Poor man's geared tripod head?

[Bunkie]

I'm trying to learn portraiture and I'm finding it exceedingly difficult to keep the subject in the frame precisely, especially the vertical frame, with a regular tripod. I don't want to spend $300-500 to get a Manfrotto geared tripod head. Does anyone know of any cheap device or technique to move your camera precisely as a geared head would? I could live with just having something that helps me with vertical composition.
Thank yo,
Bunkie

 

[pendennis]

You're on a near-Quixotic search. Precise and cheap usually don't work together. The Manfrotto 410 @ $290 is their "budget" geared head, and it has some backlash in it, although it's flexible. From there, the prices climb steeply.

By virtue of moving your hands, you won't get a smooth pan or tilt action.

Have you looked on eBay? They often have used geared heads, and by being very selective, you can probably find a good deal on a used Majestic, etc. However, when looking at used, there are going to be heads out there with excessive play, and may not lock down as tightly as you'd like.

When posing a subject you also have to allow for some framing movement. If you frame too tightly, you lose room for any errors. You may want to allow for a bit more room, and edit a bit tighter in your editing app.

 

[tirediron]

Look around on your local used markets; tripods & heads typically go for about fifty cents on the dollar in decent, used condition.

 

[Derrel]

I have to agree with tirediron..buy a used tripod and head. New tripods are very high-priced compared to used ones. I also second pendennis's idea: "When posing a subject you also have to allow for some framing movement. If you frame too tightly, you lose room for any errors. You may want to allow for a bit more room, and edit a bit tighter in your editing app."

As far as framing precisely: I like a ball head, and I just simply move the camera as needed with the ball set to a moderate tension level, then lock it down for shooting.

If you really want to know...I think shooting off of a monopod is easier for vertical portraits...fast,easy,and it allows you to maintain the right camera height. I see absolutely no need for a geared tripod head for portraits, even though I used to shoot high-volume studio portraiture using an electrically-operated geared head and a huge, 30-pound long-roll camera on a rolling camera stand. A geared head is fine for a huge, heavy camera, but unnecessary for most modern d-slrs and mirrorless cams.

On longer,half-body and ful-length portraits, an important aspect is the idea of keeping the camera back plano-parallel with the subject or "the back wall of the room"...too many people shoot from too high or too low, and angle the camera downward at their subjects.

 

[Bunkie]

I have to agree with tirediron..buy a used tripod and head. New tripods are very high-priced compared to used ones. I also second pendennis's idea: "When posing a subject you also have to allow for some framing movement. If you frame too tightly, you lose room for any errors. You may want to allow for a bit more room, and edit a bit tighter in your editing app."

As far as framing precisely: I like a ball head, and I just simply move the camera as needed with the ball set to a moderate tension level, then lock it down for shooting.

If you really want to know...I think shooting off of a monopod is easier for vertical portraits...fast,easy,and it allows you to maintain the right camera height. I see absolutely no need for a geared tripod head for portraits, even though I used to shoot high-volume studio portraiture using an electrically-operated geared head and a huge, 30-pound long-roll camera on a rolling camera stand. A geared head is fine for a huge, heavy camera, but unnecessary for most modern d-slrs and mirrorless cams.

On longer,half-body and ful-length portraits, an important aspect is the idea of keeping the camera back plano-parallel with the subject or "the back wall of the room"...too many people shoot from too high or too low, and angle the camera downward at their subjects.

Thank you for your good words, Derrell. I'm gonna go get a monopod and see what I can do. I come from the "print-full-frame" philosophy of photography so I'm a little worried about composition but I will give it a try! I'd like to thank the others who commented on my post and still would like to hear from others with ideas.

Bunkie

 

[jeffW]

An L-bracket mounted onto a camera then onto a ball head is a lot easier to maneuver for vertices than having the camera just mounted onto the ball head and pivoted 90º.

I made a simple one with a trip to the hardware store

 

[greybeard35 7]

Shoot loose and crop in PP. Works for me.

 

[ac12]

When posing a subject you also have to allow for some framing movement. If you frame too tightly, you lose room for any errors. You may want to allow for a bit more room, and edit a bit tighter in your editing app.

It is not only framing errors but printing.
The framing changes based on print size format ratio, even for the common sizes; 5x7 and 11x14 vs. 8x10 and 16x20.
So you need space to accommodate the different size/format prints.