DIY Camera Steady

[dicklaxt]

The slider is from a wood working pipe clamp.

It worked fine to make an adjustable camera support.I can move it up or down with ease.It fits a 1/2inch Schedule 40 PVC pipe fine and clamps tight.

The plate is a piece of 2 x 3/16 x 7 inch aluminum flat strap and the handle is from an old putty knife.I drilled and tapped the slider and secured the plate with two screws and attached the handle with a couple of #8 bolts and nuts.

My old legs and lungs don't work like they were meant to so I can use this either standing or sitting outside and let the insects come to me for my Macro Photography playtime.This will hopefully help with the up/down camera shake caused by yours truely,I'm working on the front to back,LOL.

The lens setup is a Tamron 90 with a reversed 50,I haven't shot anything with it yet.

I had every bit of the material laying around so the cost was a couple hours of my time.

My assistant had the pole leaning while posing the picture,I guess I'll have to fire her.

[dicklaxt]

The more I think about this the more I think it becomes very limited in its application,,,,,it is merely a fixed easily changed monopod,if the subject is static then I see many more applications but as we know insects are not,trash can this idea,oh well it was fun building it.

dick

[KD5NRH]

Originally Posted by dicklaxt

The more I think about this the more I think it becomes very limited in its application

You might try mounting cheap ball heads on vice-grips. Then you can turn anything into a steady mount.

The mounting hole on this should be a slip fit on a 3/8" bolt: 139AD Vice Grip Antenna Mount

[dicklaxt]

I'm not following this logic,,,,,,,,it would still be nothing more than a fixed mount that had easily changed position,wouldn't it?

dick

[jfoureyes]

This looks like it would work for you. I use a tripod/ballhead and being able to tilt the camera helps in some situations I get into. I do a ton work at ground level too.

[dicklaxt]

Here's what I will do to make this more functional,I'll change the name from Camera Steady to Camera Rest and rather than mount the camera in a fixed position I'll cover the mounting plate with rubber foam water pipe insulation and rest the camera on the foam giving me complete control of the camera.
dick

[KD5NRH]

Originally Posted by dicklaxt

I'm not following this logic,,,,,,,,it would still be nothing more than a fixed mount that had easily changed position,wouldn't it?

My current behind-the-Blazer-seat cheap beater monopod is one of the telescoping-stick-with-a-quarter-inch-stud types, and I'm constantly fighting to deal with tilt movements, since the whole pod has to move. I had one with a tilt head on it, and that was much easier when tracking anything that can move vertically relative to the camera.

OTOH, the cheapie does make a great way to have off-camera flash handheld more than an arm's length away.