I'm looking for a good tripod for my digital video camera, and I keep seeing high priced Fluid Heads. I'm not sure what they are or how they work. Usually when a tripod head moves, the friction is provided by washers which run together. When you run any two hard surfaces, they can "grate" past each other causing vibration through the camera (think rusty hinge). Fluid heads eliminate this problem by using fluid to provide the friction. Hey, I just put one of those up for sale on eBay.
Fluid heads make panning and tilting actions smooth and well... fluid.
These are great to smooth out pans of moving things. | 