Working Tips: Tripod Settings and Why They Matter

15Share

Working with a fluid head can be a joy. When set up with your camera properly balanced, it is a boon to your production. However, when set up incorrectly, operating your tripod can be a nightmare. I remember when I just started out shooting, I acquired an Akely Gyro head. It was built for 35mm cameras way back in the early 1900s and used gyros to smooth out operation. And there I was, trying to use it with 16mm cameras. It was kind of fun panning with it, since you could hear the gyros start to speed up, and once you started panning, well, stopping became a bit of a problem because the gyros, designed for a heavy 35mm camera, would just keep the head panning. So, I learned quickly the importance of matching your fluid head to your camera.

Counterbalance

Understanding your tripod’s counterbalance function is vital to smooth operating, and the best place to start is by discussing what counterbalance is not.

Counterbalance is not simply a spring that brings the tripod head back to level. This is inefficient because, when tilting down or up, you end up fighting the spring, and who needs that? Many inexpensive photo tripods incorporate a spring to bring the head back to level, but this is counterproductive to shooting video where you want to be relaxed. If you are struggling with your head, that will translate into a shaky shot.

Counterbalance isn’t used to compensate for putting too heavy a camera on your head. Fluid heads are designed to work with cameras and accessories of a certain weight range. Overloading your fluid head is going to make for sloppy operating, and may damage your fluid head.

Counterbalance is different from pan/tilt drag. Pan and tilt drag resist you as you pan/tilt, preventing the camera from jerking when you start and stop.

What a properly set up counterbalance does is neutralize the weight of the camera; the idea is you can tilt forward or back and then let go and the fluid head should remain tilted without having to lock the tilt axis. When you think about it, this is an impressive feat because, as you tilt the camera, the relative weight of the camera will shift forward or back. Engage too much counterbalance and you end up fighting to tilt the camera forward or back, engage too little counterbalance and you end up fighting to keep the camera from tilting too much.

How much counterbalance you want really becomes a matter of taste, combined with how fast and far you will tilt and how much tilt drag you have engaged.

Drag

The drag capability of the modern tripod head is the reason heads are referred to as fluid heads. The drag is created by fluid-filled chambers. Although manufacturers use different methods, for the most part the fluid provides the drag, hence the term “fluid head.” How much drag you wish to engage is a matter of taste. Your drag settings may be constant, or you may find that you adjust your drag settings on a shot-by-shot basis. Need a whip pan? Set the drag to zero. Need a slow steady pan or tilt? Set the drag to high.

Locks

Do not use the pan or tilt locks to add extra drag to your shot, this is not the purpose for which they are designed. I know it is tempting, but it is better to use a fluid head that is suited to the camera you are using than to use the locks to add drag.

How to set up your tripod

The goal is to have your camera’s mass exert zero effect on the tripod—in other words, to be able to pan and tilt as if there were no camera on the tripod head. The first thing you need to do is build your camera and balance it on your fluid head. I prefer a tripod head with a wide base. For me (depending on weight of the camera), 75mm flat base or ball is the minimum, 100mm is better, and if I’m working with a heavy camera (28 pounds or more) then I like a 150mm ball. The tripod I use does depend on the job, because the bigger the tripod head and legs the heavier the system tends to be, so for run-and-gun, I might try to get away with a smaller platform, but using too small a tripod will affect my operating. You may consider having a second tripod and fluid head as a good investment for handling special shots.

To balance your camera, you will need to have a sliding balance plate of some kind. Some tripod heads incorporate these, while others use a QR plate (like Sachtler’s Touch-and-Go plate) with a camera platform that slides for balancing, as opposed to a sliding balance plate that slides forward and back within the tripod head’s camera platform. The sliding balance plate can be difficult to line up and slide into a tripod head, especially with a weighty camera mounted on it. To ameliorate this problem, some tripod heads have a hybrid system that allows you to pop the sliding balance plate onto the tripod head like a QR arrangement, although you do have to slide it out of the head when pulling the camera from the head.

Set your tilt to drag to max, lock the tilt axis with the head at level, then build your camera with all accessories, batteries, lenses, etc., slide the camera so that it is about in the middle of the fluid head—this is why I like using a wide base—then make sure the counterbalance is set to zero. Loosen your sliding balance platform, hold onto the head and loosen the tilt lock. Now slide the camera fore and back until the camera and tripod sit level when unlocked (keep your hand nearby just in case). But wait, the tilt drag is still engaged, you say? Yes, it is; however, now the camera is close to being balanced on the head. Lock your tilt, set the drag to minimum, grab the camera so it doesn’t tilt wildly if it isn’t balanced well, and unlock your tilt. Hopefully you are close to balanced and the camera won’t pitch or roll wildly forward. Let go of the camera, keeping your hand at the ready to grab the camera, and see if the camera stays level. If not, loosen the sliding adjustment and tweak. Now the camera is balanced on the head, and this should go a long way to improving your shooting. Granted, there may be specific shots for which you want the camera to be out of balance, such as a tilt up from looking straight down. That is a matter of taste. However, for most your work, balancing your camera setup on your tripod will make for smoother operating and an easier shooting day.

Set the counterbalance to zero. Slide your camera back and forth until…
Set drag to minimum. See if the camera stays level.

From here counterbalance and drag is to your taste and what will help you get the shot, but at least you have put yourself in the best position to make the shot a success.

