I own a Canon ZR-70MC and since I will be filming classes shortly for
my fiancee (which will be 2 hours long so I know I'll deal with two
tapes) I am looking for a tripod for the camcorder.
First, I see tons of tripods but it doesn't list what they are for.
Is this a standard so that the same tripod can be used for any camera
or camcorder?
Also, I see a lot of tripods list that they have 2 way pan. What is
this and I think I have seen a 3 way pan.
I don't know the lingo well so if there is a dictionary I can look at
for this I'd be interested. I want something that will fold up small
so I can easily take it in my car but yet that is at least 5 feet
tall. I won't do a lot of moving and most of the time it'll be still
but I still want something that can do simple movements.

MarkW writes:

I own a Canon ZR-70MC and since I will be filming classes shortly for
my fiancee (which will be 2 hours long so I know I'll deal with two
tapes) I am looking for a tripod for the camcorder.
First, I see tons of tripods but it doesn't list what they are for.
Is this a standard so that the same tripod can be used for any camera
or camcorder?

The primary selection criteria for video is getting something that's
very sturdy. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/ has a wide array. I am
partial to Bogen's price/performance.

Also, I see a lot of tripods list that they have 2 way pan. What is
this and I think I have seen a 3 way pan.

Panning is the ability for the head to be panned from left to right,
or up and down while still stabilizing the camera in the other 2
dimensions. A two way pan lets you pan left/right and up/down. 3 way
pan is probably a ball-socket based head.

I don't know the lingo well so if there is a dictionary I can look at
for this I'd be interested. I want something that will fold up small
so I can easily take it in my car but yet that is at least 5 feet
tall. I won't do a lot of moving and most of the time it'll be still
but I still want something that can do simple movements.

Unfortunately, your criteria are somewhat at odds which each other.
For video, you need stability which means a beefy pod. For that kind
of height, you need tube length, which means it's not going to be
terribly small. However, there are ones that are quite small enough
for transporting to/from your card easily.

For example, a Bogen/Manfrotto 3021-based tripod system would get you
the height you want, and weighs in at 8lbs, and will support up to
8.8lbs. However, if your budget for the microphone is what it is,
dunno if you'll be willing to pay $208 for a quality tripod:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...=222092&is=REG

I wish I had better news. :-)

Best Regards,
--
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