Getting rid of the handheld shakes in your camcorder, or getting those "down in the weeds" shots can benefit from a proper support, but are they really worth $100 or more like this commercial product?
If you're talented enough, you can probably do a McGyver with some bubble gum, three yards of baling wire and a leftover cat's collar, but if you don't have the time or inclination, there's an even simpler solution.
Start with a flash bracket for an SLR camera. These products didn't turn out as popular as some people expected and they're pretty cheap these days. I just got two of them via eBay for under $30 each.
The typical product is reversible to accommodate left or right handed photographers, and that will prove handy. This one has a 1/4" thumbscrew on the bottom leg and several holes there to put it in. The cold shoe on the top leg is held by a screw, so it can be loosened and its position changed.
In the first stage, we can actually use this frame as is, except for repositioning the cold shoe. Attach your camcorder along the axis of the arms, rather than cross ways as you would with a still camera. You can use the cold shoe on the upper arm for a microphone or something else.
Grabbing the frame by the upper arm behind the mic gives you the eaxct same capability as the commercial product. You can do the same thing with a DSLR and a video light, for example.
The DSLR is starting to get a bit heavy for the swivel at the back of the top arm, but you have no real need for that, so take it apart, use a little sandpaper and the epoxy that joint solid.
This amount of weight is also going to create some sore wrists, but getting a counterbalance thing going will be only a minor challenge.
(Continued in next post)
If you're talented enough, you can probably do a McGyver with some bubble gum, three yards of baling wire and a leftover cat's collar, but if you don't have the time or inclination, there's an even simpler solution.
Start with a flash bracket for an SLR camera. These products didn't turn out as popular as some people expected and they're pretty cheap these days. I just got two of them via eBay for under $30 each.
The typical product is reversible to accommodate left or right handed photographers, and that will prove handy. This one has a 1/4" thumbscrew on the bottom leg and several holes there to put it in. The cold shoe on the top leg is held by a screw, so it can be loosened and its position changed.
In the first stage, we can actually use this frame as is, except for repositioning the cold shoe. Attach your camcorder along the axis of the arms, rather than cross ways as you would with a still camera. You can use the cold shoe on the upper arm for a microphone or something else.
Grabbing the frame by the upper arm behind the mic gives you the eaxct same capability as the commercial product. You can do the same thing with a DSLR and a video light, for example.
The DSLR is starting to get a bit heavy for the swivel at the back of the top arm, but you have no real need for that, so take it apart, use a little sandpaper and the epoxy that joint solid.
This amount of weight is also going to create some sore wrists, but getting a counterbalance thing going will be only a minor challenge.
(Continued in next post)
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