Tips on Mounting a Still Camera

[karenmeal 0]

Just got a still camera that I need to mount. Already have my video camera sidemounted on my hawkeye.

I will be mostly taking pictures of tandems with this still camera..

Any tips? (Besides "don't drill through your hand")

"Life is a temporary victory over the causes which induce death." - Sylvester Graham

[PhreeZone 15]

Quick release plates like Stroboframes or Bone Head's one work great. No more having to line the camera up after taking it off and on again.

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[karenmeal 0]

I've got one of those plates already.

Any tips on lining that up with my video camera?

"Life is a temporary victory over the causes which induce death." - Sylvester Graham

[Vectracide 0]

Hey Karen,

When I mounted my stuff, I based the line of sight off of how the still mounted. Since there is no vertical adjustment when you mount this, you are forced to change the centering of the video camera. I did this by using 3 screws on the box in an upside down triangle. Basically I started with a hole at 6 oclock and the other 2 at lets say 10 and 2. The upper holes is where I get my adjustment by doing the following...after you drill thru both boxes, put the top 2 screws in the helmet alone, then the bottom screw thru the camera box and helmet. Then swivel the camera box to the right and the left while adding some pressure against the d-box to force the screws in the helmet to make a scuff mark on the back of the d-box. Take it off and dremel out along those scuff marks to give you a way to swivel the box on the helmet to adjust the vertical line of sight to match the center point of your still. Use oversized washers on the top swivel mounting holes to keep the box secure.

Also, find the CG of your camera and try to match it with the CG of your helmet when its on your head. You can lessen the snap effect when you have a hard opening.

If all of this doesn't make sense, meet me at the DZ on Thursday and I will bring my dremel so we can get it mounted for ya.

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Controlled and Deliberate.....

[DSE 5]

Duct tape a laser to your video camera (temporarily) so it's hitting a point on a wall that is centered in your video camera display.
Now mount your still camera so it also sees the laser at the same point in the camera's viewfinder.
This is much easier than it sounds, and overall, at the distances we're shooting in skydiving, it's all very close regardless.
My method of figuring out where to drill is to cover the mount area with wide masking tape, put the mount approximately where I think it needs to go, position it properly, and then draw lines on the masking tape to indicate exact positioning. Then I remove the camera, leave the masking tape in place, mark the place to drill, drill it, and then remove masking tape. You can also use thin doublestick tape, so the mount stays in position and you don't have to use a pencil/pen to mark the position for drilling.

HTH

[bomb420 1]

One step further:

In the end, there are two ways I've heard to sight your still vs. your camcorder.
1) Having the center of frame of both meet at a point X feet away. (What DSE is explaining above). This is good for FTP or similar helmets with both cameras stradling the center point or mounted on the forhead.

2) Having the still's center of frame parallel to your camcorder's center of frame. Then always make the distance change in your head vs your sight. Really good for side mounts since it gets rid of the divergence issue with centering it like #1.

Everyone else had really good methods for physically mounting the bracket. Remember there is some adjustment left to right with the foot. Getting it square on the y-axis is the hard part. Of course, if you're using a wide angle you can fudge a bunch...

HYPOXIC

[karenmeal 0]

Thursday I'll be flying back from California..

Maybe we could do it on Friday? I definitely want to get some jumps on the setup on Friday so that on Saturday when I'm doing tandem videos I'll be all ready.

"Life is a temporary victory over the causes which induce death." - Sylvester Graham

[The111 1]

Quote

Any tips on lining that up with my video camera?

I described my method in this post.

www.WingsuitPhotos.com

[pilotdave 0]

I created a template with the hole pattern of my quick release. Spent a long time trying to find a way to get it on the helmet perfectly straight.

Finally realized that:
a) I can just turn the plate that is attached to the camera to whatever angle I need.
b) My video camera is cocked to the left a few degrees, so I needed to put the still camera on crooked too.

Finally drilled the holes by taping the quick release to the helmet where I wanted it and drilling straight through the mounting holes. 10 minute job took me a few hours at least.

Once the still camera was mounted, I could just turn on the sidemount video camera and align the still camera with it.

Dave

[PharmerPhil 0]

Quote

In the end, there are two ways I've heard to sight your still vs. your camcorder.

I think this has been discussed before, but here's my take. Do not try to line up the cameras at some specific distance. It is much better to just line up the cameras and the sight to be parrallel at all times. This way, they will always be off by the same distance. I think my video camera lens and my sight are 6-inches apart (vertically). My still camera is right in between them. This means that my sight will always be 6-inches off for the video, 3-inches for the stills. For most shooting distances, this seperation is irrelevant. During a tandem video jump, I will usually get very close (less than 18-inches) at one point of the dive. At that time, I simply line up my sight to be 6-inches lower than my intended point of aim (i.e., if I am shooting their face, I just aim 6-inches lower, like for their neck). I don't usually shoot stills while I am this close, and for any other distances, 6-inches one way or the other really doesn't matter.

The problem with aiming the line of sights to intersect at some point is that the distance between the lines of sight will vary a lot depending on how close you really are. When you are far away, your lines of sight could be very far off. And at those long distances, 6-inches just wouldn't matter.

Just my too sense...

[jtval 0]

As DSE already mentioned, use the laser pointer.
you can get a cheap one at radio shack (approx $10)


BEFORE YOU DRILL:


put the laser on the helmet and choose a spot to "Center." look through your camera eyepiece and make sure it is in the center.

if it is, that means your laser is centered.
set you cam and plate on your helmet and use the laser to center the still cam.

use a marker to make a mark(because that's how they got their name) in each of the holes of your plate.

than drill and mount.

when you drill you may want to use clear nail polish on the holes so they don't crack.

My photos

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[karenmeal 0]

Hooray! Yesterday was my first day jumping my stills camera. SOOOOO much fun!!

Here are a couple nice ones.

Now I just need to learn to manipulate the settings better to get optimal exposure and clarity.

"Life is a temporary victory over the causes which induce death." - Sylvester Graham