I thought I would post my little "Project" for all the penny pitcher's out there.
My wife and I just moved out to Hungary to start our own wedding business, and I need some fast video gear to get started.
Anyhow, i decided to explore the local stores which are DRY! to say the least. Almost nothing available for the professional end, unless your willing to pay out the nose.
I've seen a few photos, so I explored the hardware store and just bought a few items off the top of my head. (Hungary stores are really slim pickings, its hard to find and shop for items out here. Nothing like the States or Sharjah for that matter.)
I wanted to find cheap rollerblade bearings for the wheels, but no luck.
I grabbed things I saw round the house. Mostly in some junk drawers, and all the leftover IKEA pieces.
Its quite sturdy, at least the frame is. Ill need to make an undercarriage so that I can slide it on my lap without obstructing the camera plate.
I used a curtain rope tie (The little metal thing that you can wrap the string round) and cut it in half to secure the plate to the track, I can swing it into place and it will hold the camera.
Found some aluminum rods and "U" shaped pieces. I wish I had a drill press here, its really hard to drill a right angle on pipes.
The whole thing is about 1meter long. Ill add some feet to it after I figure out the undercarriage, also I used the Teflon slide pads for furniture, to quiet and smooth the sliding action.
Its very rough at the moment, Ill get a tripod head and attach that to the plate so I have some camera angle control. Spray paint it and attempt to make it look professional.
But it works pretty well.
The next step would be to attach a motor and cable system to have a nice steady slide action.
These thing run about $300-500, I figure after i'm done, I'll have spent under $70.
Please feel free to criticizes anything you see, so that I can improve it next round.
Took me, roughly 2 hours to throw together. I didn't use any plans, make a shopping list, or take measurements. The store bought steel plats dictated the width of the rails.
Follow this link to see a short clip. (GH2, Fotodix, Nikon 50mm/1.4)
http://www.dailonweiss.com/storage/Glide.m4v
Ill add and post pictures of the final product (with Head and undercarriage) once get back to the hardware store. :thumbsup:
Dai-Lon Weiss
www.dailonweiss.com
Panasonic GH2
Nikon D700
LX 5
iMac i7
...Problem solving skills
My wife and I just moved out to Hungary to start our own wedding business, and I need some fast video gear to get started.
Anyhow, i decided to explore the local stores which are DRY! to say the least. Almost nothing available for the professional end, unless your willing to pay out the nose.
I've seen a few photos, so I explored the hardware store and just bought a few items off the top of my head. (Hungary stores are really slim pickings, its hard to find and shop for items out here. Nothing like the States or Sharjah for that matter.)
I wanted to find cheap rollerblade bearings for the wheels, but no luck.
I grabbed things I saw round the house. Mostly in some junk drawers, and all the leftover IKEA pieces.
Its quite sturdy, at least the frame is. Ill need to make an undercarriage so that I can slide it on my lap without obstructing the camera plate.
I used a curtain rope tie (The little metal thing that you can wrap the string round) and cut it in half to secure the plate to the track, I can swing it into place and it will hold the camera.
Found some aluminum rods and "U" shaped pieces. I wish I had a drill press here, its really hard to drill a right angle on pipes.
The whole thing is about 1meter long. Ill add some feet to it after I figure out the undercarriage, also I used the Teflon slide pads for furniture, to quiet and smooth the sliding action.
Its very rough at the moment, Ill get a tripod head and attach that to the plate so I have some camera angle control. Spray paint it and attempt to make it look professional.
But it works pretty well.
The next step would be to attach a motor and cable system to have a nice steady slide action.
These thing run about $300-500, I figure after i'm done, I'll have spent under $70.
Please feel free to criticizes anything you see, so that I can improve it next round.
Took me, roughly 2 hours to throw together. I didn't use any plans, make a shopping list, or take measurements. The store bought steel plats dictated the width of the rails.
Follow this link to see a short clip. (GH2, Fotodix, Nikon 50mm/1.4)
http://www.dailonweiss.com/storage/Glide.m4v
Ill add and post pictures of the final product (with Head and undercarriage) once get back to the hardware store. :thumbsup:
Dai-Lon Weiss
www.dailonweiss.com
Panasonic GH2
Nikon D700
LX 5
iMac i7
...Problem solving skills
