Alot of people have messaged me recently (particularly from eBay) regarding the ProAim pan and tilt head and asking for an honest view of it. The head I’m referring to in this article is THIS ONE.

I have to say that in terms of value for money it’s pretty good. If compared against something as sophisticated as a Varizoom model it probably won’t even come close in terms of quality of functionality. BUT - you have to take into account that it’s probably only about one sixth the price.

When mine arrived, I was keen to open it up, have a look and see exactly what my five hundred quid had bought me.

The whole unit is well packaged in its own custom foam cut case, which is quite sufficient for its needs. One thing you do have to be wary of when packing though is that you dont move the head around my hand. The instructions state that damage can occur to the motors if you do. So make sure that before you power down the head, ensure it’s in the correct position for packing.

The whole unit is powered by a 24v laptop power supply which terminates in a four pin XLR plug. The manual states a lower power supply can be used, but the speed of the head will be affected if you do.

The main control unit has a clamp bracket on the ‘front’ end which I have to say is entirely the wrong place for it. I had to dismantle the box, drill two new holes and move it to the side, where it will clamp to my pan bar or jib and still be facing the correct way. Exiting the control box is a single XLR’d cable of decent length which splits neatly into two - one for the vertical motor, one to the horizontal motor. The cable is decent quality and plenty long enough for my Hague K12 jib.

The joystick control was another area where ‘tweaking’ was required. Once my Z1 was mounted on the head, it drifted off constantly. So - again, inside the box and by moving the pots left and vertical of the control I found the dead spot where no power was being sent to the motors. Irritating but not the end of the world.

Incidentally, mounting of the unit on my jib was a bit of a challenge too. The ProAim’s mount is square. with four slots in which to my mind doesn’t really match up to anything standard tripod or jib wise, so I had to fabricate another plate with four holes matching the ProAim’s ones and mount on my Hague jib that way.

Once the minor irritants were dealt with I have to say I’m pretty happy. The movement is smooth (if somewhat noisy) and fine control of speed is possible - although I think some practice will be required. I can now get the shots I want and it hasn’t cost me a fortune.

Overall - I would recommend the head as a good, budget alternative to the pricey stuff, but if you can afford the Varizoom (or better) you probably wont have to do the tweaking I had to do to get it how I wanted.

I will be taking some pictures shortly to illustrate my points - so keep nipping back and having a look!

EDIT - I’ve had a bill from FedEx for £14.20 which they say is from the taxman for unpaid import duty on the head. I’ve been in touch with DVAccessory (who sold the head to me) and the guy there called Simer has assured me I’ll get this money refunded to me via Paypal. I’ve just this moment emailed him with a copy of the bill, so we’ll see how long the refund takes to arrive.

Edit AGAIN - Pleased to say Simer has emailed me this morning (less than 24hrs from first contact) to let me know my refund is on its way - Top Service I’d say!

Andy.

IMAGES

IMAGE ONE - View inside the control box. I’ve arrowed the trim controllers on the underside of the joystick control. Careful adjustment of these was required on mine to stop the head ’slewing’ away when it was meant to be at rest.

IMAGE TWO - Another view inside the control box. I found that the arrowed plug became easily detached fromn the PCB when working inside the box. Ensure if you need to access the innards that you check the plug is correctly reseated before assembling the box again.

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Tags: 24v, control, dvaccessory, ebay, Hague, head, Jib, joystick, Pan, power head, Proaim, problems, review, Tilt

So - how many others have noticed way so many sellers on eBay these days jack up the price the take by hiking up the postage and packing? Recent case in point, I bought some CD envelopes. 50 for £8.49. Not too bad I thought. £4.99 extra for post and packing. I needed them so I paid. When the parcel arrived, the actual postage charged was £2.70! And as far as ‘packaging’ - just a polythene bag with some parcel tape around it. Hardly another £2.29’s worth - So I left my feelings about it on my feedback - and just got an email from the seller telling me off for alerting everyone else to what I believe is a scam. He cited VAT for the extra amount - well, as far as I’m aware postage doesn’t carry VAT. So I stand by my feedback - and will continue to expose every seller I find on there ripping off customers to make an extra couple of quid.

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Well, I’ve now edited and posted all the Yorkshire Dales Autograss videos and a hell of a lot of fun it was! Just working out all the different classes of cars, the heats and finals and then the open racing - a steep learning curve for sure - but worth it. Many thanks to everyone who’s bought either a download or a DVD from me. I hope they match up to your expectations.

Seeing all those cars tearing around that circuit was brilliant - a great day out in fact - and that’s where they should be! On my way home on the day after, heading between Worksop and Retford, some mad ba**ard in a metallic blue Porsche (what else?) registration number 996A UK (spaced like that) overtook me like an absolute bullet. But here’s the best bit. On a windy ‘B’ road this was, and he did it on double white lines! Not only that, he then tailgated the next car ahead, then did the same again - on a blind brow! I don’t know if it was stolen or what, but that maniac had either stolen it or has a severe case of small penis syndrome. Assuming it wasn’t stolen I have to ask myself why people like that aren’t the ones that die when it all goes wrong? Keep it for a racetrack you nutter!

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Tags: 996A UK, 996AUK, Porsche, retford, Speeder, Thornborough, Worksop, Yorkshire Dales Autograss

It’s been a while since this video has seen the light of day, but I thought it would be good to wheel it out again for your viewing pleasure. The history of this one is that I edited it for a BBC Children In Need concert celebrating the music of the Beatles. Vince Eager asked me to produce a video to show on a huge stage sized screen to open the show, and gave me the track. The BBC provided old black and white Beatles footage. The video went down to rapturous (and I’m not exaggerating) applause on the night, and some time later Roger Scott Craig emailed me out of the blue to congratulate me on my interpretation of his music. I was left feeling exteremely proud by that.

Make sure you turn up the volume - this is a fantastic track and a beautiful homage to the music of The Beatles.

The video is set to start automatically - but Firefox users may experience a slight mismatch in aspect ratio.
Please Enjoy!
Andy.

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Tags: John George Ringo and Paul, Liverpool Express, Roger Scott Craig, The Beatles

Well, the time has come for me to take Play Pause Click into the wedding video market. I’ve already covered more than a few of course - mostly just for friends or family who know what I do and how much I love it. And I’ve (surprisingly) enjoyed covering them for folks. And results have been very good too (of course!) so it’s all systems go!

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Tags: retford, wedding video

Just a small observation - why do TV companies think slow motion is the only way to advertise high def TV? Every single ad features stunning footage - all slooowwweeeddd right down to as slow as it’s possible to go. Makes me wonder how long I’d have to sit there to watch a whole movie! - It’d take days!

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