DIY tripod for panoramic photography. Panoramic tripod head: Novoflex review. Real use of the head

To create cartoons with your own hands (for example,), you need a tripod for shooting sheets of paper located on the table. A regular tripod is not suitable for this, because... The camera should be parallel to the table top on which the drawing is located. In addition, children constantly grab the tripod while working, and it moves, which is unacceptable in such cases.
There are special tripods and regular ones with this capability, but the price tag is beyond the circle’s budget. For example. Manfrotto 190XPROB costs from $200 there and weighs about 2 kg, which is quite a lot considering that the studio is mobile. For the same reason, it is not possible to use the base from an old photographic enlarger.
The idea arose to make a tripod that would be attached to the table yourself. The idea is not new and is implemented quite simply: two pipes connected by the letter L, a clamp is attached to one side, and a camera to the other.
You can see how to make a clamp yourself.
There is a problem how to attach the camera to the pipe. As you know, to mount a camera, an inch 1/4" thread is used. Such dies for cutting threads are usually not common, since most of us use metric threads. Of course, you can try to order such a screw from a turner, but if you don’t have a friend turner who will do this work during a conversation with you “for life”, then a “stranger” may ask for a considerable amount for a “non-standard” product.
An option is to use a ball head. This kind of thing can be found on old Soviet mini tripods, like this:

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But in our small town there is no flea market, and shipping across the country increases the cost by more than one and a half times. In addition, people ask for such a tripod as if it were a rarity, although many probably have it lying around somewhere in their closet.
As a result of the search, a visible head was found on Ali. Unfortunately, after the introduction of new shipping rules from Ali, the purchase of inexpensive products becomes unjustified, but this item was purchased before...
Unfortunately, I didn’t take photos before installing the head, so I honestly stole the photo from the seller’s page. They fully correspond to the product. One shows the dimensions of the product.

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The head is made entirely of metal (some kind of aluminum alloy), quite heavy (45 G), rotates 360 degrees horizontally and 100 degrees vertically. On the back there is a thread for the same 1/4". A screw on the side securely fastens the rod in any position. According to the seller's characteristics, this thing should withstand a camera up to 2.5 kg, but it feels like it will hardly be able to hold a DSLR, especially with a large lens. It fixes the point-and-shoot camera remarkably well.
Now about making a tripod.
A 25 mm furniture pipe and corresponding fastening were purchased.

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The entire tripod, including the manufacture of the clamp, was assembled in about half a day at a neighbor’s garage, accompanied by the same conversations about “life” and a glass of tea.

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At first I didn’t know how I would attach the head to the pipe. As I already said, the same non-standard 1/4 thread is cut at the bottom. By the way, I was not able to disassemble the head, I still did not understand how it was made. But it turned out that the diameter of the base is slightly larger than the internal diameter of the pipe 24.5 mm versus 22 mm. I simply made slits in the pipe and practically hammered the head in. It turned out very strong, although to be sure, I drilled a hole in the side and tightened a self-tapping screw from the computer case.

Additional Information

The result is a lightweight, but reliable and inexpensive tripod. The total cost of the product is about $4.2.

Equipment.

FOUND ITS OWNER

Characteristics:

Dimensions (without tripod and counterweight): 4270x300x410 mm.
Boom length: from 600 to 2700 mm.
Weight (without tripod and counterweight): 9.5 kg.
Material: aluminum, steel
Max. Load: tested with Canon 5D (with lens) -1.3 kg.
Add. Features: turntable, collapsible

This article will describe how to make a crane boom attached to a regular tripod. When testing the crane (when the boom reach is large), it turned out that a regular tripod cannot cope with such a load. So a suitable tripod is currently in development. I would also like to note that if you do not use a follow-focus, the one I have, then you can simplify the design by removing the platform at the end of the tap, attaching a head from a cheap photo tripod to it locally (this will be enough, since the movement of the head is smooth is not important, the main thing is that your camera is held in the desired position). And further! On this moment Another arrow is being developed, it will be smaller in size, but hopefully smoother, lighter and easier to use. Still, this design has many disadvantages. After you read the article, think about everything, come up with something better, write comments, and we’ll discuss it. The beginning has been made here.

That seems to be it. If you decide, then you can go get the materials.

Materials:

Let's roughly divide our crane into three sections. 1st (what is attached to the tripod). 2nd (what the camera will be attached to). 3rd (this link connects 1 and 2). It is better to cut the pipes to size when purchasing. Attention! The walls of the pipes should be 2mm thick.

