If you want to shoot like a professional you need a professional quality camcorder

If you want to get PAID like a professional video maker, you got to use pro gear - here is a quick guide to professional tripods

Stepping Up to a Professional Video Tripod

By David Flores, courtesy B&H Photo Video

If you take your camera work seriously, it's impossible to overstate the importance of a tripod. Quality tripod kits do more than just hold your camera rig up. These supports improve composition, force perspective, and provide smooth pan and tilt movements. While taking a look at some fine options from Sachtler and Vinten, we'll examine the form and function of professional tripod supports.

Pro tripod systems typically consist of a head, legs (sometimes referred to as sticks), feet, and a spreader. The modular nature of these components allows them to be exchanged within a given system for the desired shot.

The Head

Tripod heads are the steering wheel of camera support systems. They control where you want your shot to stay or go. Utilizing an internal fluid for smooth motion through resistance, most video heads are referred to as fluid heads. This resistance, or drag, can be fine-tuned by the operator for a custom experience. The Sachtler FSB-8 and DV-10SB fluid heads offer 5 independent drag steps for both pan and tilt movements. Adjusting drag considers the weight of the rig relative to the speed of the desired pan and tilt.

Before tuning the drag, it's important to properly level the head. Effectively positioning the camera parallel to the ground allows for natural composition and balanced panning. Leveling typically requires some type of balance scale. Pro heads, such as the Vision 3AS from Vinten, feature an integrated touch-illumination spirit level. The Vinten design glows in a soft blue color and provides a time saving tool for head leveling.

When you're working with a shoulder-mounted camera, the rig feels more balanced in a horizontal position, with your shoulders directly above your hips. If you bend forward from the waist, the rig begins to feel heavier and less stable. The weight of the camera isn't changing, but the amount of torque required for balance increases the further you bend. The physics of tilting forward or backward on a tripod head are basically the same. Unbalanced camera rigs have a tendency to tip over, or-at the very least- make movements rough and jerky. Threatening stability isn't good for any type of production.

To remedy this, professional tripod heads often employ counterbalance systems to keep your camera, lens, audio equipment and other accessories balanced over the apex of the sticks. When shooting with a combination of video accessories or heavy gear, it's best to utilize a head with counterbalance.

Vinten's Perfect Balance System provides the proper amount of torque to counterbalance the weight of your rig throughout the tilt range of the head. This is particularly helpful in balancing ENG cameras, but is also highly useful when shooting with long glass on a video-enabled DSLR.