Final Note

When packing your tripod away at the end of the shoot, it is a good idea to disengage the locks and set the drag and counterbalance to zero (or minimum). This will help the head survive any jarring movements, drops, or bangs with minimal stress on the internal components. Don’t forget to wipe it down from moisture and brush away any sand or dirt.

15 Comments

Any recommendations for using a fluid head tripod in cold environments like an ice hockey arena? We’ve noticed that cold fluid head tripods are stiffer and harder to move. Any advice on how to counter that? Thanks in advance! 

Hi Devin - 

I have used disposable hand warmer packs in the past with great success. The viscous fluid within the head may also need to be replaced at some point, depending upon the brand /model of the tripod head.

 

How much do you have to worry about weight distribution side to side when building your rig?

Hi aaron,  good question.

Under normal circumstances not that much. Most set ups will have their center of gravity within the footprint of the head, which is why I use a 75mm or even better a 100mm ball-leveling base, and as long as you are going tripod mounted and not hand held, side-to-side balance ought not to be an issue. However if the set up is very unbalanced, or shifts the center of gravity outside the footprint of the head, or you are using it on a crane, jib, vest-arm stabilizer, mechanical or electronic gimbal, or other extended platform, then side-to-side balance becomes much more of an issue.  Thanks again for asking, and good filming.

Hi! I noticed that in the last section it is recommended to set the drag and counterbalance to zero (or minimum), but the manuals of Sachtler Ace XL and Aktiv both recommend that the balance and damping be set to the maximum value during transportation and storage. Which of these two conflicting statements should prevail?

Hi Andreas, thanks for asking about that. I have checked with Sachtler, and they have confirmed the information. You should always follow the manufacturers recommendations for working with their products. Best.

Some video heads list a counterbalance weight, e.g. Manfrotto MVH500AH specifies a counterbalance weight of 2.4kg, with a max load of 4kg. If I plan to use a load of 3.1kg on that particular head, does this exceed the ability of the counterweight? Can you please explain the relationship between my total load weight and the counterbalance specification?

I have the same question and my rig weighs the same as yours, lol. If my camera exceeds the counterweight, do I risk damaging anything? Or will it just remain in place when I let go?

Hello Frank, and Michael, Thanks for asking.

 

The simple answer is: As long as you don’t exceed the physical load capacity of the head you should not damage the head itself. The more complicated answer is: The counterbalance range is a slightly different animal than load capacity. The more, let’s call it “advanced” the head, the finer the counterbalance control tends to be. I know operators who prefer heads that allow you to crank through the counterbalance in tenths of a percentage point to find just the right amount of counterbalance for each shot, but there are plenty of heads that have very coarse counterbalance adjustment, or none at all.

 

A well-designed counterbalance, as I mentioned in the article, is for neutralizing the weight of the camera on your head. But counterbalance doesn’t always go up to the maximum load capacity, and it isn’t always necessary that it does. I just worked with a head that had a counterbalance range of 12 pounds less than the load capacity, but it was perfectly fine for my camera, as I didn’t approach the weight limit of the fluid head. If my camera is pushing the limits of my heads load capacity but the counterbalance, even when rated lower than what my camera rig weighs, is doing what I need it to do, then that isn’t a problem for me, but in the end, it is a personal choice. However, if my camera rig is always pushing the limit of the load capacity of my head, then it is probably time for a beefier head. While it would be nice if there was just one set of legs, or one fluid head that worked for all the different kinds of shoots and cameras you worked with, in all the myriad of different configurations you probably go through, sometimes you need more than one tripod head cover you. Thanks for the comments, and I hope this answer helps.

Hi Sergio, gimbal heads are a different sort of animal as they use electric motors to drive the pan/tilt functions. Proper balancing of your camera on a gimbal head is of tremendous improtance, just as with a fluid head, but beyond that the settings and adjustments are all electronic in nature and deal with holding power, responsiveness, speed, and other settings. Thanks for reading, and good question.

I enjoyed the article but have a question. When working in sub zero temperatures, does it affect the performance of these heads because of the fluid filled chambers?

Hi Geoff,

            Thanks for the question. I understand that once you get outside the listed temperature range of a fluid head, that there may be be issues. Apparently one of the reasons the Akely tripod I mentioned in the artile was so sought after was it did not uses fluid dampeners or grease and so would not freeze up in extreme cold. However that was from 80 to 100 years ago, and technology has advanced quite a bit since then. Back when I was a camera assistant it was a given that if you were working on a job that would be constantly shooting in sub-zero temperatures that the lenses and fluid heads could be "winterized" by changing the lens lubrication and fluid in the fluid head. I checked with a fluid head manufacturer about your question and his response was that it is possible, but it is a specific request that you would have to have an authorized service center perfom. it isn't such a simple thing these days as some fluid heads are using sealed chambers for drag. I would say if you expect that your shoot will fall outside the temperature rating of your head, you should check with the manufacturer about your options. Hope this is helpful.

So What fluid head has this graduated settings for the amount of drag?

Hi michael, So there are many fluid heads on our site that feature graduated or stepped pan/tilt drag adjustment. The key word to look for are "stepped drag". Fluid heads that are listed as having variable or continuous drag generally do not have specific aindexed drag settings with a detent so you can know where you are by feel, but many fluid heads with variable drag do have a numbering system of some kind so you have an idea of your drag setting. The fluid head pictured in the article, Sachtler ACE, has both stepped fluid drag and stepped counterbalance, Whether you prefer stepped or continuously variable is up to you. Thanks for reading.