1st link:

Pipe: 30×30-200mm. -2 pcs.
Pipe: 30×30-300mm. -2 pcs.
Pipe: 30×30-100mm. -1 PC.
Hairpin: M6-100mm. -6pcs.
Hairpin: M6-90mm. -4 things.
Hairpin: M8-180mm. -2 pcs.
Nuts: M6-20pcs.
Nuts: M8-10pcs.
Wheels (roller): 4 pcs.

2nd link:

Pipe: 25×25-300mm. -1 PC.
Pipe: 30×30-200mm. -2 pcs.
Pipe: 30×30-73mm. -1 PC.
Pipe: 25×25-200mm. -2 pcs.
Bolts: M6-60mm. -6pcs.
Hairpin: M6-85mm. -4 things.
Bolts: M8-80mm. -1 PC.
Hairpin: M8-120mm. -2 pcs.
Nuts: M6-14pcs.
Nuts: M8-9pcs.
Wheels (roller): 2 pcs.

3rd link:

Pipe: 30×30-1000mm. -4 things.
Pipe: 25×25-1500mm. -3 pcs.
Pipe: 25×25-1000mm. -1 PC.
Pipe: 25×25-110mm. -5 pieces.
Pipe: 25×25-250mm. -1 PC.
Bolts: M8-20pcs.
Nuts: M8-20pcs.

The easiest way is to cut the studs yourself. Purchase studs in sizes M8 and M6 from a construction shop. I don't remember how long it was. Add up all the lengths of the studs you use and find out. It's good to strain your brain. Have you purchased everything? Great! Go!

First of all, let's cut the pipe blanks. It is better to cut the pipes to size when purchasing, it is worth it. Firstly, the cuts will be straight and you will save a lot of time and nerves. And in general, all you have to do is drill a bunch of holes and assemble. If you decide to do a little work yourself with a hacksaw, then go ahead, mark, saw and grind. If you have everything cut to the desired size, then take a file and file off the burrs and sharp edges.

Let's start with the 3rd link:

Let's start marking and drilling holes. There are a lot of them in this design. For convenience, purchase a caliper; marking with a ruler is very difficult and takes much longer. Prepare materials for the 3rd link.

It doesn’t matter at what distance the holes are drilled, the main thing is that they are at the same distance in all pipes of a given link. For me it is 200mm. If you have a device for attaching a drill and drilling clearly at a right angle, then you can make through holes. If you don’t have a device, you’ll have to mark and drill from all sides, one at a time, since it definitely won’t work by hand, and the holes won’t line up during assembly. And so, to begin with, let’s clearly mark the central axes of the pipes. To do this, adjust the boom to half the size of the pipe width. And draw axes on all four sides of all pipes of this link. I deliberately do not write down the dimensions so that you use your brain; perhaps your pipes are slightly different in size, and my numbers will be confusing. Be careful, this must be very precise.

Now let’s adjust the bar to the distance between the future holes (let me remind you, for me it is 200mm). First, mark each pipe on two opposite sides along its entire length to get through holes. The main thing is that after drilling these holes should be clearly opposite each other. Let's turn the pipe 90 degrees and mark another row of holes at the same distance. The first hole should be located, as it were, between the holes made on that side of the pipe. If the marking is ready, then take a core and make recesses for the drill. Great! Now take a drill and start drilling to a diameter of 8.5mm. Start with a drill of a smaller diameter, gradually increasing it (4mm-6mm-8.5mm), thus getting a round hole. As a result, you should have pipes with holes on all sides. When placing one pipe into another (like a telescopic fishing rod), the holes must coincide in order to be able to fasten them in the place we need and be able to change the length of the arrow reach. And also, take pipes 25x25-110mm. and 25×25-250mm., drill holes at a distance of 80 mm. from each other (important) - these will be crossbars for the rigidity of the boom structure. If so, then you are great! We can continue.

Link 1:

This link of our design is the base that is attached to the tripod. Here, too, you need to do everything accurately. Prepare materials for this section.

