Camera Gear

A rig is not an accessory, it is a decision about what the camera is allowed to do. Every support trades repeatability against freedom: the steadier the rig, the more it commits you to the move you planned.

Locked = repeatable, slow to reposition
On a path = smooth, needs track and time
Carried = instant, harder to repeat

Every rig on this sheet is a variation on one of these three. The choice is really a trade between how repeatable the move is and how quickly you can change your mind about it.

The rigs

Rig	What it does	The move it buys	What it costs
Tripod	Locks the camera to the ground	Static, pan, tilt	Slow to reposition
Monopod	One leg, operator steadies the rest	Quick static and pans	Never truly locked
Slider	Short rail, usually on a tripod	Push in, pull out, small tracking	Limited travel
Dolly & track	Wheeled platform on laid track	Long, smooth, repeatable tracking	Track, time and a grip
Jib / crane	Counterweighted arm on a pivot	Vertical sweeps, reveals, arcs	Space, crew, rigging time
Steadicam	Vest and sprung arm isolate the operator	Floating walk-and-follow	A trained operator, and stamina
Gimbal	Motorised three-axis stabiliser	Smooth handheld-range moves	Batteries, and a slightly gliding feel
Shoulder rig	Braces the camera against the body	Reactive follow with some weight	Visible breathing and sway
Handheld	No support at all	Chaos, urgency, documentary	Hard to repeat take to take
Car mount	Suction or clamp rig on a vehicle	Driving shots, rig removals	Safety prep and permits
Drone	Flying platform with its own gimbal	Altitude, geography, impossible reveals	Airspace rules and a licensed pilot
Motion control	Robot arm that records and replays a move	Frame-exact repeats	Expensive, and slow to programme

The rigs, drawn

TripodLocked off. The frame holds still, so performance carries the shot.

PedestalColumn on a wheeled base. Raises and lowers the camera on the spot.

SliderA short straight move. Reveals, or a gentle drift across a subject.

Dolly & trackLonger, repeatable moves. Needs track, time and a grip.

Jib / craneVertical sweeps and big reveals. The camera rises without a cut.

Overhead rigSlung from a beam, pointing straight down. Tabletops, hands, flat reveals.

SteadicamWorn on a vest and isolated by a sprung arm. Floating, walking shots.

GimbalMotorised three-axis stabiliser. Most of the Steadicam look, far less bulk.

Shoulder rigBraced against the body. Documentary immediacy with some control.

SnorriCamRigged to the actor, aimed back at their face. They hold still; the world lurches.

Vehicle camClamped or suctioned to the bodywork. Driving shots that hold the car steady in frame.

DroneAltitude and geography. Regulated airspace, and a permit in most cities.

Motion control

A motion control rig is a camera on a robot arm, or a crane with an encoder on every axis. You programme the move once and the rig repeats it exactly: the same path, the same speed, the same frame, take after take, and again next week. Nothing else on this sheet can promise that.

The move itself is usually unremarkable to watch. The value is in the repeat, because a move you can run twice lets you photograph one frame in separate passes and combine them afterwards, with the perspective in each agreeing exactly.

Two passes of one programmed move, the actor on a different mark in each, combined into a single frame. The join holds because the camera repeated the move exactly, so the perspective in both passes agrees.

Twinning: One actor plays both parts. Run the move once on each mark, then composite the passes. Dead Ringers put Jeremy Irons opposite himself this way.
Element passes: Model, lighting, smoke and background photographed separately through the same move. This is what the Dykstraflex was built for on Star Wars in 1977, and large effects plates are still assembled the same way.
Changing scale or speed: Replay the move faster, slower or scaled, so a miniature and a full-size set can share one camera move.
Coming back later: The move is a file. You can rebuild the shot weeks later on another stage and still match the original frame.

Note

The cost is programming time, not shooting time. The move is built axis by axis before anything is exposed, and the rig is heavy and slow to reposition once it is set. Schedule the programming; the shooting itself is usually quick, and every take after the first is free.

Matching the rig to the move

Sheet 05 covers what each move means. This is how you actually get it on the day.

Push in: Slider for a short one, dolly and track for a long one. A zoom is not a substitute, because the perspective will not change.
Tracking alongside a walk: Dolly if the path is fixed and you need it identical every take. Steadicam or gimbal if the actor sets the pace.
Arc around a subject: Curved track, or a gimbal operator walking the circle. The gimbal is faster to set up and harder to match across takes.
Crane up at the end of a scene: Jib for a modest rise, a telescoping crane for anything larger. Budget the rigging time before you promise the shot.
Handheld urgency: Shoulder rig if you still want the frame readable, bare handheld if you want the audience unsettled.

Note

A stabiliser is not the same as a tripod. Steadicam and gimbal shots still drift, because the operator is still walking. That residual float is why they read as alive rather than locked off, and it is why a stabiliser cannot stand in for a static frame.

Rule

Choose the rig from the move, never the other way round. Decide what the shot has to do, then pick the cheapest support that does it. A crane that exists because it was already on the truck is the most expensive shot on the schedule.

Watch

Camera Gear: Every Type of Camera Rig Explained (opens in a new tab) (StudioBinder, The Shot List Ep. 5). Reference: StudioBinder's camera gear guide (opens in a new tab).