Early video tripods used a series of loud gears, but then in 1946, a father and son in Australia patented a new design: the fluid tripod head. The company behind that game-changing invention, Miller Camera Support Equipment, has announced that it is shutting down next month.
In a letter, small business owners Mark and Diane Celementson announced their retirement, which will bring Miller Tripods to a close on September 30.
Eric Miller, working with his son Bob, introduced the first fluid tripod head in the 1940s. The design solved a key problem with early tripod systems: noise. Before the fluid head, tripod heads used gears that introduced noise into the footage. Panning was difficult before the fluid head, and Miller Tripods says that diagonal camera movements were “virtually impossible.”
The arrival of the fluid tripod head in the 1940s is made all the more impressive considering where video technology was at the time. The earliest videos used stationary cameras, with the first panning shots arriving in filmmaking in the early 1900s.
Camera movement like panning didn’t become mainstream until the 1920s, but when audio arrived on the scene in the 1930s, camera movement halted again – the loud cameras needed to be locked in soundproof boxes too large to move.
As video camera technology shrank down, cinematic camera movement re-entered the scene, but there was still a problem – the typical video tripods used noisy gears.
Eric and Bob Miller patented the first fluid head in 1946, later creating the company in 1954 to sell those tripod heads, and eventually the first fluid head tripod made its way to Hollywood in 1958.
Rather than gears, the fluid head uses a liquid-filled chamber to allow videographers to create smooth camera movements. Miller’s first fluid head had a fixed resistance, but the format would move on to introduce adjustable resistance and counter-balance systems for handling heavy cameras.
While Miller got its start from tripod heads, the company also developed full tripod sets shortly after. The first tripod from Miller Tripods looked quite a bit different than today’s design, including wooden legs.
By the 1970s, Miller Tripods’ specialty shifted to creating camera support systems for news and broadcast. According to the company’s website, the tripods are used by more than 265 television networks. The company's camera support systems are used in more than 65 countries.
“From those early beginnings, Miller grew into an internationally respected manufacturer, supporting broadcasters, cinematographers, filmmakers, and content creators across the world,” Mark and Diane Clementson, owners of the company for the last 55 years, wrote in a letter announcing the decision. “Through changing technologies, evolving production environments, and generations of industry professionals, our commitment to innovation, quality, and customer service has remained central to who we are.”
The Australia-based company says that operations will cease on September 30.
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