Camera support for rotation around lens axis

[Jean Déraps]

I've been asked to do a shot where the camera will be facing down towards a bed and to make the lens rotate around the longitudinal axis (axis going through the lens) so as to make the bed appear to rotate... what kind of camera support would allow me to perform this rotation?

 

[John Burnley]

I'm quite surprised that one or more of the truly knowledgeable people on this forum have not replied as yet.

I think this would do the job with a relatively lightweight cam, and you would of course have to manually rotate the cam --

http://reallyrightstuff.com/Product...=&desc=CRD-87-Package:-Camera-Rotation-Device

Personally I would build the device, as a cradle for the cam hooked to a conventional fluid head, if I had to do such a shot.

For truly high end work I once saw such a device by Panavision at a trade show where the rotation could be precisely controlled from very very fast to ultra slow - very impressive.

Hope this helps!

John Burnley

 

[Frank Martin]

Panavision Panatate

Panavision Panatate

Panavision made/makes a great rental solution we have used in the past called a Panatate. Lets you turn camera on a nodal plane. Weaver steadman w/ 3rd axis should do the same, but maybe someone can verify

 

[David Wyatt]

Frazier lens??

 

[Jason Comparetto]

Hi Jean,

There are many ways to achieve this effect, but if you have a decent tripod head (I use a 2060 for example) my approach is to add a plate to your existing head which will essentially turn it into a nodal head. Hang your head underslung (via a jib arm or a truss) and just put a 90-degree plate so that the lens is on the nodal axis corresponding to the PAN axis. Viola! Solution will cost around $40 if you don't already own the correct plate. Shoot me an email if you have further rigging questions jason@CinemaOxide.com

 

[Björn Benckert]

I've been asked to do a shot where the camera will be facing down towards a bed and to make the lens rotate around the longitudinal axis (axis going through the lens) so as to make the bed appear to rotate... what kind of camera support would allow me to perform this rotation?

My advice, don't.

Instead use 5k magic... i.e swap for a lens that is wide enough to let you scale the frame and rotate in post... no roll rig needed and the rotation is perfectly cntrolled by keyframes in post.

or you use our milo.

 

[Vance Colvig]

Weaver Steadman head

 

[JPSendall]

The used to be something called a MOY REVOLVING RIG (Panavision) that did exactly that, rotated on the axis of the lens. Panavision Uk still has them (or one of them).

 

[Jason Comparetto]

Bjorn, that's an interesting idea but will only work reliably if his output is 1080p and there is no coordinated movement of the actors within the shot. The 5120 x 2700 sensor pixel count limits a 60-degree rotation with only about 20% matte to spare assuming a 1920x1080 working canvas. I had to work out the math with a calculator and pythagorean's theorem but you should come out with the same answer.

Also, If the actor has to move his hand while the camera is supposed to be at 105-degrees, the director will have no way to know if the timing is right, unless you rotated a piece of plastic matte over the monitor to "simulate" the rotation. In fact, you'll have to use a 2k black matte on the monitor anyway if you elect to perform 5k magic