Hey, gang --
A couple of Thursdays ago I braved the beginnings of a snowstorm and set off down I-81 to Winchester, VA, about 45 miles south of home, with an SMC-A*400/2.8 and two bodies. Destination: Wimberley. Objective: Proving to myself, once and for all, that this lens wouldn't balance properly on a Wimberley head so I could stop lusting after one.
Lens collars are one of my exasperation points with Pentax. For every one they do right (the 600/4 comes to mind), they do others with the foot too short and too far back (like my 400), or omit it completely on lenses that by rights ought to be collared. I'm using a Really Right Stuff MPR-1 6" lens plate attached as far forward as it will go, but even pulling it all the way back in my ballhead's clamp, the rig is more nose-heavy than I'm fully comfortable with.
Wimberley is in a small industrial park, two easy right turns off the Interstate. Two smallish office rooms in front, plus a back shop of indeterminate size (I didn't get to see that). The tops of the wall cubbies chronicle the evolution of the Wimberley head, all the way from an early prototype made out of wood and metal strapping. Nice people, too. David Wimberley introduced himself, claiming that he's not a photo- grapher. I asked how it happened that so respected a photographic product was developed by a nonshooter; he just laughed and kind of changed the subject.
Anyway, they got out a full Wimberley atop a Gitzo 1410, and I got out the 400 with LX and winder. We hefted it up, slid it back and forth in the clamp a bit, tightened it down, and loosened the gimbal controls. Oh, crap! It balanced. Nicely. You really can move your rig around with one finger. It's easy to see why people who have this head love it. The Wimberley clamp is a help here: it has channels in the bed that let the plate safety stops go almost to the center in either direction. (I understand that the latest RRS clamp does this, too.)
It was interesting that the staff said they hadn't seen any Pentax big glass in person. (They agreed that it's green, by the way.) Would I mind if they took some digital images of the setup? <vbg>
So a good time was had by all -- but the little angel and devil on my shoulders, Enablement and Disenablement, are yammering at me louder than ever. Sigh...
Later, Stephen
