Originally posted by KjetilH According to the mighty Newton, you can't really detect velocity with a motion sensor (constant speed gives sum of forces=0). And Pentax isn't THAT fabulous (yet...).
(Which is basically why it often may get the panning totally wrong.)
Unfortunately, this is only a semi-scientific statement.
Pentax isn't fabulous, they just buy two little chips (as described in some other thread here in the forum).
Each of them measures
angular velocity (as I said in my last sentence of my post up here). Unlike linear velocity, angular velocity
can be measured. A rotating system isn't an inertial system. In the particular case, the gyro sensors measure the coriolis force(*) created by their rotation (around one axis each), output as a signal proportional to their angular velocity. The time differential then is the angular acceleration.
Quite stunning, not?
And yes, the two little guys can detect if you are panning or not.
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(*) coriolis force, the force which makes the storms turn in one direction on the north half of the earth, and in the other direction down under.