First, let's prepare the wheels. They will play an important role, ensure smooth running and support the main load. Take the wheels, all of which you have for this crane, and drill two through holes with a diameter of 6 mm for fastening to the pipe. All wheels must have the same holes and be at the same distance relative to the center of the wheel. The photo shows how it should look assembled. Next, take an M8 bolt or M8 stud and screw it to a 30x30mm pipe. on each side there is a wheel (i.e. on one bolt, first put on the wheel, then the pipe, then the second wheel). Secure with nuts. Now, using the drilled holes in the wheels, mark future holes in the pipe on both sides. Disassemble the structure and drill holes with a diameter of 6mm. Now take a drill with a diameter of 12mm and drill out the central holes, the ones through which you just attached the wheels. Do the same with the second pipe.

It’s better to measure everything 10 times and then just drill.

Next, take M6 studs or bolts and screw the wheels to the pipes (these bolts should go through the pipe and both wheels). Now we need 2 M8 studs. Insert the studs into the center holes of the wheels and secure them with nuts on both sides. Now attention! Next you need to do everything very accurately. We take pipes 30x30-200mm. Let's mark the central axes, as we did before, on opposite sides. Next, measure 40mm from the edge of the pipe, and then retreat another 80mm. On both pipes. At both sides. Check that the lengths of the pipes, this particular pair, must be equal (up to a millimeter). If they are slightly different, then decide where the bottom of your pipes will be (relative to the tripod) and measure from there. Drill holes with a diameter of 8.2mm, or even 8mm. If everything is ready? Then let's move on!

There is no special technology for how to assemble all the pipes together, the only thing that can be said is to do everything gradually, mark and drill in one pipe, mark and drill according to the holes made in the next one (locally). Assemble the entire structure. Using studs and nuts. The base is ready. There is one little thing left. Attach the platform from your tripod to the bottom of the base and mark it, and then drill a couple of holes. If necessary, then the platform can be modified by drilling holes in it in the place you need. I forgot to note, in the materials, you need bolts and nuts to attach the platform to the base (it all depends on the platform).

Link 2:

This link is a rotating platform for mounting the camera. I wrote above that maybe you don’t need such a design. If you still decide, then go ahead.

To do this, prepare materials for this link.

Here we do the same as with the base. The only thing is that you need to drill holes in the pipes 30x30-200mm, at the same distance as was measured when making the base (the distance between the wheel axles). And there is another little trick, since in this design, it is not the wheels that compress the pipes, but rather the pipes on both sides of the wheels. You need to drill these holes, after the holes for attaching the wheels are made, up to 14mm (you can bore them with a file, here the shape not important, the main thing is that the axis rotates freely). If everything is ready, then assemble everything in the image and likeness, as in the photo.

You can see how to make a platform in the section (follow focus). You just have to drill the holes for the axle and insert the stud.

You can assemble everything and install it on a tripod or tripod, if you have figured out how to make it J I’ll say it again, even a professional tripod is poorly able to withstand heavy dynamic loads. Design a tripod with a rotating head J That's it! It's time to shoot!

If you have any questions, leave a comment. Thanks for the thanks!

This spring, Novoflex decided to radically expand its presence in Russian market. For our review, we chose two of the most interesting and promising panoramic solutions on the market: the VR-System PRO II system and the VR-System SLANT system.

The main thing and fundamental difference panoramic head is the ability to use it to rotate and tilt the camera around the nodal point of the lens. The nodal point of a lens is the point at which all rays of light converge before diverging further. As a rule, the position of the aperture in the lens most closely corresponds to the nodal point. By moving the camera around it when shooting a panorama, we eliminate the possibility of parallax distortion.

To shoot a circular panorama, it is enough to take one row of vertical or horizontal frames.

To shoot a large and spherical (3D panorama) one row of frames is no longer enough. Such panoramas are called multi-row or mosaic. To shoot such a panorama, the panoramic head must be able to tilt the camera up and down. When shooting in this way, the nodal point should be located not only on the axis of the central column of the tripod, but also coincide with the level of the camera's tilt axis. We will tell you more about practical shooting of panoramas in future articles.

A bit of history

The Novoflex company begins its history in post-war Germany. In 1948, photographer Karl Müller founded the company, and already in 1950 he registered the “Novoflex” trademark. In the sixties, the company successfully developed and produced special bellows for cameras such as Contax and Hasselblad. Apparently, working with such famous brands allowed Novoflex to raise the quality bar to a level unattainable for many companies. In 2006, Novoflex creates its first panoramic system and in 2008 complements it with the QuadroPod system.

