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.