Tripod for videography

Tamesh16 · April 19, 2017

Soo i have a little Media club set up in my School in which i mainly Handle Videography, But me along with a group of people were the ones to start the club so we had no gear initially. Covering events in College by video have been quite simplistic, I have used my Phones camera to film 1080p videos and then stabilize,but now A small camcorder and tripod was donated, and even though it was much better than a phone, it has its problems, So the Tripod would never pan smoothly and any little torque applied would cause the stand to raise off the ground , so i struggled a lot, and only recently i realised that different fuild heads are used for videography , without friction things on the axis, but aside that they also have some other things, but i am wondering if any of you know what i should look for when buying a good one for videography, like i know good fluid head is good and good stability, but what exactly, cause i see bowl, width ,which i am not sure what that is, and weight it can with stand which should be too much a problem, its cam corder after all and uk , if anyone knows , comment below, btw the friction things on the tripod i already have i sbad, it makes a bunch of noise and causes the pan to stutter, so its not great.

AkiraDaarkst · April 19, 2017

Here's a good video oriented tripod for small cameras.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=&sku=1247336&gclid=Cj0KEQjwldzHBRCfg_aImKrf7N4BEiQABJTPKEyA8vmHgmShq0KsGEtOagBZILlaeS3STvneQde7ZJ4aAnZl8P8HAQ&Q=&c3api=1876%2C168370477111%2C%2C&IWB=SW&is=REG&A=details&pcur=xCHF

For a video tripod, I'd look for one sturdy and stable enough to mount the weight of the camera and accessories on the camera. For the head, initially I used to use Manfrotto 500 series heads with a DSLR but they just really aren't smooth enough now that I've been using bigger cameras. Now I'm thinking of moving towards a Sachtler which would very likely be out of your price range. Look at the Benro I suggested above.

What I would look for in a tripod head:

Would have to have a bowl/ball mount at the base of the head so that if I'm placing the tripod on an uneven terrain, I can correct the leveling of the head with the bowl/ball instead of having to adjust each individual leg..
Panning and tilting should be ultra smooth, have good locking mechanisms and ability to control friction. Separate pan and tilt locks.
Fluid drag and spring balance are important. Also counterbalance.