[r0ckstarr]

Just a random idea at the moment.

This is my car. It has angles, curves, and body lines going all over the place. I would like to make use of these lines and get some shots of the landscape from various angles on the car while in motion. I could finish up my rig and go that route, but I would like to do it with other cars on the road. There are some area's where you just cannot stop the car to do a rig shot.




I'm looking for some idea's to mount a K7 to the car (top, back, and sides).

I think the DA15 is the best route to save on weight and wind drag compared to a heavier wide zoom lens.

I was looking into the Avenger F1000's.
Avenger F1000 Pump Cup with Baby Swivel Pin F1000 - B&H Photo

Does anybody have any experience with them? Will they hold a camera at speeds that range from 30-60mph? How sturdy and secure are they? Any suggestions for a safe head to mount on the F1000?

I was also thinking as a backup measure, to utilize the neckstrap clips and run a safety line from one side of the car to the other in the event that it did come loose.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

[Ex Finn.]

How about a K-40 magnet mount with your choice of a tripod head. Magnet Mount for K40 Antenna - $27.95.
These things have a holding power from hell. When mounted to a flat surface.

Cheers, Mike.

[JeffJS]

There isn't any way in hell I would trust my camera to a suction cup. The CB antenna magnet is a better idea. Unless budget is a big concern however, they Do make camera mounts for vehicles.

bogen manfroto car

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?ci=4022&N=4276734442

[r0ckstarr]

Thanks for the idea's. I'd like to avoid the window mounts because it is an old car. I don't like the idea of the weight of the camera being clipped onto the top of the window. If I break a window, finding a replacement would be very difficult to do.

Would the magnet have any affect on the camera? Doesn't the sensor ride in an electromagnetic field or something like that? What about the display screen on the camera? Ever put a magnet up against a television and seen what happens?

There isn't any way in hell I would trust my camera to a suction cup.

There would be a safety line attatched in the event that the cup failed.

[TOUGEFC]

I own a "go pro motorsports" camera (which is video) ive mounted that on my car many times with the locking suction cup that comes with it and its very secure, but also its a tiny camera thats not very heavy. I think your best bet would be a locking suction cup and use a safety line just in case.

[steve1307]

I wouldn't be too comfortable with suction cups or magnets.

A screw mounted tripod head and custom bracket would be best more solidly mounted to the car.
A guess you wouldn't be keen on err... modifying panels so....

- For the roof mount I'd suggest a roof rack (pretty simple)

- For the front or rear mount could you maybe design a vertical post that could bolt to one of the bumper bar rails from the underside as it doesnt look like there is any gap at the top of the chrome bumper.

- For the side mount I could think of using the same sort of principle as the little mount from B&H but instead of a little clip which presses over the edge of the window glass you could make a bigger frame out of bent metal tubing which fits over the entire door with the window open. Put sponge padding on the outside so it doesn't knacker the paint and tie it to something on the inside. A friend of mine made up one of these type of frames to use as a gun rest when he went of shooting roos in the outback from the window of his 4WD.
Hey, you're from Texas! maybe everyone already has one of these in their car (according to the stereotype)

I'd still be a little iffy with just the 1/4" tripod mount. Id be doing some speed tests with a "camera sized" cutout to see what sort of wind load youd get at 60mph first.

[r0ckstarr]

I think your best bet would be a locking suction cup and use a safety line just in case.

I'm thinking the same thing. The specs for the suction cup mount says that it will hold 4.4lbs. I wonder how much force the weight of the camera against the wind will create against the cup. I could also get 2 cups and fabricate a bracket that links the 2 together and have the camera mount inbetween them low to the hood. Then, I would be good for 8.8lbs.

I wouldn't be too comfortable with suction cups or magnets.

A guess you wouldn't be keen on err... modifying panels so....

- For the roof mount I'd suggest a roof rack (pretty simple)

- For the front or rear mount could you maybe design a vertical post that could bolt to one of the bumper bar rails from the underside as it doesnt look like there is any gap at the top of the chrome bumper.

