Camera support assembly

A camera support assembly, particularly for television cameras, which includes a base providing an elongate slide bed, and first and second slide carriages slidable on the bed, the first and second slide carriages being attached to a camera and a lens, respectively. The slide bed has longitudinal sides which converge inwardly as they extend upwardly so as to laterally retain complementary formations on the slide carriages.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of Invention 
The present invention relates to a camera support assembly and finds 
particular application to the support of a television broadcast camera. 
2. Description of Prior Art 
The balance of a camera, such as a television broadcast camera, is of 
increasing significance due to the dramatic reduction in space and weight 
required for the electronic components of the camera. In the past, the 
housing required for the electronics of a television broadcadt camera was 
large enough to balance the camera lens. The center of gravity of such a 
camera can be identified in relation to a specific point on the camera 
casing. An attachment mechanism can be readily provided at that location 
for connecting the camera to a tripod or other supporting device. The 
reduction in space required for the electronic components of a television 
broadcast camera has resulted in such cameras having insufficient weight 
to balance the lens. With this arrangement the center of gravity of the 
camera plus lens may be very close to the point of connection between the 
lens and camera. A major problem also is the bending loads which are 
applied to the connection between the lens and camera. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
With a view to mitigating the above-mentioned disadvantages, the present 
invention provides a camera support assembly which includes a base that 
provides an elongate slide bed, a first slide carriage for attachment to a 
camera and a second slide carriage for attachment to a camera lens, the 
slide carriages being slidable longitudinally along the slide bed, thereby 
providing ready adjustment of the center of gravity of a supported camera 
and lens, with respect to the base, while mitigating bending loads between 
the camera and lens. 
In this arrangement the camera and lens are independently supported, and 
bending loads at the junction between the lens and the camera body can be 
greatly reduced as compared with direct support of the camera alone. 
Preferably, the slide bed has side walls for laterally restraining the 
slide carriages. Advantageously, the free longitudinal edges of the side 
walls converge and the slide carriages have complementary configurations 
such that the carriages can only be displaced longitudinally along the 
base.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
A camera support assembly 10 is provided for supporting a camera 12 and a 
lens 14. The support assembly 10 has a base 16 which defines an elongate 
slide bed 18. A camera slide 20 is attached to the camera 12 and a lens 
slide 22 is attached to the lens 14. 
The slides 20 and 22 are slidable longitudinally along the slide bed 18 and 
ready adjustment of the center of gravity of the camera 12 and lens 14 
with respect to the base 16 is thereby provided. 
The underneath of the base 16 is provided with an attachment fixture 24 
which provides connection for a variable height support, such as a tripod. 
The tripod or the like (not shown) will normally be mounted on a movable 
trolley. 
Independent support of the camera 12 and the lens 14, as provided by the 
slides 20 and 22, respectively, results in the virtual elimination of 
bending loads which may otherwise be applied at the connection between the 
lens 14 and camera 12. In particular, the camera support assembly 10 is 
convenient for use with a camera and lens combination in which the lens 14 
is connected to the camera 12 by means of a resilient suspension unit 26. 
The lens 14 connects with a connector 28 which is mounted to the camera 12 
by the suspension unit 26. Small displacements of the lens 14 relative to 
the camera 12 are absorbed by the suspension unit 26. In such an 
arrangement it is necessary for an optical unit 30 to be accurately 
clamped to the lens 14. This is achieved by the optical unit 30 being 
rigidly secured to the connector 28. Use of the resilient suspension unit 
26 is permissible due to the relative precision with which the camera 12 
and lens 14 can be moved so as to adjust the center of gravity of the 
combination with respect to the tripod or other support. 
As can be most clearly seen from FIG. 2, the slide bed 18 has longitudinal 
side walls 32, and the top edges of the side walls converge inwardly as 
they extend upwardly from the other elements of the slide bed. The slides 
20 and 22 have complementary configurations such that the slides can only 
move longitudinally along the slide bed 18 and cannot be withdrawn 
vertically from the base 16. 
Modifications of various aspects of the above embodiment without departing 
from the scope of this invention will be readily apparent to those skilled 
in the art.