Originally Posted by Paul R Johnson

If I've understood Ofer correctly, it isn't the head stability, it's what happens as you touch the pan handle. You frame the shot and let go the handle. you need to at some point touch it again, and it's this touch that introduces the shake. I also find it's worse because you have your eye glued to the viewfinder, and have to find the bar by touch. You know where it is, 'nearly' and have to find it very, very gently. What I do to minimise the shake is find it very close to the head, then gently move towards the operating end. This makes it a bit less prone to the shake. The theory says having a long handle is best, but I smetime find that with a decent head I can initiate a smooth pan by moving the head itself, not the pan bar, which is too sensitive.