Long Reach Overhead-ish Setup

S

SDub

Well-known member
camera scenario.jpg

Sorry for the poor paint diagram. Scenario is I'm sitting at a 30" wide desk. I'd like to rig a camera to come up over what I'm holding in my hands and be above my head so it's not blocking my vision. The camera in question is a GH4. I've done some looking around and I think the best piece of kit to accomplish this would be an Impact/Manfrotto Articulating arm so my question is:

1. If this is the right thing, which one do you think I need? There's dual arm ones and single arm ones.

single: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1015861-REG/impact_2_section_articulated_arm.html
dual: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/896190-REG/impact_bhe_117_2_sec_double_articulated_arm.html

2. If this is wrong, what item might be better?

Thanks,
Scott
 
I would go for the beefier option, just to be safe. I would probably rig this differently with gear that I already have but I don't know what you have so this looks like a good option.
 
Some movement is desired but only for adjusting in between shots. I don't need the camera to move during filming.
 
Can you just attach the GH4 to this pin? Then put arm it out from a c-stand to where you need it? You'll be able to make adjustments from underneath with the articulating screen. Use three shot/sand bags.
 
I don't own a cstand so it would cost more but probably be more useful for a variety of things. What kind of cstand and arm are you referring to specifically? Last time I looked into them there were a variety.
 
Can you rent? If you're near a rental houses a single stand/bags will be pretty cheap. Then you can buy that type of c stand if you are happy with it. Here's a standard version from Matthews

You can get turtle bases which detatch and pack down easier, if saving space is a big priority. I don't like them but I have a vehicle with enough space to move multiple standard stands.

With the product links you gave, how are you going to mount the arms - you'll still need a stand or tripod? Those arms could very well but I'd have doubts that they could hold even a small weight with both arms straight/in line with each other. You may need to have the arms completely straight to have enough reach for your shot. See in the pictures the arms are less than 90 degrees then only slightly wider than 90 degrees.
 
This is for a personal setup for mine that will repeated use, so renting doesn't make sense in this scenario.

With the product links you gave, how are you going to mount the arms - you'll still need a stand or tripod? Those arms could very well but I'd have doubts that they could hold even a small weight with both arms straight/in line with each other. You may need to have the arms completely straight to have enough reach for your shot. See in the pictures the arms are less than 90 degrees then only slightly wider than 90 degrees.
Click to expand...

My plan was to attach it permanently to a desk or use a super clamp to attach it. The desk itself is incredibly rigid, so if anything is going to give, it'll be the articulating arm. I think at this point I'm leaning towards the articulating arm just due to the size of it. However, if I buy a 3-link double bar articulating arm, the price comes out pretty close to that of a C-stand where C-stand's have way more utility. I have some thinking to do!
 
Don't mean to hijack thread but i'm so in the market for an overhead camera rig. I'm shooting on an FS7 with a vmount battery so it has to be fairly solid. In the past i've used a boom arm (too precarious) and also tried a portable backdrop stand and polls whoch i attached a superclamp to and then a ball head. The problem with the second option was that due to the off center weight when pointing the camera downward the superclamp woul slowly slide and the camera wouldnt stay pointed directly downward.

I'm suprised there dont seem to be any good off the shelf products. Does anyone have anyother ideas? I like the backdrop solution but just cant for the life of me think of secure way of mounting a camera mounting block or ballhead to a poll without it sliding around.
 
Just wanted to provide an update on my solution. I ended up attaching two superclamps to a cheese plate. The other side of the cheesplace has a 1/4" to 3/8" coupler threaded and then I attach a manfrotto hydrostatic ballhead. That essentially the head of the rig. The superclamps are then attached to two backdrop stands (as mentioned in my above post) but instead of a round pole (which has a tendency to slip and rotate around) I bought an 8' square aluminum tube from home depot for $16. Drilled a couple of holes in it on each end and put it right on my backdrop stands. Now the superclamp hold much more firmly and I was able to securly connect my FS7 with lens and heavy vmount. The only issue is that there is some flex and bouncing around, however, once you let the camera settle (as long as people are running around) the camera holds perfectly still.
 
egproductions said:
Just wanted to provide an update on my solution. I ended up attaching two superclamps to a cheese plate. The other side of the cheesplace has a 1/4" to 3/8" coupler threaded and then I attach a manfrotto hydrostatic ballhead. That essentially the head of the rig. The superclamps are then attached to two backdrop stands (as mentioned in my above post) but instead of a round pole (which has a tendency to slip and rotate around) I bought an 8' square aluminum tube from home depot for $16. Drilled a couple of holes in it on each end and put it right on my backdrop stands. Now the superclamp hold much more firmly and I was able to securly connect my FS7 with lens and heavy vmount. The only issue is that there is some flex and bouncing around, however, once you let the camera settle (as long as people are running around) the camera holds perfectly still.
Click to expand...

Sounds like a smart DIY solution to your issue. Post a picture of it some time, I am sure others would appreciate seeing it.
 
Right now the setup is secure and controllable which were my 2 biggest goals. If I were doing this type of shoot more regularly (I do them about 3 or 4 times a year) then I would want to reinforce the pole so that it would be much more rigid and wouldn't flex.

(not sure why this image is rotating on the forum)
overhead1.JPG


overhead2.JPG


And the Resulting video:
 
It's a Westcott Skylux LED. Good quality light but not bi-color. I actually meant to bring my much more powerful Alzo 3300 but had to make due which is why I shoved the umbrella pretty deep in so that the bounce pattern was smaller but more intense.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top