The Sirui PH-10 Swing Head
Extensive practical test with the Sirui PH-10 Swing Head
In my capacity as Sirui ambassador, I put the brand new Sirui PH-10 gimbal through its paces over the past few weeks! You can read how that went in this blog. Although a tool like this is of course extremely suitable for hut and bird photography, I stayed close to myself and went along on a macro and wildlife path…
Why use a swing head, cQ gimbal?
A gimbal is an accessory that you place on top of your tripod to hold your camera and lens in a perfectly balanced position. In particular, wildlife and sports photographers who work with heavy and long lenses of 300mm or more use these types of tripod heads.
These large telephoto lenses are difficult to operate without vibration, because the long focal lengths amplify the vibrations; a stable platform to work from is all the more important.
Commonly used tripod heads are the ball heads. These work quickly and changing positions is fairly easy. But you have to tighten the head every time you let go of your camera. The big advantage of a gimbal is that you can let go of your entire setup and it stays perfectly in position.
As soon as the action starts, you can immediately grab your camera and in a fraction of a second you are shooting again. The smooth horizontal and vertical panning capabilities of your gimbal ensure that you can easily keep following your subject.
If you align your camera well balanced on your swing head, it will be operable with 1 finger, regardless of the weight of your setup! No more fatigue in your arms after a day of intensive shooting.
A gimbal isn't the most affordable support for your lenses, but it's a must-have if you're working with long telephoto zooms. Your “keeper rate” will clearly improve!
The Sirui PH-10
At the end of June 2020 I received a copy of the Sirui PH-10 to test in the field. When unpacking I immediately noticed that it is very small and compact compared to my old Gimbal, a Wimberley WH-200 that is now about 10 years old. In addition, this Gimbal was also very thoughtfully delivered with a medium sized arca swiss plate so that you can get started right away, many other manufacturers lack this extra service and you often have to order the plate separately.
But not only the size was a welcome surprise, because of the 10-layer carbon construction of the Sirui PH-10 it was considerably lighter, only 938 grams! My old, heavy Gimbal of over 1540 grams was of course replaced immediately.
Preparing the Sirui PH-10 for use
During this test, the gimbal was used on my favorite tripod, the Sirui R-4213X. You screw it on top of the tripod and secure it by tightening the 3 bushes in the bottom of your tripod base.
For balancing my heaviest setup; a Pentax K-1 with battery grip and the Sigma 500mm f4.5 I had to slide the combination far forward in the so-called gimbal cradle, the L-shaped support at the bottom. In this position the balance was perfect and the 5 kilos of weight rotated around the horizontal and vertical pivots with minimal effort. If you are going to use it yourself, it is therefore important that you place your center of gravity in the middle of the gimbal for perfect balance.
For maximum deflection I don't use this foot in its lowest position, but about 1/3 from the bottom, I then get maximum vertical deflection with this setup.
The gimbal is equipped with 2 large rotary knobs that release or tighten the two axes. You can even determine the friction if you don't want it to turn completely free. Because the buttons are large, they can of course also be easily operated with gloves on.
Before you start shooting, of course set up your tripod as horizontally as possible. This way your horizon will also remain horizontal when panning. Another option is to unscrew the ring to which your lens foot is attached, then you suddenly get a 3-way option for adjusting your composition.
The Sirui PH-10 With short telephoto
My first full shoot with this setup wasn't exactly standard. I used it in combination with a 200mm macro lens. What was the case, the test period coincided with the mating season of the "flying deer". These 8 centimeter beetles walk up the trunks of mainly oak trees in search of their partners. Due to the subdued light and the movement of these insects, you cannot really avoid using a tripod in these circumstances. The panning possibilities that this gimbal gave me turned out to be a godsend! Almost all adjustments in composition or following these insects went so incredibly easy, all the time for me to mainly focus on the creative process and not on the technical process.
The Sirui PH-10 with long telephoto
Not far from my house is an open field where deer often come to have a look around the morning and evening twilight. An opportunity to use this Gimbal with my heaviest combination, the K-1 with the 500mm.
