Can you use a fluid head upside down?

A

amathie

Member
I would like to undersling a rigged up camera from the end of a jib/crane (Kessler 12 foot) so that I can operate the camera from the crane end and have the freedom of movement to pan round 360 degrees unencumbered by the end section of the crane. Cartoni make two nodal heads for this purpose (Smart head and Spin head) but the Smart head has a low weight limit and the Spin head is expensive.
Is it mechanically possible to use a standard 100mm ball mount fluid head (like the Cartoni a Focus HD), upside down, with the camera attached upside down or the right way up with a "C" shaped bracket? This would mean that the head is under tension rather than compression. Goodness knows what it would do to the counterbalance system!
Anyone had any experience or suggestions?
 
It will work just fine, with the caveat that it adds gravitational forces to the mix in an opposing way, adding a bit of extra strain to the head. You really always should go with a larger head than normal when undersigning this way. But otherwise it is fine.
 
Thanks Mitch; I'll be giving that a go sometime.

My current problem is that I've bought a Cartoni Focus HD fluid head and its tilt control knob became jammed. The supplier replaced it with another new and boxed Focus HD, but after setting it up and balancing it according to the manufacturers instructions, exactly the same thing has happened. The tilt control is jammed!

Its a great shame because it seems a lot of people like them.
 
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