ORDERED - THANK YOU! DO NOT RESPOND - Gimbal head?

I shoot mostly Landscapes (85-90%), but I want to shoot a few wildlife/birds images in the future so I was interested in buying a Gimbal head but do not want to spend the $600 or so to purchase a Wimberley.

I probably won't shoot with it more than 8-10 times a year, using a Nikon D500 with either an 80-400 or a 200-500, or perhaps a Sigma 150-600 Sport.  I'm almost 70 and find it difficult to handhold a longer lens due to handshake (even with VR on), so I will be shooting from a tripod almost exclusively.

Looking on B&H there seems to be a jillion knock-offs ranging from $69 to $550 but I have no personal experience with any of them.  I don't want a piece of junk, but don't want to spend $600 either.  Anyone have a suggestion for a DECENT gimbal head in the $150-$350 range?  It will be used in and around salt water so that needs to be filtered into the equation.

Many thanks in advance.

Indeed a lot of choice but I would either go for the new Sirui PH10 or PH20. Another good option is the Gitzo fluid gimbal. I guess all within your price range.
Rene de Heer

I have this one and the original Wimberley which is a monster in comparison.
https://www.jobu-design.com/Jobu-Jr3_p_9.html
It's not too expensive and works well for the size of lenses you describe. One other option that you might want to consider, is a Flexshooter ball head. They have it in the NSN store here. It has a double ball system, you level and lock the outer one, and then the central one allows you to tip forward, back or pan left to right. When you let go of the rig, it stays put, no flop like a traditional ball head. What I like about it is it gives a gimbal type experience with the flexibility of a ball head.

Probably more expensive but take a look at Flexshooter Pro.
I dumped my gimbal and regular head as this allows me to do both.
I actually like not having to carry 2 heads.
I think Acratech also has something similar.
Of course the original idea came from the uniqueball but flexshooter has improved the concept.

Another vote for the Jobu Jr.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/ ... zDEALw_wcB

Thanks Rene, Scott, & Rajan for your suggestions! I will check them out immediately. The Flexshooter sounds very interesting.

Not a ballhead or gimbal, but much overlooked for BIF is this type of head:

Manfrotto Video Head

They are well balanced, smooth and easy to use. I use one but I don’t use the control arm. I use the camera and lens for control, much the same as with a gimbal head. The advantage is that you don’t have anything in your way as you do with a gimbal. You can also use it for all types of photography.

Joe

Thank you all for your suggestions! I loo0ked on Naturescapes and checked several of them out and decided to go with the Jobu Jr. 3 Deluxe because of the two recommendations here AND the fact NSN store discounted the entire Jobu line. At $300 the Jobu Jr. 3 Deluxe fit in my budget and it also had four additional 5 star reviews in NSN.

Thank you all once again!

Look at the Wimberly sidekick. It works in conjection with your ball head. I have one and it works great. Half the price than a full gimbal.

Langsey wrote:Look at the Wimberly sidekick. It works in conjection with your ball head. I have one and it works great. Half the price than a full gimbal.

I also recommend looking at Sidekick since you won't be using it a lot like you said.
Remember, with zoom lenses you'll have to rebalance every time you change focal length
so already having full gimbal is probably not the best use of your money.
Because of that and how rarely you'll be using it I'd think that Sidekick would be a better option.

PS. For Sigma Sport you definitely need support,for other two I'm not so sure.