The mirrorless switch has me excited to get out and shoot. With the 100-500mm lens requiring support in all but bright light, it was time to let my decades old Manfrotto tripod and monopod go and make the switch to Carbon Fiber. I went with SIRUI mostly, except I wasn’t really a fan of their tripods, so I have a SIRUI gimbal head on iFootage brand legs.
The weight savings is significant. Especially the gimbal head. I went with the iFootage Gazelle TC7 Carbon Fiber tripod with a SIRUI PH-10 Carbon Fiber Gimbal Head. I also wanted a really short monopod with a good head I could carry for lighter applications. The SIRUI P-326 has practically become a handle for my camera. I leave it on the R7/100-500mm combo most of the time with the Wimberley MH-100 Wimberley MonoGimbal Head. If I don’t need it, it’s light enough to ignore. Otherwise I have support anytime and it weighs next to nothing.
Plates & Plate Accessories
I did find a few tripod head accessories I can’t live without that I want to mention
I don’t have to lose my investment in Manfrotto gear. This handy adapter lets me use arca-swiss plates on my Manfrotto heads.
I really like to use a shoulder strap for my cameras. I used to use a Manfrotto plate with a built in strap buckle. This serves the same purpose for the arca system.
