I finally caved in...

Nikolai

And purchased a better camera stand from my good friends at Tallyn's:-)
http://www.tallyns.com/mmTPP/Images/TitanCameraStand_actual.JPG
:ivar

Sam

Nikolai wrote: »

And purchased a better camera stand from my good friends at Tallyn's:-)
http://www.tallyns.com/mmTPP/Images/TitanCameraStand_actual.JPG
:ivar

Look very substantial, although I am at a loss to how it's used.

Sam

Nikolai

Sam wrote: »

Look very substantial, although I am at a loss to how it's used.

Sam

Sam, it's a camera shooting stand. I have been using its younger brother (Titan Sidekick) for quite some time and while it was working, it felt a bit too flimsy, so I was looking for a more solid/massive "upgrade" for a few month already.
Unlike tripods, camera stands do not have long spidery legs that are so easy to get stubled upon in a somewhat crowded home-studio environment, you don't have to go through the multiple motions to adjust the height, and the said height can be adjusted (quickly and easily) in a range that no typical tripod can ever dream of (from a few inches to 8..12ft in one fluid move). Also, stands are much heavier than tripods (this one is 60lbs), hence improving the support mechanical characteristics.
This particular one has the following features:

• lockable/movable base
• double arm (you can mount laptop on the opposite side, thus having it close to you and adding even more weigth for the system)
• shiftable arm (you can adjust horisontal position in 2' range)
• basket is included (lightmeter, extra PW, other remotes - priceless)

Functionally similar units from other vendors can easily cost 3-4 grand. At $1,095 total cost (including shipping to California) this is a steal.

All in all this is kinda a luxury item. One definitely can survive without it (afterall I shot in the studio handheld for more than a year). But I spend so much time in a studio, that every little improvement helps.

Nikolai

richy wrote: »

If its what I think it is, its like a tripod for use in a studio. You put on your best SRS face, hook up some off camera lighting and attach the camera to the end of one of those arms in the middle which that then be moved up and down. It can be more versatile than a tripod in studio situations. That is assuming I'm right in figuring out what it is lol.

Bingo!
While it would be fairly useless outdoors (and that's where a tripod is the support king), in studio it's an extremely convenient thing, especially for a tethered shooting.

Sam

Thanks!!

Do you mount a ball head on the one side for the camera?

Sam

Nikolai

Sam wrote: »

Thanks!!

Do you mount a ball head on the one side for the camera?

Sam

You're welcome!

I was doing just that. Then I came to the conclusion that the ball head is exactly the type you *don't* want to have in the studio, since 99.99% of all studio shots are either strictly portrait or strictly landscape, with no side/horizon-tilt (and with the ball head you MUST take care of all three axis at the same time). Since the studio floor is presumably horizontal, that removes the need of controlling one of the axis completely. So I started to wonder about having Pan-Tilt head. But most that I saw were limited in tilt area (when I need the most flexibility). Then I realized that I already have a monopod head that mostly sits on the monopod doing nothing (I rarely shoot sports), and it turned out to be a perfect solution for me.

I also have their laptop desk I purchased last year (http://www.tallyns.com/tpp/amazing/itemdesc.asp?ic=9120%2D01%2DTAL&eq=&Tp, so I will now have my laptop closer to the camera and will be able to view the results in a more convenient way (without a need of having laptop several feet away). So in general it should looks something like this: http://www.tallyns.com/mmTPP/Images/LaptopDeck_detail3.JPG (with the camera much closer to the arm, though:-)

This is my story :-)

kdog

Nick, I know you have a solution now, but I'm curious. It sounds like most of the time your camera needs to be level, and in either portrait or landscape mode. Would an L bracket on your camera with a quick release clamp on your ballhead have worked perfectly for you? Because once the ballhead is set up level, you can switch almost instantly between portrait and landscape with that setup. So you'd only do the slightly tedious ballhead leveling once. Now if you have to regularly tilt one axis, then this wouldn't be an ideal solution. But it didn't sound like that's something you care about, or perhaps I didn't read that right.

Nikolai

kdog wrote: »

Nick, I know you have a solution now, but I'm curious. It sounds like most of the time your camera needs to be level, and in either portrait or landscape mode. Would an L bracket on your camera with a quick release clamp on your ballhead have worked perfectly for you? Because once the ballhead is set up level, you can switch almost instantly between portrait and landscape with that setup. So you'd only do the slightly tedious ballhead leveling once. Now if you have to regularly tilt one axis, then this wouldn't be an ideal solution. But it didn't sound like that's something you care about, or perhaps I didn't read that right.

Joel,
it's not portrait/landscape switching that gets me. That one indeed is done by L bracket, which I have on all the time (in studio, at least).
The thing is that I need adjust vantage point (height), and hence change the camera's tilt. But only tilt. Not anything else.
Yet, as you know, on any ball head once you unlock/loosen it you immediately have a complete three-dimensional freedom. I only need to adjust one dimension, but keep the other two locked.
Ballhead can't do it. Monopod head does just that!