GH4 Best way to achieve sooth, very slow pans?

J

jnorman34

Active member
i am using a manfrotto 500AH fluid head. i often use the rubber band trick to help get my pans smooth. however, it is quite hard to do a very slow pan and make it very smooth.


i have read about the bescor motorized pan/tilt head, and varying comments that say it will go very slow and others that complain it is still too fast.

a fellow at ESHD suggested that i need a much higher quality fluid head.


what gear or technique do you guys recommend to achieve very slow, smooth pans?

thanks.
 
Aye, tighten down the head which will slow down the pan. Then turn the camera from the base of the tripod head.
Or
Shoot 60p and slow down the clip can give you the latitude to make the pan as slow as you choose.
 
Less coffee and imagine an egg is balancing on top of the camera!

I realize this may be bad advice.
 
Smoother moves might be one of the few things in filmmaking that can be solved by throwing more money at the equipment. Lots of advice here and other forums but its really something you need to try and compare, and I realize that is tough to do in some locations. A good head is an investment, the better ones can be found used for significant discount and be serviced into virtually new condition. Without endorsing any manufacturer specifically, I have to admit I have not tried a Manfrotto that I liked although I am certain I have not tried them all.
 
Yeah, that's the kind of thing where you really get what you pay for. An O'Connor 1030 is going to provide an amazingly smooth & slow pan.
 
Even that "Fancier" $160 tripod from Amazon is smoother than my $600-ish Manfrotto!

I gotta say though, the Manfrotto's been a trooper with a fully loaded Kessler crane on it. That is some WEIGHT. I know it'll eventually blast out a cloud of smoke, springs, and gears like an old cartoon...
 
All the other advise given, and practice, practice, practice... In a year or so you may be producing smooth pans with almost any fluid head.
 
also, don't use a deathgrip, finger(tip) it. practice on a lady(or any willing female not into the hardcore stuff, that wouldn't serve our purpose here)
 
What i'm finding with sliders and fluid heads... Two hands and always on the exhale. Use as much body mass as possible. Hands/arms only is the worst. Inertial momentum is the name of the game. Heavy cameras are smoother but I like traveling light. As far as handles go I don't see the advantage. Output sensitivity decreases but so does inertial resistance. It seems to even out? I haven't been using it. The rubber band should isolate heart beats better though. It would be nice to have a fluid slider.
 
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