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......
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......
Last edited:
