Tango II

See TANGO Heads in action around the world!

Why Tango II?

The TANGO allows the camera operator to quickly level the horizon, regardless of the weight of the camera and lens selected. The TANGO is a convenient third axis: whatever fluid or geared head is chosen, the panoramic movement remains horizontal and the tilt stays vertical. The maneuvering of the fluid or gear head remains unchanged. The twin support and racks add further advantages to TANGO such as silence, steadiness and flexibility when moving your camera, and a locking position range of 90° degrees.

The TANGO Mark II offers the following improvements over the original Tango/Swing head:

  • New quick release locking mechanism that prevent side to side play.
  • New brake lever accessible on either side of the head to clear long camera sliding base plates.
  • New flexible shaft adapter: with any ARRI flexible shaft (“whip”) you can roll the head from either the front or the back of the head.
  • New removable handle: to clear the long camera sliding base plates you can fit the handle at the front or the back of the head. The new handle has the ARRI flex shaft receptacle built-in.
  • New adapter to accept the mini Sachtler Touch & Go plate, ideal for small video cameras.

Combined with the Sachtler™ Touch & Go automatic locking system, TANGO is the fastest third axis which is adaptable on any type of head.

Compared to his competitors, TANGO enjoys a considerable advantage of being able to rotate on the optical axis, allowing the camera operator to level the horizon on the fly without losing the framing. The thickness of the head is only 2.3".

TANGO allows you to safely and easily move your camera in giving a third axis of motion to your favorite two axes head.

Tango In Use

The Tango allows you to very quickly and precisely level the horizon when operating your camera and using your favorite head.

It lives neatly below your favorite camera with a thickness of only 2". Whatever head chosen, the panoramic movement remains horizontal and the tilt stays vertical. So you will realize that the maneuvering of the fluid or gear head remains unchanged. The twin support and racks add further advantages to Tango such as silence and flexibility when moving, lightness and a locking position range of 90 degrees.

Why Dutch?

Over the past 20 years, "dutch" head devices have become popular in order to achieve scenes with more movement and impact. These devices can be divided in to two categories:

  • devices that allow the camera to rotate around its optical axis (TANGO/SWING HEAD)
  • devices that allow the camera to tilt on its sides (DUTCH Heads: Cartoni, Sachtler, Ronford...)

The purpose of the TANGO/SWING head is to allow any motion picture camera to rotate 90 degrees around its optical axis. That way the picture swings around its center, around the center cross of the ground glass.

Only the Tango/Swing head gives you a real spinning effect, because the subject remains within the frame, where with a conventional Dutch head the subject always gets off of the frame.

"Dutch" allows you to rotate the picture 45 degrees to the left or to the right.

Tango II Specifications
Length:
22.2 cm / 8.76 inches (without handle)
Length:
31.9 cm / 12.56 inches (with handle)
Width:
15 cm / 5.9 inches
Height:
5.7 cm / 2.24 inches
Weight:
3.27 kg / 7.2 lbs (with handle)
Rotation center height:
145mm / 5.7 inches
Swing angle:
90 degree scale: +45 deg. to -45 deg. per degree
Camera fitting:
Touch & Go 35mm camera plate with two screws 3/8" (16 mm/video with optional adapter)
Camera fitting:
Safety lock, single handed operation
Tripod fitting:
Three screws 3/8"
Max. load:
Approx. 50 kg / 110 Lbs

Tango Pricing

USD$ 6,700