Does anyone know if there is a automatic pan / tilt head that will work with the Canon XL2 DV video camera? Everything I have found will not handle the weight of the canon video camera.
Thanks
Bill

They're available alright. Just open wide (your wallet that is).

Seriously, as you have learned, you will have to go with a much heavier motor/drive assembly to achieve your needs. Also, to get good smooth pans/tilts would require a stepper motor with more steps per revolution which increases the cost. The driver boards are all about the same as they usually only have to generate 4 different phases to drive the motor. It's all about the fractional degrees per step and the torque handling capability that determine component size and complexity. More torque= more current= higher component ratings.

regards,

-gb-

Since I've never heard of these, anyone have a link handy?

Thanks for responding to my post.
However what I realy need is company names,web page addresses, any information to direct me to (as many) companies that make these pan heads, so I can further research and pick the right auto head.

Thanks
Bill

Hi Bill. Have you looked at any of these?

Richard

http://www.adorama.com/VDMPH.html
http://www.21best.com/21_best/electronic/security/video/pan_tilt/for_sale_.html
http://www.telemetricsinc.com/html/prodPanTilt.html

The Bescor one isn't ideal, but for 100 bucks and a little give-and-take it works OK.

You can vary the speed even more by changing the battery power up or down via an external power hack.

One that is very cool is the pan/tilt that canon makes. I think it
comes w/ an XL2 inside of it, so I do NOT know if Canon sells it as a stand
alone. One of the cool things is the housing which is designed for
outdoor use. I seem to even remember a windshield wiper on it.

I cannot remember what controller Canon used with it at NAB 2005, but
I found the combination very workable.