[Rory]

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We have weekly car meets and a bunch of us get together and cruise around. Let's say we're cruising around and there's a couple hotrods a little ways ahead of me. With the right shutterspeed, if I keep the same pace as the cars ahead of me, they should be in focus the same as parts of my car, but with the road / background blurred because of the movement. Or, parts of my car would be in focus, but their cars would have a slight blur because of the difference in speed, and the road / background would really be blurred because of the movement.

I think you're getting your hopes up with this. They would have to stay completely in the same plane in relation to the camera the entire time the shutter is open. This involves not only them staying in the same path, but you staying in the same path, and no curves, hills, or bumps in the road.

Edit- but if would make for an awesome picture if you can pull it off!

[r0ckstarr]

I think you're getting your hopes up with this. They would have to stay completely in the same plane in relation to the camera the entire time the shutter is open. This involves not only them staying in the same path, but you staying in the same path, and no curves, hills, or bumps in the road.

Edit- but if would make for an awesome picture if you can pull it off!

I understand all of that. Even at 30mph on a smooth road, 1/100th would be plenty fast enough to capture the cars and also show blur from the movement. It's harder to explain than it is to pull off though. It may take a few shots to get it right each time, but I think it's possible given the wind doesn't try to blow the camera all over the place while on the cups.

Do you hate your friends? Why make them push? Just idle the car in gear. Unless your running a Detroit locker 31 spline, you should be able to roll at low speed without it being jerky.

A 4100lb car is a bit much to push, lol.

Idling it along wouldn't work. The car is lopey when idling (kinda shakes left to right while idling) and the hood vibrates because of the lumpy low idle. It idles at 800 RPM's and 750 while in gear. It smoothes out around 2k RPM's. It's a 425ci V8 producing 465lbs / tq.

[Rory]

I understand all of that. Even at 30mph on a smooth road, 1/100th would be plenty fast enough to capture the cars and also show blur from the movement. It's harder to explain than it is to pull off though. It may take a few shots to get it right each time, but I think it's possible given the wind doesn't try to blow the camera all over the place while on the cups.



A 4100lb car is a bit much to push, lol.

Idling it along wouldn't work. The car is lopey when idling (kinda shakes left to right while idling) and the hood vibrates because of the lumpy low idle. It idles at 800 RPM's and 750 while in gear. It smoothes out around 2k RPM's. It's a 425ci V8 producing 465lbs / tq.

Well, with that power, you may as well have a locker. Unless, of course, you want to enjoy driving it on the street.

[Ex Finn.]

What you need is one of those Hollywood "car camera" jigs.www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/494600-REG/VariZoom_VZ_AUTO_RIG_VZ_AUTO_RIG_Vehicle_Mount.html

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Last edited by Ex Finn.; 10-15-2010 at 06:09 PM.

[r0ckstarr]

What you need is one of those Hollywood "car camera" jigs.VariZoom VZ-AUTO RIG Vehicle Mount Kit VZ-AUTO RIG - B&H Photo

A little more expensive, but pretty much the same design I had with the cups and safety lines, minus the tripod and extended arm. That would be fun for video.

Well, with that power, you may as well have a locker. Unless, of course, you want to enjoy driving it on the street.

It comes locked from the factory with a 3.42 rear as part of the GS package. No one tire fire here.

[secateurs]

All i'll suggest is to make sure you have a UV filter on your lens (if you don't already). Especially if it's going to be pointing into the wind!!!

[Ex Finn.]

So I found my old dilapidated K40 mount magnet.
After drilling the center hole bigger to accept a 3/8-16 bolt that screwed to a Bogen head, the set-up was looking good.
Proceeded to mount K7 minus grip, no problems.
I did check the strength of the magnet on the topside of it, prior to getting the camera in the H-field. Nothing to worry about there. After all this, I stick the contraption on top of the vehicle, to find out that the sheet-metal has too much flex causing a major case of the bobble-head syndrome.
Now, with 3 magnets and some brackets, I think it could be a winner.

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Last edited by Ex Finn.; 11-11-2014 at 05:50 PM.

[alohadave]

I'd put a soft cloth under that magnet unless you don't mind scraping paint getting it off.

[chalion]

I was just surfing ebay and saw this handlebar/motorcycle mount:

Motorcycle / Bike Handlebar Mount for Camera Camcorder - eBay (item 350161668876 end time Oct-25-10 20:10:03 PDT)

Now, I might be insane enough to put a cheap camcorder or my old K100D on this............and use some 1" bar stock or aluminum tubing. Now, if it was big enough to fit my light bar..........

[Rory]

I was just surfing ebay and saw this handlebar/motorcycle mount:

Motorcycle / Bike Handlebar Mount for Camera Camcorder - eBay (item 350161668876 end time Oct-25-10 20:10:03 PDT)

Now, I might be insane enough to put a cheap camcorder or my old K100D on this............and use some 1" bar stock or aluminum tubing. Now, if it was big enough to fit my light bar..........

