If you've never tried a gimbal head with a tripod when photographing wildlife, you really must give it a shot. The freedom of movement a gimbal offers can be pretty exhilarating stuff. Even the most fluid of ball heads can't compare.

I had just such a revelation recently while using Induro's new GHB2 Gimbal head with an Induro carbon fiber tripod to photograph red-tailed hawks along the Hudson River. As the hawks soared and swooped over the Hudson, I was able to track them easily with the Nikkor 300mm f/2.8 VR II lens I was also testing (see page 84) thanks to the free-flowing Induro gimbal mount.

Gimbal heads are, of course, nothing new. A Virginia-based company called Wimberly has been making them since the early Nineties and, truth be told, the Induro device I tried out bore a striking resemblance to those models. But no matter. When it ain't broke, don't fix it, I suppose.

What also hasn't changed much with these latest gimbals from Induro is the high price. The GHB2, which is the top of the line of three new gimbal heads from Induro, sells for $489 which is more than double what most high-end ball heads cost. Like I said, however, the difference between a ball head and a gimbal is like night and day.

The concept of a gimbal—which is a pivoted support system that allows an object to float "weightlessly" around a single axis—goes back to the 200s BC when Greek inventor Philo of Byzantium tried to created a no-drip ink pot. The 300mm f/2.8 VR II and Nikon D3s I attached to the head weighed quite a bit more than Philo's ink pot but the GHB2 had no trouble suspending it. According to Induro, the head should be able to easily balance a 500mm or 600mm lens as well.