Hair elastics ( don't know what else to call them) work well too and are less likely to snap.

well yes, but in all honesty, it isn't really a professional solution. the real answer to sticky, jerky pans is get a decent tripod.

it never fails to amaze me that people will happily spend $5k> on a camera, and piddle-shit on a tripod, and then go in public and use an elastic band..

leslie

I have decent gear to be sure, but even great sticks and heads (that are hand operated) are susceptible to a jerky arm/hand and while fluid heads etc... are able to reduce that (even a lot) it seems to me that taking a black stretchy band and moving with your hand/finger in that will give some added smoothness when it's really necessary ( very long zooms etc... ) that or get a crank controlled head and take the hands completely out of the equation.

Dave

Sherman: I call them "hair bobs" - don't know why but coupled to a very expensive pro fluid head they work just great. And Leslie, when people see you doing crazy stuff like this that's when they know you are a pro.

"when people see you doing crazy stuff like this that's when they know you are a pro."

Great quote! And oh so very true. =)

- Ray
Some of my stuff on Vimeo
www.undergroundplanet.com

How many know to warm their fluid head up?
Do we all balance it correctly.

Judging by how many of our tripods get returned from rentals I'd say not many know about the latter.

Bob.

well i stand corrected - but to me, (after 40+ years in tv, etc.,), if i saw some one using a rubber band or similar i'd think otherwise.

there is absolutely nothing that compares to a couple of fingers gentle pulling or pushing, raising or lowering a good fluid head. you start where you want and finish exactly where you want with a smoothness that should be liquidity itself.

and bob, as usual, is 100% right. how many people warm up their head (now there's an opening for a couple of lines... oh dear), and check their balance (ditto again) before using their tripod.

again, if you realy think it'll make me look like a pro, i'll invest in a couple of rubbers (ditto, yet again),

love and peace

leslie

"How many know to warm their fluid head up?
Do we all balance it correctly.

Judging by how many of our tripods get returned from rentals I'd say
not many know about the latter. "

Not to mentoin the ones that bend/tilt the head to make it fit into the bag.. as opposed to loosening the handle..

As for the rubber band trick, its a great means for one to learn how to manipulate a tripod slowly.
Once you can master the rubber band trick, you can do this manualy without the band itself.

I think they are called Hair Ties. If you get the old-fashioned ones with the two plastic balls attached they are great for keeping your microphone cord tight to the boom pole.

and of course they are great for keeping your pony tail together, aren't they Spot!

It'll be tights for pop-shields next (sorry to OT into audio world) :)

Actually, Pantyhose for pop screens is in that same series of FASST tips, recorded about 6 years back, and we decided to resurrect them for YouTube.
Leslie, you might think it doesn't look pro, but frankly, the tip isn't aimed at a pro. If you're a "pro" and you show up with a Velbon or Tamron tripod like the one seen in the video, you will either:
A-impress the hell out of your client, friends, and family if you get great pans and results out of a crummy tripod
B-suffer great embarassment at the hands of your friends, family, and clients, because you get footage equal to the quality of the tripod.

It's about making do with what you have. Hairbands, rubber bands, water bottles, pantyhose can all help raise the bar of quality, and at the end of the day, no one cares if you used clothespins or gel frames, they just want to see great pictures, right?
Surprised someone found those clips already!

nothin wrong with it imo,, lots of household stuff on my shoots ,all sorts of rubber bands and bungies are in one of my bags along with a bunch of good ole c47's
good tip

Embarrassingly, I'd like to know more about "warming the fluid" of your tripod head. I've been doing this for well over 10 years and have never heard of that. What do you do? Just rotate the head back and forth to provide friction to warm the fluid?
(Please... not off-colour comments - I know I really set myself up with all that... ;-) - but I am curious...)

I have a treasured Velbon fluid-head tripod (can't remember the model number, but it's old) that probably has more frequent-flier miles racked up than most people. For years I tried to get super-smooth action on zooms with a short handle, regular handle, and a super-long handle. Finally I discovered the secret was to remove the handle completely, and just grab the fluid head itself. The reason it works is because it takes a considerable amount of torque to move the assembly in such a fashion, and the necessary amount of torque can be easily modulated by one's hand. With this technique I get beautiful flow and precise control, even at extreme zooms.

I grap the tripod head as well quite often. There is no need to take the handle off to do this however.

When shooting extreme CUs of food or telephoto shots I find the elestic band or hair tie invaluable. Great for smoother tilts too.
Never had a client question me yet.
Never had a client ask about the Spiderman cushion filled with polystyrene beads that I place my camera on for low angle dolly and static shots.
Nine bucks.
Works great at a fraction of the cost of a Cinesaddle.
Not that there's anything wrong with a Cinesaddle, but I have other places to spend money.
I'll go toe to toe with any fluid head using my Manfratto 501 head and a hair tie.

" Embarrassingly, I'd like to know more about "warming the fluid" of your tripod head."

After you've levelled the head and before mounting the camera onto the tripod operate the tilt through it's range several times briskly. Do the same with the pan. This will distribute the oil through the damping system and you'll find your pans and tilts become smoother.

Make certain the release plate is firmly attached to the camera but do not overtighten. Overtightning the screw can crack the camera case, especially on some of the bottom loading cameras.

The centre of gravity of the camera should be aligned with the centre of the tripod. The camera should have no tendancy to tip forward or backward. This is adjusted by sliding the camera forward or backwards. The more expensive systems allow you to lock the position independant of the release plate.

Most heads have a counterbalance force adjustment. Miller use a stepped adjustment, Sachtler a fully variable adjustment. When adjusted correctly you should be able to tilt the camera to any position and it will not move from that i.e. you shouldn't need to lock the tilt to hold the camera in position.

No head will work correctly if the camera is too heavy or too light!

You can improve the performance of cheap legs by running a bungie cord from the top of the tripod to a shot bag sitting on the ground. That preloads the wobbly legs. Good solid legs are as important as the head. Some of the cheap legs will bow slightly as you put your hand on the camera. They'll also windup as you pan. As you take the load off the pan handle the legs twist back.

Bob.

"After you've levelled the head and before mounting the camera onto the tripod operate the tilt through it's range several times briskly. Do the same with the pan. This will distribute the oil through the damping system and you'll find your pans and tilts become smoother."

Awesome! Thank you Bob! I've been using a Vinten Vision 11 for years now and never knew that. If I ever "felt" it, I probably would have just said, "Well, my pans and tilts get better after a few tries... I just need to back into the swing of it." Now I know it's probably both me AND the tripod warming up.

If you're worried about looking professional, just use black rubber bands :)

Cartoni Focus - "infinitely" adjustable counterbalance, perfect for my unadulterated (hence lightweight) Z1 but also capable of heavier. The trick to get centre of gravity is to slide it on from the front not the back. Then adjust counterbalance until you can tilt to any angle and it just stays there - the only tripod I found that could do that with my Z1. Previously demo'd Manfrotto 501, 503, Sachtler, Libec, Vinten etc but (depending on model) they either didn't quite balance or only balanced at certain angles or only oil damped in one dimension or had slight (but noticeable) backlash or stickiness. Nice big bar for attaching those rubber bands to also...