- For the side mount I could think of using the same sort of principle as the little mount from B&H but instead of a little clip which presses over the edge of the window glass you could make a bigger frame out of bent metal tubing which fits over the entire door with the window open. Put sponge padding on the outside so it doesn't knacker the paint and tie it to something on the inside. A friend of mine made up one of these type of frames to use as a gun rest when he went of shooting roos in the outback from the window of his 4WD.
Hey, you're from Texas! maybe everyone already has one of these in their car (according to the stereotype)

I'd still be a little iffy with just the 1/4" tripod mount. Id be doing some speed tests with a "camera sized" cutout to see what sort of wind load youd get at 60mph first.

My panels have already been modified for rust removal. I like the idea of the suction cups because I wouldn't have to worry about keeping the brackets and such out of the shot. Of course, I could always just clone that out in PP.

Too bad you can't swap the tripod mount out for a 1/2" thread.

I agree. A speed test is in order. I think I will make a cardboard camera that is similar to the K7 with lens, and put some evenly distributed weight in it to match the camera, add in the safety line, then run it down the road.

I may mount the Optio W90 inside the cardboard K7 for the speed test and get a video. I could see how fast I can go before the suction cup breaks loose. At least I would have a better feeling of comfort once I know about what speed it will break loose. I'm not looking to make a 140mph run, though it's capable of it...

As for the Texas comment, we don't shoot from the truck. We just run them over and then get out and shoot em' if their still movin'.

Seriously though, we just take a pillow and place it up on the door and rest the gun on that.

Again, thanks for all of the idea's.

[icywarm]

[QUOTE=r0ckstarr;1221538

Too bad you can't swap the tripod mount out for a 1/2" thread.

QUOTE]

Adapter?

[r0ckstarr]

Yeah, but you would still only have 1/4" going into the camera. I was referring to changing out the 1/4" mount in the camera body.

[Rory]

Everyone is being overly cautious. I understand it, but lets be honest here, they use suction cups to pull dents out of panels. over 200# of pressure. If the mount area is clean, and the cup is mounted properly, it's not going anywhere.

[RioRico]

I've used a P&S in video mode to shoot whilst driving, but this rig should work for any camera: Put camera on a tripod, tightly. Roll down a car window. Insert (jam) tripod between seat and door, with camera pointing out window as desired. If pointing forward, a UV filter on the lens is recommended, to catch bugs etc. Trigger camera with wired remote. Enjoy.

[Ex Finn.]

Would the magnet have any affect on the camera? Doesn't the sensor ride in an electromagnetic field or something like that?

I forgot about the SR.
LCD`s do not get effected by magnets like CRT`s did.

Also the owners manual states that the camera might not function properly near a strong magnetic field.

Sooo, scratch that idea!.

[alohadave]

You don't need the car to go very fast to make it look like it's going fast. Use the suction cups, and plan out your route, and go at slow speed.

[r0ckstarr]

You don't need the car to go very fast to make it look like it's going fast. Use the suction cups, and plan out your route, and go at slow speed.

It would be a whole lot easier to just finish up my rig, use a slow shutter speed close to 1 second, and have someone push the car from behind. While the car is in motion from being pushed, trigger the camera with the remote. That's the easy way to do it considering you don't roll over any uneven surface so that the background remains with a nice smooth blur.

My idea was having the camera low to panels of the car so that parts of the car are in the picture. Strong body lines and shapes of the car protruding into the picture. My front fenders come up at a sharp point on each side higher than the hood, and protrude out from the front of the car for what looks like miles when you're in the drivers seat.

Possibly even a wide angle shot showing part of my wheel rolling, while the other half of the wide shot shows the other cars ahead of, or behind me depending on where the camera would be mounted. What I am trying to avoid is a picture that looks like someone held a camera out of the window and snapped it. Or, more pictures like this:

(the picture above is just used for an example.)

In the picture above, I could have made use of the hood spear and got real low and close to it if I would have fixed the camera to the hood. Then there wouldn't be the dash or wiper in the way. Yeah, I could crop those items out, but why do that when I could have filled more of the frame with car instead of areas that get cropped?

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 understand that we don't have to be going fast, but when you're mixed in with a pack of hotrods and muscle cars that are on a mission to get to the next cruise spot, nobody wants to go as slow as I would like, and I don't want to hold people up so I can get a few pictures. The camera will be mounted to the car for the duration of each cruise. This means going from main highways to side streets and backroads, all with different speed limits ranging from 30-65mph at best.

I think I am going to order another suction cup and do some experiments and see what I can come up with.

[Rory]

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.