My teenage son is working on a film project with some of his school mates and wanted a camera crane. Given he doesn't have much money, he cobbled something together. I thought you might enjoy what a little hunger and imagination can do!:

http://s176.photobucket.com/albums/w199/engineeringnerd/?action=view&current=070919JimMakingCameraBoom512Kbps4x3.flv

Kudos to your son for doing that. Nice to see a fine young man being so creative with what's on hand.

I did notice his camera mount protrudes enough to get in the frame. Nothing a hacksaw blade won't fix. ;-)

-gb-

Yeah, the mount is too long. He intends to mount a 3CCD Panasonic canmorder on the boom, which is quite a bit longer than the A620 still camera used for his trial run. Even so, I think you're right and he'll have to hack it off a few inches. He's now working on wiring a 8" LCD monitor at the base of the boom and running wiring up to the camera.

I've really enjoyed seeing him put this together. As crude as it looks, it operates much more smoothly than you would expect. I wouldn't recommend it, however for "paying" work!

Maybe my son has discovered a new niche for beginning videographers. You can use the boom for a shoot, then disassemble it and supliment your income by washing second story windows for your clients!

Love the idea of the pan/tilt head, that's great.
Well done to him!!!

Great initiative on the DYI crane. Nicely done!

Maybe my son has discovered a new niche for beginning videographers. You can use the boom for a shoot, then disassemble it and supliment your income by washing second story windows for your clients!

Now that's capitalism with a capital 'C'. Hehe, thanks for the chuckle!

-gb-