Hail the rubber band!
 

I nominate the rubber band as one of the top five technological achievements ever in film/video. Simple, small, cheap, and so effective. I've made these observations:

1) It is so far superior to panning by hand as to be genuinely profound in its benefits
2) Thin, stretched out rubber bands (about 2 inches when relaxed) work the best, a gossamer connection between you and the tripod
3) In general cranking the pan resistance up yields the best results.
4) The smoothest pans happen when the tension is enough that the ruuber band is stretched to 75% of it's max (about 8-10 inches) when panning.
5) The rubber band also allows the head to slowly come to stop as the band contracts after you've stopped panning.
6) With just a little practice, the benefits are even more stunning when executing diaganol moves
7) You can bundle several around the pan arm on your tripod and never be without

Three cheers for the rubber band!

I too hail this although I have some nice stretchy hair bungees/scrunchies (the kind for pony tails) as they tend not to rip the hair off my arms (I store them round my wrist) and they are generally "less ghetto looking"

I dunno what the pro camera people call it but certainly in Lightwave that effect is called "envelope" where you have a nice non-linear progression in speed change.

http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/hb_pho...635032,00.html for pictures of this simple yet effective technique.

you may also try gripping the head itself - it gives you far less leverage on the head, and consequently you can make finer moves. The advantage to limiting your leverage is that you can still make precise moves, where it may be far more difficult using a rubberband on the pan bar.

Looped together in a chain and one around the lens barrel thick ones can be half-handy for improvised focus pulls when you don't want to drag the cameraman off his shot.

it rocks!
 

This is a great trick, thanks!
I made a test today of before and after shots (both with a fluid tripod head) and the rubber band way is the best. You can check out my test here:
http://eugenia.gnomefiles.org/2007/0...r-smooth-pans/

Cool!
 

Very cool test. It was a really smooth move!

Now if I can only find a rubber band for the jib arm :)

--JA
www.madjavaproductions.com

Yep, it works. Many thanks! Just amazing.

Smooth with very, very slow and even movement. Great for a small correction when you overshoot a pan without drawing attention....

Now if I can just find some black ones that won't look so cheezy.....

I keep hearing about this. I will buy some rubber bands at work tomorrow and check out the results.

I was reading this thread and not later after I received two packages from B&H.

Funny thing is there were 2 rubber bands inside of the packages, they are now attached to my 501HDV, I can get silk smooth pans with cheapo rubber bands haha.

This may already be very logical, but I figured this out about 2 weeks ago... Initially I was putting the rubber band around the end of the tripod handle in order to pan/tilt smoothly. But, it is a TON smoother if you move the rubber band way up the handle near the head. It requires more effort to get the pan/tilt started, but once you do it is very smooth. Also, my pans/tilts are less jittery/shakey than when I would have the rubber band near the end of the handle.

Andrew

Wow! Thats a great idea Thanks!
I will try it out tomorrow

Great tip. This works like a charm. I now have about 8 rubberbands on my tripod. I got to be ready in case one pops.

Haven't tried it yet, who still uses it? What happens if you're panning with say an aircraft taking off and it's accelerating to a very fast speed over a 120degree pan. Also do you guys use the EVF or LCD?

Cheers.

Rubber band man
 

I smell a Nobel Prize.
Jock Ellis

The rubber band has been reinvented several times over and is always an all time favorite.

Never travel with out them!

its really great as you can buy different thicknesses depending on how much force you need to apply, they also shoot bobby pins real well too.

I found some at Walmart in the hair care department that are black and about 6" long. Looks good on my black Sachtler, and it works well, too. I took it one step further, however... at the other end I attached a small LED keychain light. I can't tell you how many times I've been glad I had it there.

wow, this actually works AMAZING.
Way better then doing it by hand!
Everyone whom is sceptic about this, just try it once and be prepared to be amazed.

Er, Chris H................
 

Can we kick this thread down to HD MOM and be done with it, it really has passed it's use by date up here...............


CS


(I knew this was gonna come back and kick your ..............)

Hi Chris,

In all seriousness, the rubber band trick really works. It might not be effective on a high-end tripod system such as a Vinten or Sachtler, but it actually works quite well for the mid-range systems such as Bogen, etc.

Could somebody please record a little video clip showing how this trick works? I'd like to host it here at DV Info Net. Thanks in advance,

Hi Chris...........
 

I know it works.

Believe it or not, I discovered it years ago with my M@#$%^&* sticks/ head setup (well, not exactly rocket science, is it?).

My point being that this being a "Pro Forum" and all, maybe we should be promoting a slightly more "pro" and yes, unfortunately, higher budget approach to the problem?

Any equipment that needs a rubber band to perform the only function it was designed for, is, to my mind, not adequately designed for professional use and should not be sold nor touted as such.

It's inclusion in discussions here should really be on a "tolerated at best" level (IMHO) purely because I know that 99% of the posters in this thread would be stunned and amazed by the level of operational efficiency a "pro" system can provide.

I know I was when I made the switch.

One thing not mentioned much here but germain to the discussion is the change from SD to HD over the last few years.

This has pretty well put all of the "budget" support systems out the window as possibilities in the HD sphere, which doesn't leave a lot of room for manouvre on a tight budget.

My suggestion to move this to HD MOM was because there must be 100 million SD Camcorders there in the US (and rest of world) which could benefit from a decent SD support, rubber band not necessary.

There's the rub.

The "rubber band" is usually only required for HD, SD can get away with the poor performance of this gear. The business is going (fast) towards HD, why let this stuff linger here?

I rest my case.


CS

I used the rubber band with my Vinten Pro-6 HDV (aka Manfrotto 503HDV in wolf's clothing) to great effect. I only found it useful for nice slow pans though, such as establishing shots or scenery. Trying to track a bird walking/running along the ground or flying was nigh on impossible.

Not sure if that was a limitation of the elastic band, the tripod, my fat fingers or all three.

My new Sachtler doesn't like rubber bands. <smiles>

P.S. Why don't Manfrotto include a rubber band in the box then?

Hi Mike............
 

Bloody good question, actually.

Wish I knew.


CS

I use the rubber band on my Sachtler FSB6, and on my Miller DS20. Does that make me less of a pro? I'll take every advantage I can get. What others prefer is their choice.

I have tested it now on my Sachtler System 6 SB SL MCF & my less pro Libec LS38 2a and am amazed with both results.
Don't really understand the whole rubberband ain't pro argument either.
I highly recommend ANY pro & amateur to try this.
For me it was a great improvement on slow pans.

Agreed... Although I have fell out of love with the rubber band (I don't seem to need it any more), what's not pro about it? If it helps you perform a task, then it's a tool - neither pro nor amateur.

But you can imagine some nice guy will come with a handle for tripod that include some rubber inside and sell it for a "pro" price", so everybody is happy.

For example you just cut a handle in the middle and add a silent block (basically a rubber cylinder with a screw at each end), so you get exactly the same effect.

On top of that you can even add a larger tube on the handle that will slide and cover the silent block, returning the handle to its rigid state.

http://busfixx.tripod.com/sitebuilde...res/sblock.jpg

Since silent block could be a bit difficult to find, so i think a spring (the one you can find on these articulated spring lamps) should give the same effect.