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The Gyroscope Forum |
1 December 2024 20:52
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Welcome to the gyroscope forum. If you have a question about gyroscopes in general,
want to know how they work, or what they can be used for then you can leave your question here for others to answer.
You may also be able to help others by answering some of the questions on the site.
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Question |
| Asked by: |
Jon Hall |
| Subject: |
Photographic Application |
| Question: |
Would anyone know of a gyroscope that has been used to hold and move a camera in different positions?
Specifically, to take the place of a "ballhead". A ballhead is a device that attaches to a tripod that allow a photographer to secure a camera in almost any postion. I am attaching a comment that was made on a Phot Net forum where I have not been able to contact the person who made it. Any insights that anyone has would be greatly appreciated. THANK YOU!!
Regarding ball heads and in particular the NPC product. First of all, the manufacturer says it's not a ball head, as if there's something inherently wrong with the concept of ball heads. If you study the product, it appears to begin life as a ball and the material (delrin?) is sliced up and then reassembled. Unlike ballheads, which tend to add or subtract pressure at one point ( via a locking knob or handle ), the NPC "ballhead" offers a more even distribution of clamping or locking force. If the NPC mechanism were better designed, their system would work better, but there is no mechanism in their handle to govern the "loosening" process. Thus, if you have a long lens or heavy camera and you're not careful, the whole thing can nosedive forward or sideways with very little warning. Looks are deceiving with this product. At arm's length, it's pretty, in a retro sort of way. The "engineering" of it reminds me of many items produced in the old Soviet Union, in a word- PRIMATIVE ! Just look at the other things this company makes and you'll see what I mean. I owned one of their Probacks for 35mm cameras. At $700, it's one of the most overpriced and poorly made photo items I've ever owned. The fibreoptic lens is mounted in place by a mechanism that looks like it was designed by Rube Goldberg. 'Nuf said on that topic. A final word on tripods and ball heads. It amazes me that people are willing to spend in the neighborhood of $1000 for a tripod and a head, for their little 35mm & medium format cameras and lenses. For that kind of money you could buy something really useful: a used gyro ! Once you work with one, you'll never go back to using three sticks with a bag of bolts mounted on top.
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| Date: |
22 December 2004
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