Panoramic head

Photographic tripod heads differ from film-making and television in a simplified design. Unlike a camcorder and a movie camera that capture a moving image, the camera only needs to be firmly fixed in a certain position for the duration of the exposure . Filming and television tripod heads to ensure smooth panning is equipped with mechanical or hydraulic damping devices , often with multi-stage adjustment of the degree of damping ^[2] . Currently, liquid type dampers are most widely used ^[3] . However, there are gas-filled dampers, for example, based on nitrogen ^[4] . In addition to damping, these devices, as a rule, perform a counterbalancing function that compensates for the displacement of the center of mass of heavy shooting equipment and optics ^[3] . There is a whole class of heads, the device of which allows you to rotate the camera around the center of mass, with minimal effort. Photographic tripods are not equipped with counterbalances due to the relative lightness of the camera.

Another important difference is the need for video recording of two, not three degrees of freedom, suitable for panning. Moreover, both panning planes need to be accurately oriented relative to the horizon . Therefore, the design of tripod heads of this type is much more complicated and consists of a hemispherical section for attaching to a tripod and the actual panoramic head with two hinges . Before shooting, the operator, setting up a tripod, sets the axis of the head in a circular level vertically, regardless of the position of the legs of the tripod. This allows you to eliminate the "horizon obstruction" at any position of the camera due to the strict vertical axis of the horizontal pan axis. For shooting frames with an inclined horizon , a special device such as the “Dutch Head” ( English Dutch Head ) is used, additionally mounted between the head and the camera ^[2] .

Photographic tripods are equipped with ball-type heads that provide precise fixation of the camera in any position, or with articulated heads with three degrees of freedom. The latter are limitedly suitable for amateur film and video shooting, but they do not allow you to adjust the position of the horizontal panorama axis and are not equipped with dampers.

The heads for telescopes have the most complex device, providing not only stability, but also automatic compensation of the Earth's daily rotation . For this, expensive drives with stepper motors and a special head design are used to accurately position its main axis relative to the ecliptic or the celestial equator .

Heads for film and television

The most important characteristic of panoramic heads for cinema, in addition to carrying capacity, is the smoothness of panning. To ensure uniform rotation of the camera, which is especially important when using telephoto lenses , mechanical and hydraulic damping is used ^[1] . Inertial- type mechanical dampers are based on overcoming the effort of spinning the flywheel through a booster gear . However, the noise of such dampers makes them unsuitable for use during synchronous shooting . Therefore, hydraulic damping based on heavy silicone fluid is currently used ^[5] .

Light heads are controlled by a handle attached to the camera mount. By turning the handle, the operator overcomes the resistance of the damper, stabilizing the pan speed. In heavy heads, such a device would require too much effort, therefore, in such constructions, steering mechanisms for camera rotation were used ^[2] . Separate worm drives are used for panning in horizontal or vertical planes. The rotation of the steering wheel of the corresponding drive, carried out both manually and by means of an electric motor , allows you to pan in one of the planes. Panning in two planes requires the simultaneous rotation of two helms.

The same principle is used in special tripods for single- frame shooting and animation . The use of high precision worm drives allows you to take panoramas frame by frame with a discrete step. For example, the domestic head 1ShM “Multi” rotates exactly 1 ° in one turn of the steering wheel of the corresponding panorama ^[6] .

Recently, remote control heads with the help of an electric drive are widely used. They allow shooting in hard-to-reach places without an operator, which is especially important for light operator cranes, reducing their required lifting capacity ^[7] . In addition, these heads are suitable for combined shooting in multiple exposures using Motion control technology, ensuring accurate repeatability of camera movements. Such heads are controlled from a special remote control, usually equipped with video control ^[8] . More recently, a separate class of robotic PTZ cameras has appeared , designed for shooting reality and talk shows , combined with a panoramic head into an integral unit ^[9] . The same design is used in CCTV cameras .

During operation of panoramic heads, it is necessary to take into account the overturning moment that may occur in the extreme positions of the vertical panorama. This is especially important for heavy filming and studio television cameras . In most helm heads, due to the design features, the horizontal axis of rotation passes above the camera mount. This allows you to rotate the apparatus around its center of mass, eliminating or minimizing the overturning moment. The overturning moment elimination is also relevant for robotic heads, reducing the required power of the pan drives. Such heads consist of L- or U-shaped brackets, the axis of rotation of which passes through the center of mass. Other types of heads use torsion or spring mechanisms to compensate for the overturning moment together with a tripod to reduce operator effort and prevent the camera from falling. For the same purposes, as well as to reduce operator effort, the upper platform to which the camera is attached has the ability to balance the camera relative to the axis of rotation of the head ^[10] . Such adjustment is carried out by attaching a platform that allows several positions, or an extended congress screw groove. In some cases, a special inclined platform is used to increase the deflection angle of heavy cameras.

Photo heads

Unlike the heads intended for television and cinema, photographic heads require only rigidity of fixing of position and accuracy of movements. In addition, installing a camera requires three, not two degrees of freedom . Therefore, filming heads and heads for video cameras are inconvenient, and most often generally unsuitable for full-fledged photography. Two main types of heads are used in photography: with three independent hinges (3D heads) and ball ones ^[11] . All other types are variations of these two.

