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The professional wildlife or sports photographer needs pro quality equipment to provide heavy-duty support and precise balance for full-size DSLRs and lenses as large as 600mm f/4. That’s why so many of them choose the Pro2 Gimbal Head from Jobu Design. It’s the newest gimbal head from Jobu with a completely redesigned CNC swing arm, which is 400% stiffer, but in a head that is lighter, at just 3 lbs., 5 oz. It’s built for rugged use and maximum support of gear weighing as much as 35 lbs.
Read real customer reviews of the Jobu Design Pro2 Gimbal Head here.
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The pros know that a simple tripod, or even a ball head, is not sufficient for the kind of control they require to capture the images editors want, and that win awards. The pros understand that a gimbal head is far superior to a ball head. A camera and lens on a gimbal head seems weightless and can be moved with the smallest force of just one finger. The reason is that the camera and lens finds their natural center of gravity when attached to a gimbal head. Not only does this achieve ultimate balance, but also ensures the entire set-up is much safer and secure from being tipped. The same concept is applied to the mounting and movement of large telescopes.
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With a ball head, a camera and lens will only find the center of gravity when the lens is directly over the head. Since this is often not the case during the operation of the equipment on a ball head, the photographer must keep a hand on the set-up constantly. As soon as the center of gravity changes, camera, lens, ball head and tripod will no longer be in balance and they are in danger of falling. Despite the elaborate friction and elliptical devices added to ball heads, gravity can’t yet be conquered, so it will operate according to its physical principles.
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Professional photographers also understand how important it is to use the right gimbal head with the right camera and lens. Jobu’s Pro2 takes care of the heaviest camera/lens combinations, but the company also makes the mid-size HD3/LW3 series and the smaller Junior3 series. The HD3/LW3 is designed for camera/lens combinations of 5 to 25 lbs., which typically includes a 200–400mm f/4, 500mm f/4 or 600mm f/4. Jobu Design recommends the Junior3 series for 3 to 10 lbs. of equipment, with a 70–200mm f/2.8, 150–500m zoom or 400mm f/5.6 lens. These weight ranges result in optimum operation of the gimbal head during continual daily use. Jobu’s maximum weight recommendations only apply to occasional use. Exceeding these limitations can lead to sluggish performance and even equipment failures, plus it would void Jobu’s warranty on its gimbal head products.
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In designing the Pro2 Gimbal Head, Jobu decided the advantages of a top-mounted quick-release clamp (which creates a swing-arm configuration) were more beneficial than side mounting the clamp, which is common on most gimbal heads. The people at Jobu Design had received sufficient feedback to know photographers who need a gimbal head would rather have more set-up and shooting versatility. The extra cost and weight of a swing-arm gimbal head were insignificant when compared to the conveniences of a top-mounted quick-release clamp.
Visit the Jobu Design Web site, http://www.jobu-design.com, for complete information about the Pro2 Gimbal Head ($649 CAD) and the HD3/LW3 and Junior3 series. Jobu Design offers a complete selection of lens plates, which is a separate purchase. They can be found at http://www.jobu-design.com/lensplates.html.
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