I used to mount mine on a gas tank mount. You remove a couple allen bolts and replace them with longer ones. Depending on the lens, you can get the speedo in the shot well, also.

[chalion]

Maybe I should have stated the light bar.......on my truck.

[r0ckstarr]

That magnet mount looks good. My concern would be scratching the paint. Yes, my car does show rust in some spots, but some of the panels have fresh body work on them that are nearly prepped for paint, so I don't want to scratch them up.

Here's the idea I came up with the suction cups. Excuse my skills in MSPaint.

The blue are the suction cups. The brown would be a bracket that I fabricate to link the 2 cups together and also have a mount for the camera on it. This way the camera sits down low to the car, and also doesn't have nearly as much drag on it from the wind as it would if it sat up higher.


If need be, I can get a 3rd cup and triangulate them with two more brackets for better stability. The 3rd cup would be behind the camera, and the camera then would pretty much sit down in a cradle.

With it like this, there wouldn't be excess brackets and poles mounted to the car that would need to be cloned out in PP. The only thing would be the safety line running from the neck strap mounts, but that wouldn't be in the shot.

With this idea, you're pretty much limited to straight on shooting with the camera being on the same plane as the surface of the car. What if I wanted to tilt the camera off to the side at an angle? I need to do some research on different types of mounts and find some sort of low profile mount. Maybe even the head of a tripod.

[Rory]

Maybe I should have stated the light bar.......on my truck.

[excanonfd]

I don't think I would trust my camera and lens to a 1/4"NPT20 bolt that's in the tripod mount a few revolutions. Muscle cars are subject to a lot of vibrations, along with the high amount of drag especially if you have a lens hood on the lens, I think that's a disaster waiting to happen. I am not so much worried about the magnets or suction cups failing but the tripod socket in the base of the camera may come apart, after all, modern DSLRs are made of mostly plastic.

I would build a camera housing using 3/4" plywood. Install a tripod head, something like Manfrotto 234 RC inside the housing, lay some beanbags in the housing for the lens to rest on and securely strap the lens down to the base of the housing. At the front of the housing drill a big hole 3" or larger to accommodate different lens sizes and hood, cover the front of the hole with clear Lexan plastic sheet about 1/8" thick. Your camera and lens is completely contained within the housing. Make provisions for a wired shutter release at the rear or bottom of the housing. Securely mount the housing on to your car's roof rack, make adjustments to the camera angle in relation to the slope of the roof and finally screw down a lid to protect the camera from the elements.

If you can make the tripod head move back and forth, you can pretty much use any lens you'd like limited by the inside dimension of the housing. Make Lexan window square, drill mounting holes in each corner, use weather stripping to make for a better seal around the lens opening and screw on the window on the outside. Lexan is shatter-proof - a stray flying stone isn't going to damage your camera - but it's only as good as the first major scratch. Just cut a few extra windows and change them as needed.

Finetuning: If you have the time and woodworking skills, you can make the front of the housing like a square snoot to reduce drag. Make the rear of the housing removable or on hinge so it can drop down, this way you can check the composition via live view before you secure the camera in position. Use weather stripping around any openings, lids or doors and it should make the housing more or less weather proof. Go through a car wash to check it's WR's effectiveness (minus camera).

I haven't built anything like this nor am I going to, but I think the theory is sound and I am more likely to trust my camera and lens to this than just a 1/4" tripod socket.

Hope this helps,

[Ex Finn.]

That magnet mount looks good. My concern would be scratching the paint. Yes, my car does show rust in some spots, but some of the panels have fresh body work on them that are nearly prepped for paint, so I don't want to scratch them up.

Here's the idea I came up with the suction cups. Excuse my skills in MSPaint.

The blue are the suction cups. The brown would be a bracket that I fabricate to link the 2 cups together and also have a mount for the camera on it. This way the camera sits down low to the car, and also doesn't have nearly as much drag on it from the wind as it would if it sat up higher.


If need be, I can get a 3rd cup and triangulate them with two more brackets for better stability. The 3rd cup would be behind the camera, and the camera then would pretty much sit down in a cradle.

With it like this, there wouldn't be excess brackets and poles mounted to the car that would need to be cloned out in PP. The only thing would be the safety line running from the neck strap mounts, but that wouldn't be in the shot.

With this idea, you're pretty much limited to straight on shooting with the camera being on the same plane as the surface of the car. What if I wanted to tilt the camera off to the side at an angle? I need to do some research on different types of mounts and find some sort of low profile mount. Maybe even the head of a tripod.

Looks sweet, yes, the third suction cup/magnet-mount would be behind.

Sorry about the appearance of my M-40 mount. First had it on top of my `86 Ford Bronco.
That piece of magnet has seen the mid-atlantic + Florida, New-England, Canada, Grand-Canyon, Death Valley, San-Diego and everything in between. It was build tough as Pentax