Camera shake

Hi all,

We're using a BM Studio 4K with a Panasonic HSA35100.

Our building is quite old with wood floors. When people walk, the camera shakes. I've tried any number of fixes, even putting chunks of carpet under the tripod legs to help absorb the vibrations, but to no avail.

I know these cameras don't come with heavy image stabilization, but is there anything anyone can recommend that might help us?

Thanks!

Hi all,

We're using a BM Studio 4K with a Panasonic HSA35100.

Our building is quite old with wood floors. When people walk, the camera shakes. I've tried any number of fixes, even putting chunks of carpet under the tripod legs to help absorb the vibrations, but to no avail.

I know these cameras don't come with heavy image stabilization, but is there anything anyone can recommend that might help us?

Thanks!

Yeah, I shoot loud concerts all the time. You have to better isolate the tripod from the floor. A few pieces of carpet won't do this. Think about how shock absorbers works.

While there are specific tools just for this, I'd start by putting one or two sandbags under each tripod leg. (That's what I do in a pinch.)

if you're looking for something more elegant, search for astrophotography/telescope solutions. (It's very important to remove vibrations when you're trying to shoot something that far away.)

Perhaps three of these mats may work under the tripod legs.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/515468-REG

In DaVinci Resolve, you could apply image stabilization on the Colour page.

In DaVinci Resolve, you could apply image stabilization on the Colour page.

Post stabilization will not work well at all as the vibrations will cause motion blur that's baked into the image. (Sadly, I speak from experience!) Even IBIS on a Panasonic camera won't do well to compensate. you really need to stop it from ever reaching the camera.

Thanks for the advice.

anyone can recommend that might help us?

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I understand his rates are pretty reasonable. You just cover his air fare and hotel.

I use the Primacoustic Tripads on my music stands (and lighting stands) for audio recording, and they might work for video as well if your camera isn't too heavy. I haven't tried them on my video tripod.

https://www.primacoustic.com/wp-content ... 2-2023.pdf

It's odd that nobody seems to have developed shock mounts for cinema cameras; it's a widely used technology in audio recording.

It's odd that nobody seems to have developed shock mounts for cinema cameras; it's a widely used technology in audio recording.

A search will show that there are isolators/shock absorbers for cameras, including cinema cameras.

It sounds like Scott wants to target the tripod, but he could instead, or in addition, target the camera by applying an isolator between the tripod and the camera. When I want to isolate a microphone from vibration, I use a shock mount on the mike, not on the mike stand.

I’m no expert on car rigs, but I imagine that good car rigs have vibration dampening.

This McMaster-Carr page might provide some ideas: https://www.mcmaster.com/products/vibra ... g-mounts~/

Thanks for your help, folks. I'm going to look into all these options and see which route we want to go.

… It's odd that nobody seems to have developed shock mounts for cinema cameras; it's a widely used technology in audio recording.

Bingo! Could even be 3D-printed with the right materials to accommodate a huge variety of tripod moveable flat-feet.

There is not much you can do about angular deflection except reinforce the building's floor structure.

You might try placing your camera/lens rearwards on the tripod head so that deflections are naturally damped by the mass of the camera/lens to rear of the tripod centre.

If your camera's location is fixed, you might try securing the centre of the tripod to the floor with a stout cable and tensioner so that flex in the tripod upper legs is reduced by preloading downwards.

You might try adding mass between the camera base and the tripod head, such as a steel Y-piece made of 7/16" 3" broad flatbar welded together with arms about 18" extending from centrepoint. It will be a pain to shoot with.

You might also try placing a broad heavy panel of 24mm thick compressed fibro-cement upon the floor the tripod feet rest on with maybe a piece of thick carpet under the panel to crush-deform to any high spots on the floor the sheet might otherwise rock upon.

You might examine suspending the camera from the ceiling/roof structure on a stiff frame with an outrigger upon which your tripod head can be attached.

You might examine suspending the camera in balance from the ceiling/roof structure in a three-axis frame such as a lamp yoke and using an electronic stabiliser for handheld work to keep it steady.

I’m with Robert on this one, if the floor is moving, nothing short of a gyro is going to provide physical stabilization.

I’d think the key would be to keep the floor from moving. A couple hundred pounds of shot or sand may stabilize/load the floor and take out some of the spring.

That said, if folks are walking near the camera and the cam is vibrating then likely the head/legs are insufficient as well.

Good Luck

I wonder if a Cinesaddle would be useful in this application? You can place it on a tripod and it effectively has built-in shock absorbers.

I'll be facing a similar issue this summer when I film a dance event in a wooden hall; last year I used a monopod and kept the camera moving so shake wasn't an issue, but this year I'm bringing two cams and want to leave one on a tripod to film the dancers while I use the other camera on the monopod to film the musicians so I can cut back and forth. I'm worried about shake on the tripod-mounted camera.

I wonder if a Cinesaddle would be useful in this application? You can place it on a tripod and it effectively has built-in shock absorbers.

It depends on what you’re after. A cinesaddle doesn’t remove the vibration. It only absorbs it. So you still will have movement, just not as erratic.

They only way to resolve the problem was already suggested by Joseph in the second post …and that is mass. Lots of it.