First meeting

The PRO II system is the most advanced panoramic system in the Novoflex line, capable of helping the photographer shoot any panoramas, with almost any optics (up to 300 mm) and any camera. PRO II is primarily designed for professionals and wealthy fans of panoramic photography.

The SLANT system is a special head for quickly creating spherical or 3D panoramas. Moreover, the speed of work is the most strong point this system. To create a 3D panorama, just take four frames using a fish-eye lens. As you can see, the camera is fixed at an angle of 60 degrees, which significantly optimizes the size of the structure and makes it possible to use a monopod when shooting.

We provided both sets for testing. professional photographer, President of the “Guild of Advertising Photographers” Dmitry Mukhin. Dmitry often has to shoot panoramic industrial landscapes and interiors.

Professional opinion

I have sufficient experience in shooting panoramas of interiors, landscapes and industrial photography. In my work I have been using the Manfrotto panoramic system for several years. I will compare the Novoflex system with it. The first thing that immediately catches your eye is technical execution of this device, every detail of which is made with precision quality. If someone says that this is not the most important thing, I beg to differ with him. The level and class of equipment used in the work is very important for a professional. Very often, the level of equipment used can be used to judge the qualifications and cost of the services of a professional photographer. And one more important detail: you need to be 100% confident in panoramic equipment, since it is possible to check the result only after shooting, when it is almost impossible to go back and repeat the shot.

Constructive

When disassembled, the PRO II system is quite compact and not too heavy (1.69 kg), which allows a professional photographer to include it in a mandatory on-site equipment kit. Often, when preparing for on-site photography, the issue of the size and weight of equipment is a tough one. Sometimes you have to refuse to take some components with you to the detriment of future quality simply because it is difficult to convey.

During the test, the panoramic system was additionally equipped with a compact Novoflex MagicBalance ball assembly, which could not but please. Regardless of what surface the tripod is installed on: flat, uneven, or maybe even at an angle. The rotating assembly itself is easy to level. With Manfrotto, when setting the level when the clamp is finally clamped, the adjustment often gets lost; with Novoflex this does not happen. The dividing head in PRO II has the ability to automatically measure angles on the horizontal plane at 10, 15, 20, 24, 30, 36, 45 and 60 degrees. Switching between angles is very easy, you just need to turn the control wheel to a different position. And this is another design difference from Manfrotto.

For comparison, here’s what two professional panoramic systems look like: Novoflex and Manfrotto.

I've been using the Manfrotto system for over five years now and it has never let me down. PRO II looks more compact and less brutal against its background, let's see how it performs in operation. The SLANT system is an amazing thing. Using it, the camera is installed at an angle of 60 degrees, so that the diagonal of the frame becomes perpendicular to the scene being filmed. This is very convenient when shooting spherical circular panoramas with a fisheye lens, the distance of the camera lens axis becomes shorter, the console is smaller, and it is much easier to control the structure at the time of shooting.

Tests

To test both panoramic systems in the field, I decided to conduct three surveys in different conditions. The first is the open-air “Arkhangelskoye Estate Museum”, the second is a large room “Vadim Zadorozhny Museum of Technology”, and a very small intimate room is the “Valentin Ryabov Gallery”.

Photography at the “Arkhangelskoye Estate Museum”

Of course, taking panoramas in Arkhangelskoe in winter is not a rewarding task; the entire famous park is under snow, and the sculptures are packed in wooden boxes. But my goal was to test Novoflex in our cold winter. But with this everything is in order, the weather outside is sunny and minus 18 degrees. I decided to shoot a line panorama of the façade of the “Great Palace” in order to create a large file size suitable for large format printing, and a circular panorama of the palace courtyard to check the accuracy of the entire system during further assembly. The dividing head, smoothly moving between shooting angles, at the same time recorded them very clearly, thereby eliminating frame skips. Those who shot panoramas will understand me - you start to collect a picture, but one frame from the panorama is missing, you just missed it and didn’t notice. Of course, this is the photographer's fault, but with the PRO II you have to try really hard to miss a shot.

The unique four-legged QuadroPod tripod I took for testing also received a good test for frost resistance. I’ll explain why: the QuadroPod in our case was equipped with carbon legs (there are other configurations), and we were strongly advised not to work with it in the cold, they say the thing is expensive and can crack. But nothing terrible happened; the entire system worked at low temperatures without complaints or breakdowns.

