Most Common Terms

Stiffness – The stiffness of a tripod defines how resistant the tripod is to motion when subjected to an external torque.  If the tripod is subjected to some , the angle that the tripod deviates is given by .  More stiffness means a proportional drop in the magnitude of vibrations.  Wikipedia

Damping – The damping of a tripod defines how fast vibrations die out.  More damping means a proportionally faster die out time.  The exact amount of time is dependent on the amount of rotational inertia on the tripod.

Pitch – Pitch is a twist or rotation about the horizontal axis that is perpendicular to the direction the camera is facing.  This is also known as the ‘Tilt’ direction.  A camera will see a pitch rotation as a shift in the image up or down. Wikipedia

Yaw – Yaw is a twist or rotation about the vertical axis.  This corresponds to pushing down on the top of a tripod and twisting.  This is also known as the ‘Pan’ direction.  The camera will see a yaw rotation as a shift in the image left or right. Wikipedia

All Terms

Fourier Transform – The Fourier transform

Rotational Inertia –  Rotational inertia, also known as angular mass, is the rotational equivalent of normal mass.  Rotational inertia has the same relationship with torque () that mass has with force ().  Wikipedia

Torque – Torque is the rotational equivalent of force.  It is given by .  When we talk about stiffness on this site, we are always referring to the rotational form.  Thus, it is torque, and not force, that we are interested in.