod. There are special heads for monopods.

The two gimbals are covered in this video:

Morris

Click to expand...

Thanks that one is very helpful. That Benro looks really nice as well but is perhaps I bit more than I was hoping to spend. With regards to the Sirui, I'm curious whether the issue of the lens hitting the tripod at high-angles is also an issue when you use gimball with a smaller lens like the XF150-600. Any experience Artur?

Artur Darulewski said:

At some point of time I bought carbon gimball head Sirui PH-10:

and it serves me well for both S60-600 and XF150-600, but I wouldn't say it's a must - however much more convenient than my ball head.

Cheers,

Artur

Click to expand...

limbo8 said:

I'm curious whether the issue of the lens hitting the tripod at high-angles is also an issue when you use gimball with a smaller lens like the XF150-600. Any experience Artur?

Click to expand...

Well, I was aware of this design (and the idea of gimball head where camera should hang on long arm) and I prefered PH-10 over PH-20 which is "full size" option from Sirui (my priority was size and weight) - no regrets so far.

I think it could be an issue with PH-10 and old lenses with tall foot i.e. https://t.ly/82L7p

I didn't have any issues with my lenses and my needs (I don't need to track launching space rockets etc.). Usually I work with the lowest socket position, but I did a short video showing how it works with XF150-600 lifted up 5mm for full angle support and normal position. Hope it will clarify the situation:


Of course you may want to have longer arm and it that case PH-10 is not for you.

Cheers,

Artur

Artur Darulewski said:

limbo8 said:

I'm curious whether the issue of the lens hitting the tripod at high-angles is also an issue when you use gimball with a smaller lens like the XF150-600. Any experience Artur?

Click to expand...

Well, I was aware of this design (and the idea of gimball head where camera should hang on long arm) and I prefered PH-10 over PH-20 which is "full size" option from Sirui (my priority was size and weight) - no regrets so far.

I think it could be an issue with PH-10 and old lenses with tall foot i.e. https://t.ly/82L7p

I didn't have any issues with my lenses and my needs (I don't need to track launching space rockets etc.). Usually I work with the lowest socket position, but I did a short video showing how it works with XF150-600 lifted up 5mm for full angle support and normal position. Hope it will clarify the situation:

https://1drv.ms/v/s!AkZ2QrLCZE-650jQqPyb3J81k7gR?e=qcDO7e

Of course you may want to have longer arm and it that case PH-10 is not for you.

Cheers,

Artur

Click to expand...

Thanks this is very helpful! To me it looks like you have full motion with the gimball - not sure what angle wouldn't work / you would want more with this setup? But maybe that's because I don't have any experience with one?

Seems that tracking birds and animals and the occasional moonshot shouldn't be much of an issue?

limbo8 said:

Artur Darulewski said:

limbo8 said:

I'm curious whether the issue of the lens hitting the tripod at high-angles is also an issue when you use gimball with a smaller lens like the XF150-600. Any experience Artur?

Click to expand...

Well, I was aware of this design (and the idea of gimball head where camera should hang on long arm) and I prefered PH-10 over PH-20 which is "full size" option from Sirui (my priority was size and weight) - no regrets so far.

I think it could be an issue with PH-10 and old lenses with tall foot i.e. https://t.ly/82L7p

I didn't have any issues with my lenses and my needs (I don't need to track launching space rockets etc.). Usually I work with the lowest socket position, but I did a short video showing how it works with XF150-600 lifted up 5mm for full angle support and normal position. Hope it will clarify the situation:

https://1drv.ms/v/s!AkZ2QrLCZE-650jQqPyb3J81k7gR?e=qcDO7e

Of course you may want to have longer arm and it that case PH-10 is not for you.

Cheers,

Artur

Click to expand...

Thanks this is very helpful! To me it looks like you have full motion with the gimball - not sure what angle wouldn't work / you would want more with this setup? But maybe that's because I don't have any experience with one?

