Wimberley MH-100 Wimberley MonoGimbal Head - Made in USA

It seems expensive for what is a fairly basic piece of equipment, but after spending just one day shooting with this on my monopod, with a Canon 100-400 lens attached, I am convinced!It’s very well designed, and there doesn’t seem to be anything similar on the market (at least with the same compact design).Shooting with this felt very smooth and flexible.The camera felt securely held, and perfectly balanced despite the off-centre position, which seems unusual at first, but becomes second nature within minutes.

Very pleased with the Wimberley MH-100 monogimball - very well made/designed, smooth movement, reliable - feels very solid, and a pleasure to use on a monopod!

functionality

A gimbal head on a sturdy tripod is the ultimate setup for photography with large, heavy super-telephoto lenses. Unfortunately, hauling a multiple pound gimbal head with a multiple pound tripod along with your camera and lens can be too much in many instances. Monopod to the rescue-sort of. A lens mounted directly to a monopod can only rotate via its mount collar, tilting means leaning the monopod. Most users resort to a ball head or a single axis tilt head on a monopod. Okay, now you can tilt the lens/camera up and down. You still have to loosen and retighten the head every single time. If the head isn’t tightened enough, the lens and camera can violently slam against the monopod. What to do?Enter the Wimberley MH-100. Yes at $179 it seems expensive for such a compact piece of kit, once you have it setup and in use, the price will be forgotten. My Pentax DFA 150-450mm f4.5~5.6 lens and K3 body is incredibly unbalanced when mounted to a monopod by the lens tripod foot. The foot is nowhere near the center of gravity and adding a KP or K3 body makes it worse. The MH-100 cures the problem when used with a 3.5 or 4 inch long Acra Swiss type mounting plate. I used the Wimberley P-400 but any GOOD brand will work (remember, you are counting on the plate to hold thousands of dollars worth of equipment!). I mounted the MH-100 to my heavy duty Manfrotto monopod then the lens plate to the foot on the 150-450. Add the camera body and its time to start trial and error for the correct position of the lens plate. Once you find the balance point, lighten the plate screws. After that, you can compensate for balance shifts by sliding the plate in the MH-100 clamp. Property adjusted, the camera and lens stay where you have it pointed even with the tilt knob unlocked. I can move the lens/ camera with the tip of a finger. The gimbal bearing is long and smooth, the lock knob large, sturdy and easy to use. The MH-100 only adds a couple of inches to the height and width of a monopod, so it should fit in most monopod cases too.The setup looks odd and ungainly. The monopod is off to the left with the camera/lens hanging beside it to the right. Trust me, the rig is very easy to use once you get past the looks. I had been hand-holding my big lens because it was not ergonomic to use on a monopod with any head I tried. With the MH-100, the camera and lens are a pure joy to use on the monopod.

I bought this to use on my monopod for birds-in-flight and to help steady my camera when photographing wading and marsh birds from my small canoe. I also wanted it for travel photography. I pair it with my Olympus OM-1 and 100-400mm zoom (+/- 1.4 or 2x teleconverters). I have purchased other Wimberley products and like them this head is very nicely made and very smooth in use. But as described it weights almost one pound. You could say that it is "over built" and supports an impressive load or that it is heavier than needed for supporting a mirrorless camera and moderate zoom lens. My impression and the reason for 4 stars is that it is much heavier than needed for my use but I'm sure for a small company making multiple models is an expensive proposition. I'm going to keep it but won't add it to my usual travel equipment because of its weight.

Well made, sturdy, smooth operations, holds fast, pricey but well worth the money!!

I was hesitant to pay this much for a MonoGimbal head, but I'm learning that you often get what you pay for, and this is no exception.The design of this allows you to move your camera up and down without leaning the monopod forward or back. It's a fairly simple design that is executed perfectly. You can feel the quality in the build of it and rest assured that it will last a very long time.

I've used monopods for over 40 years, especially when I photographed professional sports as a photojournalist, using long lenses like 600mm. Monopods are essential, but this Wimberly Monogimbal is a GAME CHANGER. It allows you to balance the lens in horizontal position, but it is free rotating so that you can easily aim the lens up or down without having to tilt the monopod. The other day I was photographing a bald eagle high overhead in a tree, and with my tall monopod fully extended and using the Monogimbal, I was able to almost point the camera straight up, which you can't do without a head like this. But the beauty is, unlike other monopod heads, when you let go of the camera (holding on to the monopod) it doesn't flop forward or backward. The lens just returns to a neutral, horizontal position if it's balanced properly, or stays at any position without being held there. You can tighten the knob and lock it into any position though. I cannot say enough good things about this Wimberly monopod head. It's small, it's beautifully made, it's as smooth as silk, and it's perfect. I also have the Wimberley Sidekick gimbal head adapter for my tripod, but I don't use it as much as this Monogimbal.