Ball Head or Fluid Head?

[Pieter12]

I freelanced a few jobs with a photographer from around here, and he apparently did a lot of cruses, especially in the Pacific N.W., shooting breaching whales, seals, other wildlife and fishes, as well as birds, landscapes, fishermen on boats, ect and his kit included analog 500 c/cm Hasselblads and ELMs, and I suppose, super wides.

IIRC, he and his wife made a living doing this several plus times a year and because he was on cruise ships, a lot of their shots were made on the moving boats, with the Pacific N.W. doing it own thing at the other end of the lens, so they used gyroscopes to steady their cameras.

I've never investigated these photographic magic carpets, but it sounds like, for still life, etc, it just might payoff to go see them for yourself and it could be a solution to your desire, to take the decision that best serves your work and demands.

Cheers

It's been a long time, but my impression of gyro stabilizers is they are heavy and expensive and meant for hand-held use. You kind of have to wrestle with them to move the camera--after all that's the point. Not something to use for still life at all. Ideal for shooting from a helicopter or boat.

 

[eli griggs]

It's been a long time, but my impression of gyro stabilizers is they are heavy and expensive and meant for hand-held use. You kind of have to wrestle with them to move the camera--after all that's the point. Not something to use for still life at all. Ideal for shooting from a helicopter or boat.

Strange, I would have thought form would have followed function as so many good video cameras have be reduced in size over recent years and a person might think smaller gyros would still be capable to handle Hasselblad sized kit and larger.