SYDNEY, JUNE 15, 2016 — The arrowX Fluid Head Series, manufactured by Miller Camera SupportEquipment, a leader in the production of innovating camera support solutions, has been named a finalist for Australia’s Good Design Awards in the Product Design: Commercial and Industrial category.
Managed by the international organization, Good Design Australia, Australia’s annual Good Design Awards program recognizes and rewards excellence in design, innovation and creativity for both national and international products. Promoting excellence in design and innovation since 1958, it is one of the longest running design award programs in the world. Winners of the award embody what the organization sees as cornerstones of good design: form, function, quality, safety, sustainability, commerciality and innovation.
Andrew Barnes, designer of the arrowX, needed to create a fluid head that would improve the way broadcasters and videographers work while still staying true to the original Arrow series. “The challenge was to fit the extra features onto a fluid head that already has a jam-packed design, while respecting and building on the legacy of the previous Arrow range,” says Barnes. “Arrow is a world-renowned product and it was very exciting to design new features and especially the patented CB PLUS mechanism, which provides great functionality and repeatability for the end user. Having the CB PLUS and the arrowX on the world stage at Australia’s Good Design Awards and the design judged by industry peers is a great morale boost and underlines the immense commitment Miller makes towards quality products. This allows the arrowX series to be the third product that reached the Australia’s Good Design Awards finals, joining both the Compass and Skyline fluid head series.”
Miller’s CB PLUS, featured for the first time in the arrowX range, is a unique sequential counterbalance design which takes traditional counterbalancing a step forward, resulting in repeatable, accurate and rapid setup. CB PLUS features eight large counterbalance steps, allowing the user to get to their needed position quickly and efficiently. The CB Plus switch adds a half step enabling counterbalance refinement. This new feature makes the arrowX Series perfect for ENG, EFP, Studio, field OB, or any other use where frequent and fast re-rigging is required.
In addition to CB PLUS, each member of the the arrowX Series — the arrowX 3, arrowX 5 and arrowX 7 — delivers several additional features that provide the “right feel” that have become Miller’s trademark, including the ability to remove the clamp stud to easily mount the head on flat-base surfaces like sliders. Where extra rigidity is required, a Mitchel Base adaptor can be fitted. All arrowX models come with 120mm of sliding plate travel to help quickly rebalance changing camera payloads. Precision ball bearing supported pan-tilt movements help deliver silky smooth starts and soft stop fluid actions. Accurate floating pan-tilt calliper locks ensure bounce-free on-off locking.
“We are extremely honored that Australia’s Good Design Awards has chosen to recognize the arrowX Fluid Head Series,” says Charles Montesin, global sales and marketing manager, Miller Camera Support Equipment. “Its superb design fits the awards criteria, especially with the addition of CB PLUS. The arrowX is another example of outstanding Australian engineering in the camera support field, from its extremely smooth start and stops that allow users to capture the best scenes possible, to its highly adaptable counterbalance system, which was made for videographers that need to quickly adjust on the move.”
About Miller Camera Support Equipment
Founded in 1954, Miller Camera Support Equipment designs, manufactures and delivers professional fluid heads and tripods to the film and television industry, providing support for the world’s leading camera operators. Celebrating more than sixty years in the industry, Miller is a longtime, global leader in the field of contemporary camera support and holds the first patent for fluid head design for film cameras, which it obtained in 1946. Today, Miller’s tripod and camera support systems are frequently used during electronic news gatherings (ENG), electronic field production (EFP), and digital video applications by the world’s leading networks, production houses, corporate, educational and government institutions in more than 65 countries. For more information, call +61 2 9439 6377 or visit www.millertripods.com.