Seems that tracking birds and animals and the occasional moonshot shouldn't be much of an issue?

Click to expand...

I use my gimball head in limited vertical angle range (it's enough to track birds on average distance 25-50m and not higher than ~10m above the ground. It's very hard to keep your eye on the EVF when you immediately change vertical angle from ~0 to 60 degrees. If I use such angles I usually elevate the whole tripod column (for moon etc.), but for such cases I prefer handholding. In general, low profile PH-10 fit my needs very well.

Cheers,

Artur

Artur Darulewski said:

limbo8 said:

Artur Darulewski said:

limbo8 said:

I'm curious whether the issue of the lens hitting the tripod at high-angles is also an issue when you use gimball with a smaller lens like the XF150-600. Any experience Artur?

Click to expand...

Well, I was aware of this design (and the idea of gimball head where camera should hang on long arm) and I prefered PH-10 over PH-20 which is "full size" option from Sirui (my priority was size and weight) - no regrets so far.

I think it could be an issue with PH-10 and old lenses with tall foot i.e. https://t.ly/82L7p

I didn't have any issues with my lenses and my needs (I don't need to track launching space rockets etc.). Usually I work with the lowest socket position, but I did a short video showing how it works with XF150-600 lifted up 5mm for full angle support and normal position. Hope it will clarify the situation:

https://1drv.ms/v/s!AkZ2QrLCZE-650jQqPyb3J81k7gR?e=qcDO7e

Of course you may want to have longer arm and it that case PH-10 is not for you.

Cheers,

Artur

Click to expand...

Thanks this is very helpful! To me it looks like you have full motion with the gimball - not sure what angle wouldn't work / you would want more with this setup? But maybe that's because I don't have any experience with one?

Seems that tracking birds and animals and the occasional moonshot shouldn't be much of an issue?

Click to expand...

I use my gimball head in limited vertical angle range (it's enough to track birds on average distance 25-50m and not higher than ~10m above the ground. It's very hard to keep your eye on the EVF when you immediately change vertical angle from ~0 to 60 degrees. If I use such angles I usually elevate the whole tripod column (for moon etc.), but for such cases I prefer handholding. In general, low profile PH-10 fit my needs very well.

Cheers,

Artur

Click to expand...

At some point the subject is too high to use a gimbal and then one uses the quick release to go hand held. This takes some practice.

Morris

Morris0 said:

At some point the subject is too high to use a gimbal and then one uses the quick release to go hand held. This takes some practice.

Morris

Click to expand...

Do you have arca quick release clamp on your gimbal head?

I'm not skilled enough to use tripod as often as you and to me even panning it's much easier handheld. For movies tripod is unbeatable even to me

Cheers,

Artur

Hi Alan

Thank you for your many excellent posts which are always very informative and useful.

This current one is of interest as I have a monopod (Manfrotto 685B) with a tilt head. I also have a Manfrotto gimbal (393) used with a couple of substantial tripods for static (hide) work. It's all rather heavy so it's very useful to read of your lighter suggestions.

However, while it's great using the monopod, I can't get over the usual problem of what to do when I need to let go of the monopod to perhaps get a new battery out of my bag, blow my nose or a multitude of other things. It's a very naive question but how do you deal with this situation which of course doesn't arise when using a tripod?

Many thanks

Phil

Artur Darulewski said:

Morris0 said:

At some point the subject is too high to use a gimbal and then one uses the quick release to go hand held. This takes some practice.

Morris

Click to expand...

Do you have arca quick release clamp on your gimbal head?

I'm not skilled enough to use tripod as often as you and to me even panning it's much easier handheld. For movies tripod is unbeatable even to me

Cheers,

Artur

Click to expand...

I have screw type Arca quick release. It is slower than lever based yet will not open accidently.

For either release making a quick decision to release is critical as once shooting hand held you still need to acquire subject and focus and expose.

Morris