Camera Pole/Mast for Aerial Time-Lapse in Swamp/Wetlands

[ardpub]

I am working on a documentary relating to land-loss in the wetlands in coastal Louisiana and plan on doing some motion-control time lapse shots of the marsh. I would like to mount the camera and a pan/tilt motion control head on a 20-30 foot mast that will be anchored into the soft swamp mud with a ground socket.

I will get the rig to the locations first on a truck and then a couple shallow-water kayaks so the pole/mast will need to be telescopic or capable of being separated into several sections. Because I will be doing time-lapse video, the camera platform will need to be rock solid so I am thinking I will need several guy lines to secure it in place.

Anyone know of any existing products out there that are either designed for this use or would work in a DIY build?

Total Payload of Canon 5D MkII or 7D, wide-angle lens, pan/tilt mount and mounting plate should be between 10 and 15 pounds. I would also like to be able to rig this up on land with a tripod, if possible. The camera and head will be controlled from a laptop and a field monitor will allow the operator to frame the shot remotely.

I have considered using a birdhouse mounting pole but they generally tend to be less than 15 feet. I have also looked into industrial telescopic poles used for ENG broadcasting, antennas, security camera mounts, etc. but they all seem to big and complicated for this purpose.

There seem to be many companies in the UK that sell these types of telescopic masts for TV antennas but I haven't found any in the states. Here is an example of a British pole that looks perfect......

[treynolds]

I made a super tall camera a year or so ago to mount a Sony AVCHD camera

I used three parts

For the head http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc..._Pan_Head.html

for the body i used a retractable flabpole but instead of the large gold ball on the top I added a 1/4 20 screw which is all you need to mount that bescore head

Then i used a speaker stand as my base

http://www.google.com/search?q=speak...0f3cd63ecc4954

I opened up the bottom of the flag pole and let it sit on top of the speaker stand and added 8 screws that tighten it down.

The bescore head has plenty of power to hold a dslr and can run off of 4 aa batteries for about 12 hours of use or it can run on ac.

[ardpub]

I made a super tall camera a year or so ago to mount a Sony AVCHD camera

I used three parts

For the head http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc..._Pan_Head.html

for the body i used a retractable flabpole but instead of the large gold ball on the top I added a 1/4 20 screw which is all you need to mount that bescore head

Then i used a speaker stand as my base

http://www.google.com/search?q=speak...0f3cd63ecc4954

I opened up the bottom of the flag pole and let it sit on top of the speaker stand and added 8 screws that tighten it down.

The bescore head has plenty of power to hold a dslr and can run off of 4 aa batteries for about 12 hours of use or it can run on ac.

That's encouraging news. I had actually seen one of those gold-ball flag poles and considered it but wasn't sure if it could handle a 15lb payload and I'm not to confident in the locking mechanisms in the product linked to above.

Can I ask how high it went and how stable it was? I think I'll need guy wires to keep it from moving around during a 30min or hour-long time lapse but that's no big deal.

[treynolds]

that pole looks very similar to the one i bought. I use it to film football games and it has taken a couple of hits after field goals and not gone down. It has very little surface area so it doesnt move much due to wind or anything. It also has a couple of rings that i use to hold down the cabling. Including the stand it is about 22ft high. Guy wires wouldn't hurt but i don't require them.

http://www.hi-pod.com/?gclid=CN6d_pDp56cCFQkCbAod2CKVcQ
thats the commercial answer for what i was doing and it runs you anywhere from 7-10 grand. Mine complete including camera and monitor was about $800. later today or tomorrow when i get back to the office i will throw up some pictures. They are on my desktop at work.



Edit:

Pictures for you

endzone rig 2.jpgendzone rig.jpgendzone rig 3.jpg

So thats the package there. It collapsed down to about 8 feet when the pole was retracted.

[mcm]

If you are still looking, go to www.aplanding.com. They have a lot of info on masts.

[ardpub]

Haven't checked back on this post in awhile but thanks for the posts. The hi-pod looks perfect but it is a bit pricey to buy. The rental costs would be affordable but $175 each way for shipping kind of hurts. Being that I only need the mast, not the pan/tilt head, monitor, etc., I think I am still leaning toward a DIY solution. Plus, I can customize it to use in the swamp or on land.

MCM--I see that they list masts as one of the topics on their site but I searched and couldn't find anything. If you have any specific links, please post.

Thanks all.

[telescopicmast]

hello, we are producing Pneumatic Telescopic Masts, please vistit www.phtmfg.com
the masts we producing are used in Antenna, Telecommunication, military, illunication,.....and so on.

I am working on a documentary relating to land-loss in the wetlands in coastal Louisiana and plan on doing some motion-control time lapse shots of the marsh. I would like to mount the camera and a pan/tilt motion control head on a 20-30 foot mast that will be anchored into the soft swamp mud with a ground socket.

I will get the rig to the locations first on a truck and then a couple shallow-water kayaks so the pole/mast will need to be telescopic or capable of being separated into several sections. Because I will be doing time-lapse video, the camera platform will need to be rock solid so I am thinking I will need several guy lines to secure it in place.

Anyone know of any existing products out there that are either designed for this use or would work in a DIY build?

Total Payload of Canon 5D MkII or 7D, wide-angle lens, pan/tilt mount and mounting plate should be between 10 and 15 pounds. I would also like to be able to rig this up on land with a tripod, if possible. The camera and head will be controlled from a laptop and a field monitor will allow the operator to frame the shot remotely.

I have considered using a birdhouse mounting pole but they generally tend to be less than 15 feet. I have also looked into industrial telescopic poles used for ENG broadcasting, antennas, security camera mounts, etc. but they all seem to big and complicated for this purpose.

There seem to be many companies in the UK that sell these types of telescopic masts for TV antennas but I haven't found any in the states. Here is an example of a British pole that looks perfect......

[David W. Jones]

From experience, you might also consider a housing for your camera as weather conditions and humidity around wetlands can change.