leveling a tripod

C

cyclonebill

Active member
I'm trying to level my tripod, the head has one of those bubble levels built into it (where there's a red circle, and a little dot floating around it). My assumption is that when the dot is right in the middle of the circle, the tripod is level. So I have all the legs equally extended, position the head so the dot is in the middle of the circle and everything seems level....then I pan. As I pan, the dot moves and the tripod is no longer level, it's most uneven when I'm 180 degrees from where the tripod was when I leveled it. When I get back to where I was originally (so 360 degrees), then the dot is in the middle again and all level.

What am I doing wrong? I have a second tripod and have the same problem with that one. I assume it's not the tripod and that I'm doing something wrong here. Surely I should be able to pan the camera without the angle completely changing. Anyone have any insight?
 
What model tripod and head do you have? I can help you better with that info. Otherwise, it sounds like you have not actually leveled the base of the head or the bubble level is off somehow. If you pan 360° and the footage remains level in your camera then there's something wrong with your bubble.
 
It's a Matthews M25.

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I level it, the bubble is in the middle. Then I start panning all the way around. When I'm 180 degrees away, it's the most un-level. As I make my way back to where I started (180-360) it gradually gets more and more level and then is level again when I'm back where I started.

I'm not sure it's anything wrong with the bubble, since the footage does look level when the bubble claims it's level. More importantly, I've had the same issue with my other tripod as well.
 
If the out-of-level is just a little, this sound normal. Even my OConnor head is slightly off as I pan around. This is due to the tolerance of the bubble level and parallax error from making the adjustment at an angle (you usually can't look straight down on the bubble).

If the out-of-level is a lot, the bubble is off or perhaps you're not using the bowl to level? You probably already know this, but you should level it by the bowl. This levels the bottom of the head and allows you to pan level. The only time you adjust the legs is if the tripod is so grossly unlevel, the bowl can't be leveled within its range of travel.
 
nah, I am using the bowl to level and not the legs (they're all evenly extended). It's not hugely un-level, but it's enough that I would have to correct it in post. Might just be the way it is.
 
Don't know if this helps, but after some trials finding my best/comfortable working height I then extended the legs of my Miller Solo so they were all exact equal length to that height then marked them with a permanent fluro pen. This so I could get shooting asap.

The other aspect is carefully balancing the cam so it doesn't overbalance on the head. I found with different attachments (and some are heavy) its balance changes and this can upset the bubble somewhat especially when I pan and tilt together.

I set up each combo of attachments on the cam then found its exact level over a small dowell on the floor .. on a strip of white tape on the side of the cam I marked each position.

There's a 'centre' marked on the Compass head making it easy to position the cam for exact balance. HTH

Cheers.
 
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