I had my doubts beforehand whether this small set could handle that weight. It is not easy to move 5 kilos around a small axis without friction. Friction that can potentially affect the smoothness of rotation. Nothing is less true. The setup ran incredibly smoothly, without any hitches or stiffness. So the load capacity is fine, especially now that today's setups are considerably lighter than my setup.
As I was posting I heard some rustling in the bushes 10 feet to my left; a fox was on its way to the lawn. I was soon able to pick it up in my viewfinder and the Gimbal allowed me to track it without any problem. The moment he stopped for a moment and looked in my direction, I had the composition ready and I was able to make a nice portrait of the fox.
(At the edge of this field I shot a short video, you can also find this at the bottom of this post)
Not much later a deer came onto the field. And actually the same applied here, following the deer, in the right composition, was a piece of cake. Because I like to keep ISOs as low as possible, my shutter speed is a bit lower in these cases (ISO 500, 1/50s). With these types of focal lengths, any vibration is disastrous for a sharp image. However, due to the use of carbon, the PH-10 is so stiff that vibrations are minimal. The result is a sharp image, even with slower shutter speeds.
Conclusion
The Sirui PH-10 is here to stay, and more than that! The fun of shooting with long lenses is back.
It is compact and therefore easy to carry, rotates very smoothly so panning is problem-free. Due to its rigidity, it is virtually vibration-free.
You may expect that as a Sirui ambassador I am biased, but nothing could be further from the truth. Much of my feedback is also forwarded back to the manufacturer. My task is to use it, to indicate what is good and to give feedback on possible points for improvement. In this case there are also some points for improvement, but they do not concern the gimbal itself. It does come in a nice carrying case, but with me it often doesn't leave the tripod for a long time. So I would opt for a padded sock that I can pull over the head to protect it during transport. The supplied tripod plate is a great service, but my lens foot is 3 times as long as the plate. So I would rather have the choice of delivery with a short, medium or long arca-swiss plate.
But on Mike's scale of performance, usability and design, it gets a solid 9!
Buy this tripod yourself? You can do this via my webshop, it will then be sent directly from the importer to you. If it is temporarily out of stock, we will hold your order and you will receive it as soon as stock is available again.
Hi Mike
I have just recently purchased this Gimbal head (Sirui PH-10).
I am using it on a Manfroto 190L Aluminum Tripod. My Camera Equipment I use which I bought the Gimbal for is as follows
Pentax K3 iii and the Pentax 150 – 450 zoom lens it fits and works on the Gimbal Head very smooth in operation etc. My only concern is I can't fully balance the camera/lens combination so it stays perfectly still in any position its either front or rear heavy. and when I zoom in or out the weight will change as the zoom range changes.
I can put resistance on the top clamp knob and this will stop the lens from tilting forward or back.
Any suggestions that may help, the lenses you have mentioned above seem to be Prime lenses and poss Heavier than my set up as you are using a k1
I have followed some of your videos on You Tube taking about the Pentax K3iii
I look forward to your reply Email Thank Mike
Hello Michael, zooming a lens in- or out unfortunately messes up the balance of the Gimbal. Therefore it indeed works best with prime lenses. There is no good solution that I know of….
Vriendelijke groeten,
Mike
I agree with the author for the most part. It is a nice light compact and affordable gimbal. However there are a few drawbacks.
1st. The tripod plate is too short (as described). For my Nikon D7200 in combination with Sigma 150-600 mm. C a plate of 100-120 mm. is needed.
2nd. There is a slight play in the horizontal axis. This is especially disturbing when you apply a slight friction to this axis. It is not an exemplary fault because I noticed the same thing with another specimen.
3rd. Being compact also has a disadvantage. When I align the center of the lens with the center of the horizontal axis, the whole thing cannot be aimed up enough to follow flying birds. I now have to place the lens higher, which means that the whole thing no longer remains in balance when aiming up/down.
Despite these drawbacks, I am very satisfied with the Sirui PH10. I definitely recommend it.
Greetings, Herman Lambers.