I have been hunting around online for an inexpensive home video
camera.  One thing I find striking is that none of the ads seem to say
anything about tripods.  Is a screw hole on the bottom of a camera for
a tripod so standard that they just don't even mention it?  Can I
assume that any camera that I buy will have such a connection for a
tripod, and it will work with any tripod I buy at a local store?
Please clue me in....

Thanks.
CJ

That hole is standardized, same as for 35MM still film cameras. There
is often a second, smaller hole just ahead or behind the screw
threaded hole, this is for an anti-rotation pin. When you buy a tripod
witha  quick-release plate, the plate is screwed into this hole, and
th elittle pin keeps the camera from shifting and turning on the
plate. The plate and comera conbination snapi and lock into place on
your tripod. If you want to quickly remove the camera for a hand-held
shot or something, you typically push a lever or other type of latch,
and the combined camera and plate detatch from the tripod. The plate
stays withthe camera the whole time.  Be careful when shopping because
some plates are large than others and can make for a lot of
frustration if you have one of those stupidly-designed camcorders that
loads the tape from the underside. In those caes, you may have to pop
the unit off the tripod, then unscrew the plate from the camera, just
to load or unload a tape because the loading door doesn't clear the
plate.

BTW, tripods made for still cameras are often not a good choice for
video tripods: they are too wobbly for anything but  astatic locked-
down shot, and thei cheap pan heads don't allow smooth panning with
control.  For that you pay extra for a fluid head pan head.  In the
broadcast business, typically a good set of sticks with a proper pan
head can cost as much as the camera itself.

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Pretty much.

Bill F.
www.billfarnsworthvideo.com
'

On Sat, 14 Jul 2007 14:02:06 -0700, CJ <charlesjones***@yahoo.com>
wrote:

Yes. The sizes are standard. And unless you buy a made-in-China-
just-ou- of-spec-super-cheapo tripod, they will all fit.

-m-

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