Camera panning

 In this post, I will be talking about the 2 main ways of panning a camera, which will be more effective in our production and why.

First of all, What is Camera Panning?

Camera Panning is when you rotate the camera from left to right, or right to left (As shown in the image). This is a very popular camera movement in the media industry as it shows exactly what the producers want the audience to see, without having to take more than 1 shot.

There are 2 main ways to pan a camera. Hand held panning, and Tripod panning.

Handheld panning is when somebody is holding the camera, and rotates the camera by twisting with it.

Tripod panning is when the camera is placed on a stand, that can rotates with a handle.

Which is better?

Tripod panning is much smoother than a handheld pan, as the camera is on a fixed stand. A tripod can be set, so that is only rotates left and right, not up and down (and vice versa, however, if the camera is going up and down, it is not a pan, it is a tilt.). Handheld pans are not as smooth as peoples hands tend to shake while panning, which is picked up on the recording.