3D — The head consists of three hinges with a separate locking handle for each. It allows you to very accurately fix the head in each degree of freedom, regardless of the other two ^[12] . It is usually equipped with a bubble circular level (or two normal, perpendicular), limbs with angular divisions for the convenience of counting angles. In some heads of this type, one of the hinges is replaced by a 90 ° reclining platform for shooting a vertical (portrait) picture. Three-hinged heads are limitedly applicable for amateur video shooting, allowing fairly accurate panning. However, the absence of dampers allows the use of short-focus lenses only.

The ball head consists of a ball joint with a retainer. This type of head is suitable mainly for photography, since in most cases it is not suitable for panning. However, when photographing, it provides significant advantages, allowing you to tilt the camera in any direction with one movement, which requires hinged heads to move in each of the three planes ^[12] . In expensive models, there may be separate screws for fixing the tilt and lift (for light models, one is used, first fixing one direction, then the other: between them there is a different value of the initial shear force ^[11] ), the screw sets the initial level of effort (setting for different weights equipment) for changing position, hinge for horizontal panning. Ball heads are usually very compact, but their carrying capacity is limited due to the fact that a relatively small friction area is used for fixing. The accuracy and load capacity of such a head are directly proportional to the diameter of the sphere used in the design. A type of ball - trigger head - allows you to quickly change the position of the camera, mounted on the handle, by fixing with a special trigger ^[12] . However, such heads have even lower payloads.

The head for panoramas is designed to create panoramic photos. The main difference between this type of head and all others is the possibility of the camera rotating around the nodal point of the lens, which prevents the shift of the optical axis during panning.

The camera rotates in three different planes using separate hinges, as in 3D heads. To create cylindrical panoramas with compact or rangefinder cameras , if the projection of the axis of their lens passes through the vertical axis of the head, it is sufficient to use a rail platform with a conventional head.

The rail or macro head is designed for macro photography . Allows you to move the camera in the longitudinal and transverse directions with a micrometer screw when the photographed object is comparable in size to the frame window. This method of focusing is more convenient than the focus ring on the lens.

Currently, 1/4 or 3/8 inch (1/4 '' and 3/8 '') threads are used as standard connections to attach photo, film, and video equipment to the tripod head ^[13] . In the USSR, this type of connection was standardized according to GOST 3362–75, which provided for the use of 1/4 "thread for photo equipment of formats smaller than 6 × 6 cm, and 3/8" starting from this format ^[14] . Among filmmakers, this type of mount is called a congress screw ^[15] . All modern cameras (including digital ones) with a frame size smaller than 4.5 × 6 cm are equipped with a tripod socket with a 1/4 "thread that complies with the ISO 1222 standard ^[16] . Domestic video cameras and amateur movie cameras, as well as spotting scopes, are equipped with the same socket. 3/8 "thread is used to mount heavier equipment, mainly film and television. In case of mismatch of the thread of the tripod head and camera, adapters are used, which are bushings or screws with two types of thread ^[17] . Some heads are equipped with double-sided congress screws, or interchangeable platforms with screws of different standards.

Professional movie cameras, including digital ones , are attached to the tripod head through a special holder such as Studio Bridge Plate , designed to secure the camera itself, as well as auxiliary equipment, including compendiums , fallow tricks , electronic viewfinders and other “body kit” ^[18] . The same type of platforms is used when installing cameras with a studio “body kit” on a tripod. To shoot 3D films between two cameras and a head, a special holder is installed: “stereoig” ^[19] .

Professional video cameras for news television journalism do not have a threaded socket, but are equipped with an individual platform attached to the panoramic head and equipped with a dovetail type camera quick-connect device. This mount allows you to withstand a large load, which is not designed for a single screw. The most widely used mounting standards are Sony V-mount and Chrosziel 401-130 ^{[18] [20]} . The Ikegami standard has gained some popularity, but there are other mounts used for specific cameras by different manufacturers. Most heads designed for TV journalism are equipped with two 3/8 '' standard screws that are used to secure such sites. One of the screws is usually installed in a slot that allows longitudinal movement to adjust the position of the screw. The intermediate platforms of the cameras have several 3/8 '' sockets for attachment to the heads with the possibility of longitudinal balancing. Fastening with two screws prevents unwanted rotation of the platform on the tripod head.

Lightweight heads are equipped with a quick-detachable platform with a congress screw to increase the speed of installation and removal of the camera or lightweight video camera. Such platforms ( Quick Release ) differ in the shape and size of attachment (“jaws”) to the tripod head (a latch that provides quick undocking of the platform or clamping guides) ^[13] . There is a standard “Arca-style” for mounting platforms developed by Arca-Swiss and based on a plate width of 38 mm with a “dovetail” ^{[21] [22]} . Some manufacturers of heads and tripods use this type of mount for compatibility of different equipment. However, in most cases, a common standard does not exist for marketing reasons, and platforms for different heads are not interchangeable. Therefore, their set usually includes two sites, one of which is a spare one. Some manufacturers provide special devices to prevent sudden rotation of the camera on the congress screw, since this type of mount does not provide absolute rigidity and reliability. To do this, on most sites, a spring-loaded pin is provided that matches the hole located near the tripod socket on some cameras.

• Pan
• Tripod (tripod)

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