The VR-System PRO II panoramic system comes with a licensed copy of the professional program Panoramastudio 2 pro. This program allows you to stitch together cylindrical and spherical panoramas. And since I didn’t make any serious mistakes while shooting, it only took a few minutes to select the necessary parameters for creating and exporting the panorama, and the program did the rest automatically.

Examples of captured and collected panoramas:

Photography at the Vadim Zadorozhny Museum of Technology

Here it was decided to test the Slant system. To prepare the system for work, I remove one leg from the QuadroPod tripod, thereby obtaining a monopod, and attach the Slant to it. Next, I attach the camera and in a minute I’m ready to shoot. I will briefly describe what optics the manufacturer recommends using the Slant system with:

For cameras with crop sensor:

Sigma 4.5mm/2.8 EX DC Fisheye HSM
Sigma 8mm/3.5 EX DG Fisheye
Peleng 8mm/3.5 Fisheye

For cameras with full frame sensor:

Tokina AT-X 10-17mm / 3.5-4.5 DX Fisheye
Sigma 10mm/2.8 EX DC Fisheye HSM
Nikkor AF 10.5mm/2.8G ED DX Fisheye
Samyang 8mm/3.5 Fisheye
Canon EF 8-15mm/4 L USM Fisheye

To create a spherical panorama, you need to shoot only 4 frames, approximately at 90-degree intervals. The entire panorama shooting takes about a minute, and only because it takes some time to level the camera. If this is not your first time doing this, I think you can do it in 30 seconds.

I recommend collecting the footage in the PTgui program. This is the most complete and widespread program for assembling panoramas. I will also note that PTgui is an intuitive program, and you can figure it out without tedious reading of the manual.

Photography in “Valentin Ryabov Gallery”

In the gallery, I decided to shoot a spherical panorama, but with the PRO II system. It was necessary to achieve such image quality that the viewer would have the opportunity to examine and evaluate each painting in the interior. To do this, using a panoramic head, I shot 60 images, which I then collected into an interactive panorama High Quality. I also shot several multi-row 180-degree panoramas, suitable for high-quality printing.

I collected all these panoramas in the PanoramaStudio 2 Pro program, which collected them quite quickly and automatically.

QuadroPod

I also want to dwell in a little more detail on an amazing product - the four-legged QuadroPod tripod. At first glance it’s complete madness, but you understand that the Germans are only mad when it comes to porn. It is not so easy to install, since you have to install three legs and adjust the fourth one under the surface. So what is it for?

In fact, a four-legged tripod is necessary just for shooting panoramas. The fact is that four points of support provide the same stability as a conventional tripod with a smaller leg radius than a conventional tripod. And accordingly, if the legs are not widely spaced, they do not fall into the camera’s field of view when shooting a spherical panorama.

The illustration below clearly shows this:

In addition, the quadropod has removable legs, each of which can be used as a monopod, and in the Variabel configuration, the QuadroPod left without a leg easily turns into a familiar tripod.

Estimated retail prices in Russia: VR-System PRO II – 31,200 rubles. VR-System SLANT – 10,300 rubles.

If you already have some practice shooting panoramic images, you know that the standard kit necessary equipment consists of a camera, a strong tripod and a special panoramic head. Of course, some craftsmen manage to shoot a panorama with a regular head, and sometimes even without a tripod, but sooner or later, with the growth of skills and mastery, the photographer will still face the need to have a panoramic head in his arsenal, especially since its use significantly reduces the occurrence of artifacts, and therefore time spent on further computer processing of panoramic photographs.

Basically, artifacts arise for two reasons - due to the movement of objects during shooting (in which they fall into the frame overlap zone) and due to the rotation of the camera around a point other than the nodal one. Let us recall that the nodal point is a point located at a certain distance inside the lens, at which the rays that form the image intersect. Conventional tripod heads allow you to rotate the camera around its center of rotation, usually located in the area of the tripod socket when rotating horizontally, or 5-10 cm below the camera when rotating vertically. The nodal point is located in the center of the lens, approximately at its beginning.

Having previously studied many options for homemade heads, I designed my “product”, which consists of four main parts - an X-Y bracket, a Z bracket, a platform for the camera and a platform for the tripod.

I’ll start characterizing my head from the bottom. The platform for the tripod is presented in two parts - a quick-release platform from a Culmann tripod and a cut metal profile 20x40. In our case, the piece had a length of 48 mm, but 40 mm would have been enough. Both parts are fastened with an M6 screw, the purpose of which is to prevent rotation of both parts relative to each other. At the same time, if the platform were a little stronger, and if the protrusion on the tripod near the platform did not interfere, then there would be no need to use a piece of metal profile.

