Posted by peter on 08/18/07 20:34

I have a cheap video tripod head that would tilt forward if the camera is
already slightly tilted forward, and would tilt backwards if the camera is
already slightly tilted backwards. The only way to cope with this is to
increase the tilt friction. But this makes it harder to tilt smoothly; it
would jerk. I'd like to balance the camera so that the tilt friction can be
reduced to near zero.

The more expensive tripod head have a sliding plate to move the center of
gravity of the camera directly over the pivot point. I don't see how this
solves the problem. As long as the center of gravity is *above* the pivot
point, the problem is still there. The solution should be to make the center
of gravity lie on the same axis as the pivot point, and the only way to
shift the center of gravity there is put a counter weight below the pivot
point. This is like balancing a wheel; if one side is too heavy, you put a
weight on the opposite side.

But I have not seen any such counterbalance on any videographer's tripod. So
I wonder what the established solution is.

Another possible solution is to use more complex mechanism to create a
virtual pivot point inside the camera body where the CG is?

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