Sidekick Adaptor
I have a Wimberly Sidekick that was originally designed to fit a notched Ballhead. I have had it for 8 years & it continues to functions beautifully but when combined with a Ballhead it is a heavy assembly. To reduce weight a aluminium adaptor to replace the bullhead was made but recently I was given an old 50mm Acrylic (Perspex) rod that had been melted at one end. More out of curiosity than need, a new Sidekick Adaptor was made with the body of Acrylic. Acrylic is less that half the density of Aluminium & as structural strength is not really an issue it seemed to have potential. It also has the advantage that it machines like cheese & you can watch the progress of internal machining from the outside. Also a glued joint using Acrifix develops the full strength of the parent material. A key was machined to align the backing plate for the clamp but there is no structural advantage to this.
The Ballhead it replaced is 615 grams. The Aluminum variant is 410 grams. The Acrylic variant is 310 grams.
The Ballhead it replaced is 615 grams. The Aluminum variant is 410 grams. The Acrylic variant is 310 grams.
The first one was machined from the burnt end of the rod & polished up nicely but some slight surface crazing soon appeared. To remedy this & short circuit the polishing process, a headlight lens sealer was applied. WRONG! Within 24 hours every surface of the rod was deeply crazed. Interestingly the glued acrylic plate that takes the clamp was unaffected. Some research seemed to implicate the previous proximity of fire so the next one was made from the other end of the rod which worked fine.
The completed assembly with the second Acrylic body looks like this.
And with Wimberly Sidekick fitted. Strengthwise I am happy to hang my EF500 f4 + Mega Beamer off it.
I was intrigued by a $60 price on eBay for a Andoer Full Gimball Head. The illustration showed a Wimberly or Really Right Stuff clone so I got one. The external finish is quite acceptable but the drag/locking screw either didn't change the drag or made a graunching sound when tightened & turned. Pulling it apart the cost cutting design & the reason for the noise became apparent. The cylindrical bearing surfaces are aluminium running on un-anodised aluminium & the locking screw just engaged directly with an undercut on the mandrel. (Drag is provided by the silicone lubricant). On the photo you can see the black surface treatment has been damaged by the screw. A yellow oil-filled nylon split collar was machined to a tight fit in the undercut & the bearing diameter & the head reassembled. Now the tight fitting nylon collar provides a degree of drag & the original screw bears on the nylon collar instead of the mandrel. In this way the drag can be adjusted up until a full lock is reached. It is still no Wimberly but at about 15% of the price it is good value & perfectly adequate for my back deck shooting.
Weigth is 745g.
Compared with:
Chinese Andoer gimbal head 855g.
Wimberly Sidekick + Ballhead 1205g.
Wimberly Sidekick with Acrylic adaptor 915g.
Compared with:
Chinese Andoer gimbal head 855g.
Wimberly Sidekick + Ballhead 1205g.
Wimberly Sidekick with Acrylic adaptor 915g.