Our next “spare part” is X-Y bracket. It was made from a 25x3 metal strip, with an X distance from the center of rotation of 57 mm (350D mount center 35 mm from the bottom of the camera + 3 mm platform + 1 mm platform pad + Z3 mm bracket + 13.25 mm shims + 1.75 mm). As a result, the total length of X reaches 57+15=72 mm.

In principle, the length X from the axis of rotation to the outer edge can be made larger, but I don’t see much point in this, since the center of gravity of the structure is shifted to the opposite side and it will not be possible to focus in this direction.

But on the contrary, I made the Y axis the longest. The length was determined in such a way that it was possible to shoot the “lid”, that is, a frame at +90°. At the same time, from the rotation axis Y to X there is enough space for the bracket with the camera mounted on it. Moreover, with such a length of the bracket, if you accidentally let go of the device (for example, when you loosen a screw along the Y axis), it will not hit X. In total, the distance from the rotation axis Z on Y to X for me was 175 mm, and the total length was 185 mm. Since Z turns out to be less than Y, the head folds quite compactly.

To make X-Y, I used a strip of metal with a total length of 185 + 72 = 247 mm, which was bent in a vice, then slightly adjusted with a hammer and bent with a gas wrench. After the above-described manipulations, I ended up with a thing that is not ideal in appearance, but geometrically correct along its axes. All that remains is to drill two 6mm holes for the axles.

The length of Z was not chosen by chance, but after a series of preliminary fittings, when a consensus was finally reached at 142 mm, while from the center of rotation to the axis of the platform - 58-116 mm. This gave me an adjustment range of 58 mm. This Z geometry is suitable for all lenses at my disposal, and the Z can be shortened down to 136 mm. Bracket Z is separated from XY by adjusting washers (in my case, a nut and washer).

This was done so that during shooting +90°, the bolt fixing the camera platform did not touch the Y. In addition, by removing the washer or slightly reducing its thickness, it becomes possible to install a camera with a higher optical center, although in this case you will lose the opportunity shooting +90°. The axis is a bolt with a diameter of 6 mm, which, if possible, should be welded to the Z bracket. I drilled it from the side and secured it with an additional M3 screw.

And finally, the last part of the head is the platform for the camera. Because the 350d's tripod socket is located on the axis of the lens, making the platform was not difficult. The platform was made from a strip of metal 35x72 mm, in which I drilled two holes - 6.5 mm in diameter for a tripod socket, and for a pin that prevents the camera from rotating on the platform.

Due to the fact that I did not want to spend time calculating the position of the pin and tripod socket, I simply took a scan of the device using a flatbed scanner and then, in Photoshop, drew the platform, marking the axes. Having printed the resulting diagram on a printer, I pasted it onto my workpiece and drilled it through the paper.

According to the original plan, the pin was supposed to be made from an M3 screw screwed into the platform, but since I had some problems with the drill (I used an electric screwdriver instead), the screw had to be cold welded, but due to the fact that the hole is at the bottom of the camera has a diameter of less than 3 mm, the screw was processed with a file. After that, I screwed the platform to the Z axis, and cold welded the spoke guides to its sides. As a result, the platform could only move along its axis, and without turning. And in order for the camera to sit “softer” on the platform, a piece of dermantine was previously glued onto it.

A few words about limbs. I found dials graduated by 5 degrees to be inconvenient, so I decided to make dials with dots, with each dot corresponding to one frame. Since I want to shoot panoramas with a standard 29mm lens (18x1.6), I need to plan for shooting 10 horizontal frames in one row. Therefore, the points on the limb should be located at 36 degrees. But this solution did not turn out to be convenient enough - for more accurate positioning you need an arrow. As a result, I managed to come up with a more original version of the limb. On it I marked lines at 36 degrees, indicating the near side of the bracket.

I just set the bracket parallel to the line, take a shot, rotate the bracket again, etc. The limb for vertical slopes is made in a similar way. There, the dial is fixed to the Z axis, and the Y axis serves as an arrow. If lenses are changed during filming, you can draw lines of different colors, or make interchangeable dials. In my case, the limbs were drawn in Photoshop and designed to use brackets with a width of 24 mm. The printed and cut out limbs were placed between a plastic lid and the bottom of a can of ear sticks.

