Three-way pointer
The three-way head (also known as the cinema head ) is an accessory for photo tripods . Three-way headers are often permanently mounted on the tripod column, but with higher-quality system tripods they can also be exchanged for other tripod heads.
A three-way pointer can be adjusted independently in three axes. You can swivel the tripod head horizontally , tilt it up and down and tilt it sideways. In some models a circular level is integrated, which facilitates an exact horizontal alignment for camera pans when shooting films or for taking panoramas . Such spirit levels are also available as accessories that can be attached to the camera's hot shoe .
Due to the setting with three handles, the three-way pointer is slower to handle than a ball joint head that is operated with a single handle. However, because you can only change one direction at a time, a more precise setting is possible.
A special form of the three-way head is the gear head (gear tilt head). Here the operation takes place with self-locking adjusting screws that work on fine drives. This type can be adjusted particularly sensitively, but is slow to use.
The two-way pointer is a simplified form of the three- way pointer . The possibility of tilting into portrait format is missing here. This type is mainly used for video or film cameras.