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Stable shooting in a moving vehicle

Reviewer

Peter Huoppi June 14, 2011, 9:56 a.m. permalink

Does anyone have tips or tricks for stabilizing in camera inside a moving vehicle? So far this year I've find myself shooting inside a snow plow, a police cruiser, and one a feature reporter's car. I've tried hand-holding and bracing against various body parts. I've splayed the legs of a tripod between the front and back seats. I've tried with a little HV-30 and bigger, heavier EX-1, and nothing seems to help dampen the bumps from the road. Short of some sort of steadicam rig, what can I do?

Reviewer

Eric Seals June 14, 2011, 12:22 p.m. permalink

Hi Peter,

I have this system http://www.stickypod.com/

The owner Tom is fantastic and has great customer service.

It's wonderful for my Panasonic HVX200 which weights about 7 pounds but with the Sticky Pod Director set it is great and has no movement. It can be mounted in the car or outside it you just have to reconfigure the arms etc to your liking or fitting inside the car.

Depending on your gear there are a variety of models you can get.

If we had a way to post pictures on here I'd show you how mine looks set up.

Good luck

Eric

Reviewer

Peter Huoppi June 14, 2011, 1:30 p.m. permalink

Thanks for the suggestion. Yesterday was a hop in hop out situation on the police ridealong, would this work in that situation? It looks like I could connect to a quick release head so the camera could come with me quickly. Can you position it inside so it doesn't interfere too much with the driver?
If you have the chance, would you mind posting a picture to Facebook so I could check out the setup?

Reviewer

Eric Seals June 14, 2011, 2:10 p.m. permalink

Oh I see, I thought it was going to be a camera dedicated to shoot only on a rig and not being taken on and off. The sticky pod I have is meant the camera staying on for a long shot for driving, etc.

You might be best going with the sticky pod dash cam for $119

http://www.stickypod.com/osc/product_info.php?products_id=32

and mount a Canon 5D or 7D, lock down the foucs and it would free up your HV-30 or EX-1 for when the hop in and hop out shooting situations.

I've had good success with my GoPro's used for interiors and exteriors with police and others. It's a great camera that shoots wide like 170 degrees so you'd have to be careful to not be in the shot or angle it so you're not.

Check out the spot at the 1:10 mark of a video I did on missing people in Detroit. http://www.vimeo.com/channels/ericseals#17246505

That's with a GoPro suction cup mounted and gives a good field of view. You could easier duck down for some if you're in the back or like me in this case I was following them in my truck and had another GoPro mounted on the roof of their police car.

One thing I would say if you think of going this route is be sure to get the LCD back for the GoPro. It cost $79 and is well worth it allowing you to see and frame better the cops or whoever you are shooting.

Eric

Reviewer

Eric Seals June 14, 2011, 2:12 p.m. permalink

I can't figure out how to post links on here so that it's highlighted so all you have to do is click it. I guess you'll have to highlight, copy then paste in your browser to view it.

Eric

Reviewer

Colin Mulvany June 14, 2011, 9:50 p.m. permalink

Do this Eric.

Copy the URL you want to link to. In this comments box, highlight some text (this will become the hot link) then click the icon (add link) second from the right in the above toolbox. When it opens, highlight the http:// in the link field and paste in your link. What you don't want is two http:// in the URL In the drop down box select "Open in new window."Leave "Title" empty and, most important, click "Submit."