And finally the last nuance - nuts with collars. In order to rotate the X-Y axes, you don’t have to look for a particularly powerful nut; an ordinary wing will be quite enough. But to secure the Z axis you will need a nut with a thicker knob. I went through many options and settled on a nut from some part, with a metal plate screwed on. The force applied during the screwing process was sufficient to prevent the bracket with the camera from slipping. That's basically it!

All we have to do is collect all the above details into one whole and go for a panoramic photo shoot. In total, I spent 3-4 hours making a working sample, without dials and imperfections; several more evenings were spent experimenting with washers and dials, as well as other little things. But if you have the tools and materials, all this can be done in half a day.

And finally, let's calculate the financial costs. A strip of metal 24x3 and a piece of profile 20x40 cost me only 10 rubles on the construction market. I also bought washers there, at a price of about 1 ruble/piece, bolts for 5 rubles/piece. The 1/4' bolt was borrowed from an old Ewa Marina box, the dials were printed on Epson SemiGlossy paper (with ink for 2 dials - about 10 rubles). The quick-release platform came from a Culmann tripod; the rest of the little things were found in our own bins. As a result, 10+1×3+2×5+0+10+0 = 33 rubles. That is, we got a panoramic head with horizontal-vertical rotation and settings for various lenses for only 33 rubles!

One of the first accessories after the camera that appears in the arsenal of a novice photographer is most often a camera tripod. You usually buy a tripod, which consists of three legs connected together, topped with a special device called a tripod head.

The tripod head is designed to conveniently mount the camera at the angle desired by the photographer or videographer. Many articles have already been written and countless copies have been broken in disputes about which head is better. There is no comprehensive answer. Each photographer, when choosing a head for a tripod, proceeds from his own subjective needs and requirements, solves issues differently, guided in his choice not only by financial capabilities, but also by physical ones. Some people purchase several heads for a wide range of tasks, others sacrifice convenience but buy a universal one, and so on. Let's look at the choice of a tripod head from the point of view of solving certain problems.

Typically, a tripod head is equipped with one or more handles that can be used to fix the head in the position desired by the photographer. Simple in design, tripods with fixed heads are in the budget segment; every novice photographer can afford such a model to get better images.

However, after some time has passed and one's own technical skills have improved, many may find that the fixed tripod head has some limitations in use. Its capabilities may not be sufficient to implement creative ideas. The photographer’s creative ideas begin to outstrip the design features of the existing tripod. The time has come to think about which model to buy to replace your old tripod.

But almost any amateur photographer can panic after visiting a specialized store. The fact is that manufacturers offer an endless variety of models and often the prices for tripods will be much higher than expected. If you don’t know the subtleties, you can be left with nothing, because it will seem that the model you need at a reasonable price does not exist in nature. And this is a wrong assumption.

Each model from almost any manufacturer is designed to solve strictly defined problems and is intended for professional or amateur use. It's things like these that can affect the price of a tripod.

If the tripod is expected to be used daily, then a more durable material is required from which it is made, and such a tripod cannot be cheap by definition. To alleviate the plight of those photographers who, due to their workload, are forced to carry a tripod or monopod with them every day, manufacturing companies are introducing innovations into the production process and looking for solutions to reduce weight while maintaining the strength and reliability of accessories. This is also reflected in the price. That is why you need to take a prudent approach to your choice and know what you should pay attention to first.

If you decide that it’s worth purchasing a head separately from the legs, let’s figure out what kind of tripod heads there are in principle.

Let's look at the four most common types of tripod heads and discuss how each fits. various types photography. We really hope that a review like this will give you the best idea of what to look for in a store.

Tripod head for video shooting

There are several features in video shooting that predetermined modern look heads for conducting such a session. That's what it's called - a video head, or video head. This model has one elongated handle, which is logical, because the operator’s second hand is occupied with controlling the shooting plan or adjusting the focus. The handle is made long specifically in order to smoothly move the camera up and down and left and right, and it does not interfere with looking at the screen.

Among other things, modern tripods are usually equipped with quick-release platforms so that you can quickly remove the camera from the tripod and switch to handheld shooting. Some tripod video heads are additionally equipped with oil dampers, which can further soften the smoothness of operation.

Why is the video head inconvenient to use for some types of photography?

Often professional video heads cannot be quickly switched to shoot a vertical frame, which is logical, since there is no need for such a frame arrangement when shooting video.

