Motorized Pan/Tilt

I've been looking at this too. I wanted to set it up for moving Time Lapse shots. But the rotation speed is to fast to just set it up and let it go for a half hour or so. Slowest speed I've read is 3 degrees a second. 60 seconds to move 180 degrees is to fast for what I want to use it for. But is might work on a jib. Its cheap enough, why not? Ive also heard that this particular unit is not very good. So...
 
Yes, please do GenJerDan. I would love to see what you think about this thing. I have been looking at it as well for use on my Cobra Crane II. Would love to see your review, if you feel like taking the "plunge".
 
Damn. Now I have to, don't I.

And that means I'll have to build a jib, too.

And help clean the apartment before my Sister-in-law arrives. Well, I guess I had to do that, anyway.

OK. It's ordered. B&H says 2 weeks or so...
 
As Promised

As Promised

Bescor MP-101 motorized pan/tilt test.

I loaded up the DVX with the mic and cheesy sunshade and a 3500 mA battery to make it a little weightier, since shooting naked is not done often.

I was going to do this outdoors, but then I remembered I was in Germany...it's raining, so you're stuck seeing what it looks like shooting in a livingroom.

Two runs, one at full wide, and one at a zoom of Z70 or so. Tried the different speed settings - fast, slow and in the middle. The middle speed looks pretty much the same as the fast speed, to me...but it's continuous, so other inbetween settings are possible.

My impressions:

The pan isn't as smooth as I'd like, but it's still a helluva lot smoother than I can do by hand at this point in my experience. And adjusting the speed to match the actors...or adjusting the actors to match the speed...would take some practice.

The remote control is not as "positive" as I'd like, but I understand why it is as it is...you can catercorner the tilt switch to get a pan and tilt at the same time. My fat fingers sometime do that instead of a straight pan or tilt. Oops.

The footage is 14MB (link). Sorry. I wanted it big enough, with a lesser amount of compression, so any jitter and such would show up without having to guess whether it was compression artifacts or the motor doing it. EDIT: You can stop the WMV and go to the bottom of the page and right-click download the WMV or a MOV version.

I may not use it for panning...but I might. Like I said...it's smoother than I can do by hand. :grin: I will probably mostly use it at the end of a jib, so I can make adjustments while it's waaaaaaaaay up there.

Mounted.png


Dan
 
Hmm...that was a fast one, right?

I'm probably just being too critical. And the thing was done in 24PA, too, so strobing is often to be expected.
 
Forgot to mention. You can stop the auto-play WMV, go to the bottom of the page and download a Quicktime version, or the WMV.
 
GenJerDan said:
Hmm...that was a fast one, right?

I'm probably just being too critical. And the thing was done in 24PA, too, so strobing is often to be expected.
Click to expand...

Yeah buts its interesting how the strobing is almost non existent when your looking at a character being followed in this case you. One of barrys book tips.
 
that was going to be my question too. that and is it possible to change between low and medium/high settings while already moving. Coule you get us a photo of the remote as well Gen. Thanks.
 
HeadRemote.png


The speed control is a sliding pot, so it's continuously variable. And you can change it while it's moving.

There is some faint motor noise, but really not much louder than the camera's motor. Some vinration, too, but I didn't notice it in the footage. I think the camera's weight dampens it...I only noticed it just now when I tried it just sitting in my hand. :)

I bought the extension for the remote (20' ? 10', I think. 15'?), but it's just a 7-pin DIN cable, as far as I can tell. Male on one end and female on the other.

Dan
 
Very interesting... Inexpensive, good movement quality, judging from your footage... Two things bother me :

1. It can't be used outdoors, cause it's got to be plugged into the main,s rights ?

2. No power-ups and -downs. In other words, the head reaches its assigned speed almost instantaneously, there's no "easing into the pan" (i.e., accelerating) over one third of a second or so... or am I nitpicking ? :happy:
 
No mains. Unless you want to...and have a 6 VDC power supply. It runs internally on 4 AA batteries.

As for accelerating...it does start a bit abruptly. But you could start it off at the slowest speed, then ramp it up to what you want. Assuming the slowest speed isn't what you wanted...

It'd take some practice.

I don't think this thing is really designed for filmmaking as its primary purpose. At least that's the impression I get, judging from its auto mode. It'll sweep back and forth automatically, if you want. 30, 60, 90 degrees right and left like a surveillance camera.
 
Semi-unrelated ... but can you tell me about your matte box? Looks like you made it yourself. If so, would you mind sharing how and with what materials?

Thanks!
 
Sure. In a few hours. :) I'm at work now.

It's just plastic of some sort I got at a home-improvement store here. Some sort of art/display board. No idea what it's made of, but it's soft enough to cut with a box cutter, but stiff enough to use for just about anything. (Not barn doors for worklights... :grin: The stuff *will* warp and sag under heat.)

I just cut some trapezoid pieces for the front, and rectangular strips to friction-fit around the Panny sunshield. Glued it all together, and voilá.

I'll take some measurements and post 'em later.
 
Is tilt really limited to only 15°? That's really shallow and I'd imagine little if any good for jib work.

There's a huge price and functionality gap between even the Varizoom XY head and this item - though surely there must be a use for a low-cost "repeatable" pan / tilt mechanism?

e
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top