Geared Tripod Head

Oy, it's a Moy!

It's always interesting seeing how the knockoff market attacks their designs. Instead of reverse engineering industry standards like the Arrihead and Panahead, they seem to have found themselves an old Moy head to copy, at least as far as the three wheel design goes. Outside of that one, gear heads have a standardized configuration of left hand on the left pan wheel and right hand on the back tilt wheel. If you learn it with the right hand on the right pan wheel, you will be pretty much screwed if you ever encounter any other geared head that doesn't have a right wheel...so why bother to include on this?

Otherwise, it appears to be a single speed system. Older gear heads generally had at least two speeds and modern ones have three. Similar to the system in a vehicle or bicycle, this will allow you to gear up and down for a given shot. Low gear for slow and nuanced work, high gear for fast tilts and pans. With this product, to quote the theme song from Friends: "it's like you're always stuck in second gear".

Geared heads are fantastic for certain types of operating, once you've mastered the skill (and it takes a while). However even the best ones have their limitations: tilt range is usually limited to around 60 degrees (which you can offset with a tilt plate but not increase) whereas every fluid can do at least twice that and the best can do three times that. They are heavy and cumbersome. The learning curve is relatively steep. In a head this inexpensive, I would be shocked if the action was anywhere near as smooth as the legacy heads, and that is the real issue. If the head doesn't feel like butter, there is literally no point in using it. It will only hamper your operating while limiting your capabilities.

There is only one reason outside of all of this I can think of why someone might want a geared head, and that is to impress the clients and/or look cool on their Instagram. Whether or not that is worth potentially turning in hobbled footage is up to the user. Personally I think the clunky industrial design of this offering falls short on the impressiveness scale, but to each his own.
 
CharlesPapert said:
There is only one reason outside of all of this I can think of why someone might want a geared head, and that is to impress the clients and/or look cool on their Instagram. Whether or not that is worth potentially turning in hobbled footage is up to the user. Personally I think the clunky industrial design of this offering falls short on the impressiveness scale, but to each his own.
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Ding Ding Ding

I wonder if it comes with tight jeans, a plaid shirt and a trucker hat or toboggan?. Maybe a limited edition with thick rimmed glasses and a chain wallet.
 
I just tonight came across some behind the scenes footage from a feature I operated on about 10 years ago, had never seen and had a little laugh at this moment:

https://youtu.be/W53BR222Avo?t=2m14s

Shame you can't see the actual cranks spinning around but looks like I was getting a workout on that one! That being a cheerleading movie, there was a lot of tosses like that and during the performance stuff I was often on a remote head so like it or not, I had to do them on the wheels. Tough show.

The subsequent shot was also interesting for me to see, as I switched from the eyepiece to the onboard monitor in the middle. This being 2007 we were just starting to have the option of doing something like that (you couldn't take your eye off the eyepiece in the middle of a take with a film camera) but I'm curious that I bothered to make the switch midway. Best guess is that the onboards of the day had terrible viewing angle and I wouldn't have been able to see the image throughout the whole shot, so I just had it optimized for the end position.
 
Reviving this old thread: I just purchased an old Mini MOY head that was used by Aardman Animations. It is in outstanding shape and has zero play. They used it with step motors instead of the wheels. I have no experience with geared heads and operating the pan wheel I am wondering if it just takes more practice or if the wheels are not weighted enough. I wish it had a tad more inertia. The tilt wheel is no problem but I find it difficult to pan with consistent speed. The slight difference in strength applied when my hand reaches the far side of the wheel as opposed to the other side when it is close to me is clearly visible. So my question is do I need more practice (of course, yes) or should I be looking for an upgrade in heavier, bigger wheels? And where might I turn for a new set of compatible hand wheels?
 
in the uk soe weighted engineering wheels might come from WDS - google em.

Hving weight (and diameter ke=1/2mv2) to the handwheels should add intertia.
 
Thanks for the quick reply, Morgan. The MOY wheels attach with a very specific slotted mechanism and a captive thumb wheel in the center. I was looking for hand wheels that feature a compatible mounting mechanism so I don't have to have anything machined, which gets real expensive fast.
 
If this is the model you have, I would suggest you do a simple experiment before spending a lot of money to see how the added weight performs. It would be pretty simple to add weight to the wheels by using double sided tape and a plate of metal or multiple bits of metal on the face of the wheel. Sure, it wouldn't be balanced, but it will give you a idea of how it behaves. If it works, you could have a good looking circular plate made that tapes to the existing wheels and even have it tapped to mount the handles. Machining a simple plate won't be expensive.

geared head.jpg
 
Probably not the worst idea to try what Paul suggests. Bear in mind that wheels for geared heads are designed to be balanced in any position, so you need to offset the pin that you hold to operate the wheel with the appropriate amount of counterweight, otherwise, it will be "bottom heavy".

Some of the old spindle attachments were copied from old heads to modern ones, such as the Mitchell to the Panahead. I don't know if Moy's spec was re-used.

In my mind, the most useful thing a geared head of this vintage (which is truly gear-driven, and not incorporating a belt as do the Panahead and Arrihead) can do for one is as a practice tool to get proficient at the skill of operating wheels. Inexpensive fluid heads have come a long way in recent years and I'm not sure what the scenario would be where they would be out-performed by a Moy, especially with today's featherweight camera setups. If nothing else, I'd suggest using risers to elevate your camera more than usual to attempt to place it within the vertical center of gravity of the tilt arc, which is a good 10" above the platform.
 
In terms of center of gravity I think I am actually right there with the Tango head mounted. When fully built my camera is about 30lb so in terms of weight the geared head should be on point too. I also own a Ronford-Baker F7 but I can already tell that the smoothness of a pan on the Moy head feels just way more controlled. Especially at beginning and end.

I reached out to Panavision who bought Moy. Maybe there is somebody who remembers these heads and can answer questions. It would be genius if larger, more recent models used the same wheel attachment mechanism.

For now I think I will follow Paul's lead and experiment with a small extra weight (maybe a magnet?) opposite the handle, like when you balance tires.

Thanks you guys for your help and advice. I appreciate it.
 

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Good idea with the Tango!

You might even try connecting with Joe Dunton on Facebook--he is elderly and I'm not sure if he'll respond, but he has been posting a bit in recent years. He probably has the most knowledge about all things Moy.

Good luck with the setup! Your head looks to be in great condition!
 
This is waaaay outside my expertise, but as someone who works on vintage cars as a hobby, is it possible the gears / innards of the pan wheel need servicing / lube / grease?
 
You know Arash, you might be on to something here. The pan wheel does not spin freely when given a quick push. It only turns with steady, constant turning of the wheel. Once I stop turning it, it stops. My understanding is, that I should be able to execute a whip pan by giving the wheel a push and then allowing it to spin freely until manually slowed down or stopped. This seems like something that might be too tight or possibly in need of lube. Does anybody know if these geared heads should be greased on a regular basis?
 
This is how we handled issues with gear heads on shows: "let's get a different head from the rental house". Actually there was one adjustment we did in the field to the Panahead, something to do with belt tension (it's been too long for me to remember). I know little about the actual mechanics.

As far as doing whip pans on a Moy head--the oldest head I think I ever operated was a Mini-Worrall, and that's only 70's/80's, so still pretty young! I'm not sure what the expectations are with a head as vintage as a Moy in terms of whip pans. I used to do them all the time on the Arrihead though.

And that photo--yep, a young man indeed, shooting his first feature. 1995ish.
 
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