Photography also differs from videography in one more factor - for it to be carried out with professional SLR cameras most often they use the viewfinder, so the long handle of the video head will make it difficult to bring your face closer to the viewfinder.

Panoramic tripod heads

Landscape photography most often does not require speed, it encourages thoughtfulness, but it certainly has its own difficulties. Landscape photography is very sensitive to obstruction of the horizon. Sometimes to create a panorama you need to take several photos with a single horizon line. A panoramic head would be ideal for these types of shooting.

But such a head is quite massive and not particularly versatile, and therefore landscapes are often shot using a 3D head, which allows you to precisely adjust the camera along each of the axes. Typically, a model of such a head is equipped with three handles, a level or several level sensors.

Using a 3D head, you can quickly switch from a horizontal frame to a vertical one, easily fix the camera and easily rotate it around any other axis. 3D heads can be quite compact and have an unusual design.

Parameters such as lightness and compactness are very important for photographers shooting landscapes. After all, sometimes they have to climb far for the sake of an interesting composition and a good angle.

Wedding photography

Wedding photography, as a rule, does not encourage the use of a tripod. A fairly quickly changing plot, moving subjects, changing plans - all this will complicate the photographer’s work if he decides to use a tripod. This is why in some cases photographers use .

Most often, a monopod is used when working with long-focus optics and in low-light conditions, when it is not possible to get closer, or if you cannot use a flash, for example, in a church during a wedding ceremony. In such situations, a monopod with a pistol grip is the only correct and universal solution.

It is a ball head, but with a special comfortable handle.

The pistol head is designed to give the photographer the same level of control over camera manipulation that a ball tripod head allows. However, users notice that the pistol head is easier to adjust due to the comfortable grip mechanism.

While a conventional ball-type tuning head requires you to rotate a relatively small knob to change the camera's position, the pistol grip functions like a joystick. This makes it possible to relatively quickly adjust the desired camera position. It is enough to press the special clutch mechanism on the handle, and the head will be unlocked, making it possible to change the position.

More advanced models of pistol ball heads also allow you to additionally rotate the camera along one of the axes. This makes panoramic shots much easier to take. As you can see in the image, pistol heads are much larger than ball heads. But the trade-off is sometimes worth it - often more precise control over camera position is required while maintaining a fairly high degree of freedom and quick access to the full range of motion.

Reportage

For the most part, everything that applies to wedding photography also applies to reportage photography, with perhaps one exception: when reporting, sometimes there is even nowhere to install a monopod.

Macro photography and product photography

Macro photography most often requires photographers to take unusual angles and frame through the viewfinder. That is, you have to hold the camera with one hand, choosing the direction and framing, and with the other you need to fix the camera in the resulting position. It is most convenient to use for macro photography when all degrees of freedom of the camera will be fixed with just one handle.

Ball heads for tripods

Ball tripod heads can rotate 360 degrees around their axis due to a bearing built into the design of the model. Using a special lever, you can tighten or loosen the camera mount, rotate the installed camera from side to side, rotate it in a circle, change orientation from portrait to landscape with almost no effort.

Some ball head models are specifically designed to allow only one direction of movement to be changed. This feature is certainly very convenient in the case of panning. You should be careful when changing one of the mounting parameters, since if the fixation is insufficient, the ball head mechanism can abruptly “reset” the camera, which looks intimidating and is always scary. Having clearly fixed the lever, you can now configure and adjust the placement of the camera on the ball tripod head at the micro level.

When a photographer sets out to change a tripod and purchase a tripod with a replaceable head, but does not know exactly for what specific purposes this most convenient and necessary accessory in the arsenal will be used in most cases, the general recommendation will be as follows: it is worth considering options for models with ball tripod heads .

The ball head will give the photographer a fantastic amount of control over the stabilization and camera control process that is unheard of when using tripods with a fixed head. And even if the model does not allow you to rotate the camera in all directions, ball heads make it much easier to control cameras.

In the case when you plan to shoot a video, of course, you should first of all pay attention to the models of video heads. You will have to deal with the nuances in this segment of offers from leading manufacturers of studio accessories. It's important to remember that video heads are the best choice for shooting video on a DSLR. It can be said that in general, video heads have a smoother and more adjusted rotation when rotating and a more stable design, which undoubtedly makes their operation smoother.

Choose wisely, carefully, weigh your decisions, then you won’t have to regret lost opportunities and unaccounted for circumstances.