21.06.2020 Video head basic design problems.

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The weight of the camera needs the whole digiscoping system shifting forwards to achieve balance. Making the standard, Manfrotto, sliding plate look very silly indeed. I already have a longer plate on order after messing up by ordering a 357PLONG which didn't fit the Manfrotto 500 head!

The new plate will not be a Manfrotto. In fact the whole concept of the "video" head is a complete non-starter. Except [possibly] for a modest camera body and short lens. iue.e One which remains well within the very limited capacity of the fluid drag system.

This very silly design places ALL of the camera system mass well above the pivot. Which is way down at the bottom. Where the bright red ring rudely pokes its tongue out at its deluded buyers. Like myself. I should never have encouraged them by actually purchasing one of these heads for digiscoping!

The very low pivot accentuates any imbalance by causing droop at the front or rear. Adding "fluid" damping is just the manufacturer cynically admitting the whole design is simply crap.

The mass, deliberately arranged so far above the pivot, acts as an inverted pendulum. You could add long, vertical arms with counterweights sited well below the pivot. Except that nobody [sensible] wants the extra weight, bulk and complication to carry around. There is only one place where a vertical pivot will work without constantly changing balance issues. That is at the centre of gravity of the entire system within the small upper [red] ring.

The drawing over the image shows the problem. Any imbalance is amplified by the poor sighting of the low, vertical axis or pivot point. The small upper ring shows where the centre of gravity of the system resides. The large ring shows how the high centre of mass rotates around the very low pivot. As soon as the telescope system, or long lens, exceeds the tipping point it immediately does a nose dive!

In a digiscoping system even the control arm works against the user!  It adds mass on the wrong end of the long lever of moment. [Mass x distance from the pivot] I could achieve better balance if I moved the arm to the front! Where is is foolishly unreachable. I could obtain even better balance if I added a lead weight to the far end of the arm! Even the arm itself is an open admission that this design of video head is crap unless you are supporting only a small camera body and short lens.

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