Universal dampened camera mount

[MonsieurAnon]

You just made my morning! First satisfied customer since I was a very young man, making chicken rotisserie gears! That Tripod screw you have should work with some washers. They only need to be wide enough to fit over the threading, and tall enough that you can use the torque to clamp the goPro.

 

[chrisverst]

This is looking very good so far!

Hopefully to see some heavy mounts with digital camera on it and i am 100% sadisfied and confident to order one myself.

 

[chrisverst]

Is there any chance for some pictures of the mount with camera underneath it especially the heavy.

 

[MonsieurAnon]

Hey Chris,

Sorry it's taken me so long to get around to providing this. I've been somewhat swamped with work. From tomorrow I should be able to get on to producing more parts and helpful instructions for this mount. For now, I've uploaded a raw video from my shakey phone, demonstrating stable, steady flight with my 1390g Phantom 2:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEkFs1Vjfho[/youtube]

As well as some pictures of the mount (in white) installed.

Additional pictures can be seen on the product pages of:

The full mount

The lite mount

Is there any other pictures or video that you would like to see before your purchase?

I have also directly sent OI Photography a GoPro mount (and extras) for providing me with some nice promotional images for the lite mount.

Finally; I am selling on Ebay now. Mounts sold on Ebay will include the required screws, but not the dampeners, since Vision owners will already have their own set. I'm located in Australia, so pricing for shipping may only be competitive for people in my region. You're welcome to choose Shapeways or Ebay.

First Ebay listing

 

[OI Photography]

I'm glad you were able to use them

As the pictures on the listing for the light mount demonstrate, one of the nice things about this is that the gopro can be mounted on it such that the lens is on the centerline of the aircraft, which can help with avoiding legs in the shots.

I'll have to do some more pics that also clearly show how far forward it will let the camera sit, which also helps with keeping legs/arms out of the frame.

 

[MonsieurAnon]

The main reason I've left ample room for adjustment is to get the Phantom to fly nicely. Most cameras are not center weighted. The GoPro is light enough for this not to matter, but I have to fly with my Samsung to the side. Fortunately, as it is not wide angled you cannot see the propellers or legs.

The full mount is actually set further back on the fuselage, as heavier cameras will be biased towards a more central spot on the drone. I just want to stress to any other customers that if you're planning on using a very heavy camera on this mount, you must take extra care to keep your Phantom centre weighted.

That means you need to account for the battery being at the rear, and your camera slightly to the front.

 

[2trickpony]

Would love to order the mount but £25 alone for shipping is a bitter pill to swallow.

 

[MonsieurAnon]

Check the Ebay listing. It's probably a lot cheaper on shipping, plus it comes with all the required screws.

 

[chrisverst]

Looking very very good monsieur. Btw any idea's on how to make the shutter control? i was thinking about doing it with a servo but looks hard to make it.
Btw your camera is VERY heavy. i'm looking into a sony rx100 wich is only 240 gram. Btw how are you adjusting the gains of your drone to make it fly perfecly?

p.s. ebay to netherlands = 45 dollar postage OUCH!

 

[2trickpony]

Check the Ebay listing. It's probably a lot cheaper on shipping, plus it comes with all the required screws.

That was the eBay listing I got the shipping rate to UK.

 

[MonsieurAnon]

This is weird. Shapeways has a factory in Holland, I'm fairly sure. I'm beginning to think that I need to find another partner in Europe, because shipping from Australia has never been cheap. I can send to the US for ~$21aud which isn't too bad, but the next step is just too much.

 

[stereojet]

My order from Shapeways was sent from Holland to here, in Scotland.

Unfortunately I have twice missed the UPS delivery, but maybe third time lucky today.

 

[2trickpony]

My order from Shapeways was sent from Holland to here, in Scotland.

Unfortunately I have twice missed the UPS delivery, but maybe third time lucky today.

OK, so maybe I should order it through Shapeways rather than eBay.

 

[stereojet]

I'd say so.

 

[wat17]

Australian postage is some of the most expensive I have seen. They wonder why we buy from overseas.

 

[chrisverst]

haha yeah buying from shapeways is WAY cheaper only €5.68.

But now the second question how are you guys going to operate the shutter control? is there a way to do this via a transmitter or somehow?

 

[MonsieurAnon]

Chris, I've had a bit of a look into this problem, as Tom is very curious on this point too. Here's what I've found:

1. Duct tape + nut = continuous shooting on my Samsung NX1100 when set to slow burst ... at least 300 frames capacity, at 1fps

1a. I am working on an improved version of this that is 3D printed and resembles stripper clips

1b. I may also create one with an 'on/off' position based on the Vision servo

1c. A lightweight (can be under 10g) FPV system tacked on so you can see where your camera is pointing

2. Wifi remote viewfinders; for Sony & Samsung cameras

2a. most cameras can probably accept wifi antenna upgrades like those detailed on these forums for the stock Vision camera and wifi repeater

2b. an Android Pi mounted to the drone could be given any kind of antenna, connect to the camera and be controlled via VNC for ~60g of extra weight

3. Intervalometers that plug into a 3.5mm or micro-USB port can be used for continuous / timed shooting

3a. This seems to be the preferred method for big rigs like the S-800

3b. You can modify these to operate remotely.

4. Some cameras allow custom scripts and programs to be written for them. Canon seems to be the most talked about for this. Since the Intervalometers work by a simple signal through a cable, I might investigate a solution that ties into the Phantom's computer. With the Ipad ground station shooting can be triggered at different locations ... this would be my ideal setup.

 

[stereojet]

Gentles.ltd.uk in Edinburgh produce all sorts of electronic triggers etc for RC , however on the Phantom 2 transmitter, I gather ,there are no spare channels to use anything, and it would mean using a third party transmitter.

 

[MonsieurAnon]

I'm thinking that what we need is a mechanical trigger that utilises the Vision servo. It won't be too hard to make. I got some ideas after having a look at the feeder mechanism on the Makerbot Replicator 2. Unfortunately I don't have a printer at the moment, so prototyping is on hold.

 

[wat17]

Yep I am looking at a solution to use wifi from my sony camera to get a live feed and operate camera. Waiting on some equipment to arrive from overseas so will take a couple of weeks at least.