WHAT ’ S NEW I N CAMERA MOVEMENT | FEATURE
Flowtech deploys quickly with a single- paddle latch for each double-extended leg.
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looked like the tripod wasn’t designed to be moved around at all. He was picking it up and wasn’t bothering to close it down, because it was going to be so awkward to open again. It’s hard for someone who’s been using something for 20 years to fully understand what’s right or wrong with it.” As such, Turner thinks that there are still huge opportunities for improvement in tripod design. In the immediate term, though, his attention is on global trends. “China and India are two very large growth markets. My position is global. At the high-end of making pictures, no matter where you are, they use the best gear.”
As simple and ubiquitous as a slider might seem, there’s one piece of camera equipment that is even more versatile: the humble tripod. Vinten is a founding part of the Vitec group, which now includes Sachtler, and the Flowtech tripod is sold under both names. Intended for highly mobile camerawork, Flowtech deploys quickly with a single- paddle latch for each double-extension leg. It has been “extraordinarily successful”, says Vitec’s Steve Turner, who foccuses on OConnor, Vitec’s third tripod option. “We heavily invested in this technology, and we’re trying to keep up with demand.”
While it might seem that such a staple has reached peak efficiency, he recalls the tripod problems he saw during an in-house production. “This shoot was in a foundry where they were doing the sand castings for the main body,” explains Turner. “The cameraman had a conventional OConnor 1030 and a Sachtler tripod. Two stages per leg, six clamps in total. He was getting a wide shot, a punch in, an over the shoulder. I was sat at the edge of the room watching him work.” “It was like trying to watch a guy get a sofa up a difficult flight of stairs,” he says, sounding almost bemused. “It almost
FEBRUARY 20 1 9 | DEF I N I T ION 51
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