Trying a Uniqball UBH45 at surfing

Thanks to Mr. Csaba Karai, CEO and Founder of Hungary-based Uniqball, I recently received a Uniqball UBH45 for field testing and evaluation.

According to their website, "Uniqball is a revolutionary new type of ball head, combining all the attributes of a traditional ball head, a gimbal head, a pan & tilt head and a fluid head. It has all of the great advantages of these established heads but without any of the drawbacks. And here's the best bit, it has an integrated levelling ball so you can always shoot with a perfectly straight horizon."

I will be testing this support for my various imaging applications - telephoto action photography (BIFs and surfing), static birds, astro, macro and nature filming. The supports I currently use for these are a 3421/393 gimbal head, a huge 516 fluid head and a 410 geared head, all by Manfrotto.

 

I'm hoping that the Uniqball will be a one-solution approach to all my tripod head requirements. Very compact and light, it has the potential to reduce considerably the support baggage I bring to the field.

 

Let's see how the product performs in the coming days.

 

My surfing workhorse (1D MIV + 500 f4 L IS + 1.4x TC II) sits atop the compact and light Uniqball UBH45, as I prepare to shoot surfers at San Juan beach.

Shooting info - 7D + Sigma 10-20, 11 mm, f/8, ISO 100, 1/200 sec, fill-in from onboard flash, manual exposure, hand held.

 

 

Shooting info - San Juan Beach, La Union, Philippines, November 16, 2014, Canon 1D MIV + 500 f4 L IS + 1.4x TC II,
700 mm, f/6.3, ISO 640, 1/1600 sec, manual exposure in available light, Uniqball UBH45/Manfrotto 455B support.

 

Shooting info - San Juan Beach, La Union, Philippines, November 16, 2014, Canon 1D MIV + 500 f4 L IS + 1.4x TC II,
700 mm, f/6.3, ISO 800, 1/1600 sec, manual exposure in available light, Uniqball UBH45/Manfrotto 455B support.

Shooting info - San Juan Beach, La Union, Philippines, November 16, 2014, Canon 1D MIV + 500 f4 L IS + 1.4x TC II,
700 mm, f/6.3, ISO 800, 1/1600 sec, manual exposure in available light, Uniqball UBH45/Manfrotto 455B support.



 

 

The amazing AF of the Canon 5D MIII at surfing

I continue to be impressed by the amazingly fast and accurate AF of the Canon 5D MIII at surfing, even with an ancient Mark II 1.4x TC on the equally old 500 f4 IS.

The full frame sensor provides a wide canvas around the subject, and this allows framing and compositional flexibility in post, while still leaving enough pixels for big prints after cropping. The larger field of view likewise makes initial subject acquisition much easier.

 

 



Shooting Info - San Juan, La Union, February 22, 2014, 5D MIII + 500 F4 L IS + 1.4X TC II, 700 mm, f/7.1, ISO 320, 1/1600 sec, 475B/516 support, manual exposure in available light, near full frame.  

 

Shooting Info - San Juan, La Union, February 22, 2014, 5D MIII + 500 F4 L IS + 1.4X TC II, 700 mm, f/7.1, ISO 320, 1/1600 sec, 475B/516 support, manual exposure in available light, near full frame.  

 



Shooting Info - San Juan, La Union, February 22, 2014, 5D MIII + 500 F4 L IS + 1.4X TC II, 700 mm, f/7.1, ISO 320, 1/1600 sec, 475B/516 support, manual exposure in available light, major crop.  

 



Shooting Info - San Juan, La Union, February 22, 2014, 5D MIII + 500 F4 L IS + 1.4X TC II, 700 mm, f/7.1, ISO 320, 1/1600 sec, 475B/516 support, manual exposure in available light, major crop.  

 



Shooting Info - San Juan, La Union, February 22, 2014, 5D MIII + 500 F4 L IS + 1.4X TC II, 700 mm, f/7.1, ISO 640, 1/2500 sec, 475B/516 support, manual exposure in available light, near full frame.  
 







Shooting Info - San Juan, La Union, February 22, 2014, 5D MIII + 500 F4 L IS + 1.4X TC II, 700 mm, f/7.1, ISO 320, 1/1600 sec, 475B/516 support, manual exposure in available light, near full frame.

 

 

San Juan Beach on January 18 and 19, 2014

The waves were rough and virtually unrideable, but a few brave surfers and the captivating San Juan Beach scene in sweet light provided relief to my itchy shutter finger.

 

 

Shooting info - San Juan beach, La Union, January 18, 2014, 1D MIV + 500 f4 IS + 1.4x TC II, 700 mm, ISO 1250, 1/1600 sec, f/7.1, manual exposure in available light, 475B/516 support, near full frame.

