Posted by Richard Crowley on 08/20/07 16:30

"peter" wrote ...
>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?

If your head is too wimpy to control the tilt mass, it may also be
too wimpy to take the extra weight of your proposed below-the-
axis counterweights. I'm game for experiments and kludges of
most any variety, but this really seems like a case where you
need to get yourself the proper head.

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