On Mon, 10 Jun 2002 23:35:44 -0700, "Gene Hill" wrote:

>I am going to purchase a tripod for my VX-2000 shortly. I thought it would
>be nice if I could control the zoom (at least the zoom) from the handle of
>the tripod. I see that Sony makes something, but it looks as if you have to
>have their entire tripod and head setup. I have seen a few aftermarket
>items, but I wasn't impressed. Any suggestions??

As SMcD pointed out, the Sony tripods are not nice, but
you can remove the remote from the cheapest, dispose of
the tripod, and use the remote. Alternatives: Lanc
remotes from Sony, Canon, Varizoom... The cheapest are
both the Sony solutions, but the Canon offers preset
zoom speed capability. None offers smooth zoom starts
and stops, alas... Lanc remotes have the advantage of
being hard-wired to the camera, so they are more
dependable than IR remotes, and they will not affect
other nearby gear...