Support for a tripod

A mounting assembly suitable to support an imaging device thereon and suitable to be supported by a tripod comprising:

• (a) said mounting assembly including a base, said base including a planar lower surface suitable for being supported on a tripod by being screwed onto a screw extending up from said tripod, said base being circular and defining a base exterior surface around the circumference of said base, a panning assembly interconnected to said base, said panning assembly being circular and defining a panning assembly exterior surface around the circumference of said panning assembly, said base exterior surface and said panning assembly exterior surface both having the same sized circumference, said base and said panning assembly having the same diameter;
• (b) said mounting assembly including said panning assembly rotatable along only a single rotary axis co-planar with said planar lower surface of said base, said panning assembly rotatable around 360 degrees along said rotary axis, said panning assembly including a pan damping adjustment wheel that selectively increasingly increases and increasingly decreases an inhibition to panning rotation of said panning assembly by clockwise or counter-clockwise rotation of the pan damping adjustment wheel, said pan damping adjustment wheel extending around the periphery of said panning assembly, said pan damping adjustment wheel defining a first plurality of vertical recesses defined in the exterior surface of said pan damping adjustment wheel, said pan damping adjustment wheel defining a second plurality of vertical recesses defined in the exterior surface of said pan damping adjustment wheel, said pan damping adjustment wheel defining a third plurality of vertical recesses defined in the exterior surface of said pan damping adjustment wheel, where said first plurality of vertical recesses and said second plurality of vertical recesses are spaced apart from one another by a first smooth exterior region of said pan damping adjustment wheel, where said second plurality of vertical recesses and said third plurality of vertical recesses are spaced apart from one another by a second smooth exterior region of said pan damping adjustment wheel, said panning assembly including a circular exterior marking region including a series of vertical markings evenly spaced apart around the circumference of said circular exterior marking region, said circular exterior marking region including textual markings at 15 degree increments, said textual markings at said 15 degree increments including at least 0, 15, 30, and 45;
• (c) said mounting assembly including a panning lock knob positioned above said circular exterior marking region, said panning lock knob configured to tighten the panning assembly and increase inhibited rotation of said panning assembly by turning in a first direction, said panning lock knob configured to loosen the panning assembly and decrease inhibited rotation of said panning assembly by turning in a second direction;
• (d) said mounting assembly including a tiltable mounting assembly that is rotatable with respect to said base using said panning assembly, said tiltable mounting assembly being rotatable around 360 degrees and including said panning lock knob, said tiltable mounting assembly including a handle configured to be connected on either side of a head, said tiltable mounting assembly includes a locking mechanism that permits said handle to be positioned in a first orientation and locked in position by turning a handle lock knob in a first direction, said tiltable mounting assembly includes said locking mechanism that permits said handle to be re-positioned in a second orientation by turning said handle lock knob in an opposing direction to loosen and then locked in position by turning said handle lock knob in said first direction, said tiltable mounting assembly defines a first rosette that includes a first circular rosette with teeth defined on an exterior surface of said first circular rosette for a first side of said head, said tiltable mounting assembly defines a second rosette that includes a second circular rosette with teeth defined on an exterior surface of said second circular rosette for a second side of said head;
• (e) said head of said tiltable mounting assembly being generally cylindrical and including a tilt lock lever at a first end of said tiltable mounting assembly, said tilt lock lever turned in a first direction from a locked orientation where said head and said base are not freely movable with respect to one another to an unlocked orientation where said head and said base are freely movable with respect to one another, said tilt lock lever turned in a second direction from said unlocked orientation where said head and said base are freely movable with respect to one another to said locked orientation where said head and said base are not freely movable with respect to one another;
• (f) said head of said tiltable mounting assembly including a counterbalance adjustment knob that is selectively rotatable to increase and decrease a counterbalance restoring torque of a tilting of said tiling mounting assembly with respect to said base;
• (g) said head including a tilt damping adjustment wheel that is rotatable to selectively increase and decrease a tilt damping of said tiltable mounting assembly with respect to said base, said tilt damping adjustment wheel positioned at a second end of said tiltable mounting assembly, said tilt damping adjustment wheel extending around the periphery of said head, said tilt damping adjustment wheel defining a first plurality of horizontal recesses defined in the exterior surface of said tilt damping adjustment wheel, said tilt damping adjustment wheel defining a second plurality of horizontal recesses defined in the exterior surface of said tilt damping adjustment wheel, said tilt damping adjustment wheel defining a third plurality of horizontal recesses defined in the exterior surface of said tilt damping adjustment wheel, where said first plurality of horizontal recesses of said tilt damping adjustment wheel and said second plurality of horizontal recesses of said tilt damping adjustment wheel are spaced apart from one another by a first smooth exterior region of said tilt damping adjustment wheel, where said second plurality of horizontal recesses of said tilt damping adjustment wheel and said third plurality of horizontal recesses of said tilt damping adjustment wheel are spaced apart from one another by a second smooth exterior region of said tilt damping adjustment wheel, said head including a circular exterior head marking region including a series of horizontal markings evenly spaced apart around the circumference of said circular head exterior marking region, said circular head exterior marking region including head textual markings at 15 degree increments, said head textual markings at said 15 degree increments including at least 0, 15, 30, and 45;
• (h) said head supporting a quick release clamp thereon that defines an engagement region that includes a first jaw and at least one movable jaw, said first jaw and said moveable jaw being capable of moving in a lateral direction toward and away from one another to selectively engage an imaging device within said engagement region, where said engagement region includes an upper surface that is arranged substantially parallel to the movement of said movable jaw;
• (i) said mounting assembly including a bubble level that includes a bubble maintained within, an upper surface of said bubble level being co-planar with said planar lower surface of said base,
• (j) said handle including a first portion with a central axis that is aligned with the tiling of said tiltable mounting assembly, said handle including a second portion with a central axis that is not aligned with said first portion of said handle, where said first portion and said second portion are separated by a bend of said handle.