 

Shooting info - San Juan beach, La Union, January 18, 2014, 1D MIV + 500 f4 IS + 1.4x TC II, 700 mm, ISO 640, 1/125 sec, f/7.1, manual exposure in available light, 475B/516 support, uncropped full frame.

 

Shooting info - San Juan beach, La Union, January 18, 2014, 1D MIV + 500 f4 IS + 1.4x TC II, 700 mm, ISO 400, 1/1600 sec, f/7.1, manual exposure in available light, 475B/516 support, near full frame.

 

Shooting info - San Juan beach, La Union, January 18, 2014, 1D MIV + 500 f4 IS + 1.4x TC II, 700 mm, ISO 320, 1/160 sec, f/7.1, manual exposure in available light, 475B/516 support, uncropped full frame.

Shooting info - San Juan beach, La Union, January 19, 2014, 1D MIV + 500 f4 IS + 1.4x TC II, 700 mm, ISO 320, 1/1250 sec, f/9, manual exposure in available light, 475B/516 support, near full frame

Shooting info - San Juan beach, La Union, January 19, 2014, 1D MIV + 500 f4 IS + 1.4x TC II, 700 mm, ISO 2500, 1/1600 sec, f/6.3, manual exposure in available light, 475B/516 support, near full frame



 

More surfing shots with the 5D MIII

Light was golden this Sunday afternoon (October 20th), so I drove over to nearby San Juan beach to play anew with the 5D MIII's AF at surfers.

 

 

Shooting Info - San Juan, La Union, October 20, 2013, 5D MIII + 500 F4 L IS + 1.4X TC II, 700 mm, f/7.1, ISO 640, 1/1600 sec, 475B/516 support, manual exposure.

 

Shooting Info - San Juan, La Union, October 20, 2013, 5D MIII + 500 F4 L IS + 1.4X TC II, 700 mm, f/7.1, ISO 640, 1/2000 sec, 475B/516 support, manual exposure

 

Shooting Info - San Juan, La Union, October 20, 2013, 5D MIII + 500 F4 L IS + 1.4X TC II, 700 mm, f/6.3, ISO 2500, 1/1600 sec, 475B/516 support, manual exposure.

 

Shooting Info - San Juan, La Union, October 20, 2013, 5D MIII + 500 F4 L IS + 1.4X TC II, 700 mm, f/6.3, ISO 1250, 1/2000 sec, 475B/516 support, manual exposure.

 

Shooting Info - San Juan, La Union, October 20, 2013, 5D MIII + 500 F4 L IS + 1.4X TC II, 700 mm, f/7.1, ISO 1250, 1/1600 sec, 475B/516 support, manual exposure.



Shooting Info - San Juan, La Union, October 20, 2013, 5D MIII + 500 F4 L IS + 1.4X TC II, 700 mm, f/7.1, ISO 640, 1/2000 sec, 475B/516 support, manual exposure.



 

Trying the 5D Mark III at Surfing

After over a month of hibernation in my camera bag (due to my busy schedule), my new camera finally flexed its AF muscle at action - surfing at nearby San Juan beach.

The skies were overcast, and this muted the colors, but I quickly found out that the much acclaimed AF performance of this full frame body deserves its reputation.

Sometimes, I do miss the faster fps and narrower FOV of my 1D4 and 7D, but the 5D3's 6 fps is certainly adequate to catch the peak moments. The numerous AF points allowed framing flexibility via off-center points in AI servo.

 

Shooting Info - San Juan, La Union, August 25, 2013, 5DM3 + 500 F4 l is + 1.4X TC II, 700 mm, f/6.3, ISO 640, 1/1600 sec, 475B/516 support, manual exposure, near full frame.

 

Shooting Info - San Juan, La Union, August 25, 2013, 5DM3 + 500 F4 l is + 1.4X TC II, 700 mm, f/6.3, ISO 640, 1/1600 sec, 475B/516 support, manual exposure, near full frame.

 

Shooting Info - San Juan, La Union, August 25, 2013, 5DM3 + 500 F4 l is + 1.4X TC II, 700 mm, f/7.1, ISO 640, 1/1600 sec, 475B/516 support, manual exposure, major crop.

Shooting Info - San Juan, La Union, August 25, 2013, 5DM3 + 500 F4 l is + 1.4X TC II, 700 mm, f/6.3, ISO 640, 1/1600 sec, 475B/516 support, manual exposure, major crop.

Shooting Info - San Juan, La Union, August 25, 2013, 5DM3 + 500 F4 l is + 1.4X TC II, 700 mm, f/7.1, ISO 1250, 1/1600 sec, 475B/516 support, manual exposure, major crop.