I'd be worried to, but there's not much to worry about, as long as they are used correctly, they are pretty strong.

About the image getting "distorted" everytime you hit a bump, thats not really the case. Plus, you want to use these on a nice smooth road on a nice smooth riding car, anyway. Not like your going to attach one to a 4x4 and take it offroad...hopefully.

I used to work at the Sony store, and there was this guy that used to tape his camera to his RC car and take it off-roading...
The footage was great and I never saw any problems with the image. I have seen this on older cameras though, not sure what is different now a days.

I made a mount that bolted to my front bumper and to a couple of fender bolts under the hood and set a brand new Sony DSR-500WS on it. The actors drove the vehicle down dirt roads at speeds up to 55 mph. No jitter and no camera damage.

Mount Camera to car
 

Greetings

I have search the sight and can not find a camera mount for large cameras.

I have a big project comming up to shoot the new Manteo corridor in the Outer Banks of NC. We will need to mount the camera to the car while driving the corridor. The smallest camera we have is a sony DSR-300.

Is there a good place to rent a rig for this shoot. I don't want to buy one for a three day shoot and never use it again afterwards. The camera is about 20 pounds with all attachments.

I am thinking of just pulling out the four inch tape, spread the tripod legs low and just attach it to the roof of the car. I know that tape will hold it but it will look silly driving down the street. I have a wide angle lens but I am sure the picture would be jumpy hooked up like that.

Any ideas welcome. I am sure we can't get much worst than taping a regular tripod to the roof.

Possibly use a pickup truck with tripod secure in the back close to the cab. That way you could be with the camera. It would be fun but just be careful.

does the car have a sunroof? if so, prop yourself between the front seats and pop your head out of the sunroof. but of course, be careful...good luck.

Looks like we will be taking a station wagon. No sunroof. We may have access to a truck. That will make the camera a little safer but we will still have to deal with the shaking camera. I was hoping to find a mount with some sort of stabelizer or something.

FilmTools builds a tri-suctioncup car mount that can hold 50 lbs safely

http://store.yahoo.com/cinemasupplies/mewecarmo.html

But, it all comes down to the speed you're travelling, and the terrain.

Description of a car mount for a camera
 

I made a car mount for my van about 2 years ago so we could shoot a 10 minute short.

Perhaps a picture and desctiption will be of interest.

http://www.byvideo.com/Mike%20Rehmus%20pictures.htm

So that was you eh..... Nice rig! Wouldn't mind to see some of
that footage!

I don't know if the footage is on the Web or not. The short was made with Hollywood actors but the writer/director may have pulled the clips since he is getting so much publicity for his new feature, American Yearbook. His was the first feature to complete principal photography using the Panasonic 24 fps minicam so everyone is all excited.

I'll ask.

New DvCarRig at NAB
 

Come visit me at NAB Booth C4543 (Varizoom) say hello and have a look at the new CarRig (Updated photos at www.dvtec.tv)

It has 3 suction cups and 4 safety straps with hooks.

DvCarRig - 499 USD
Extension Arm - 100 USD
Pro. Ball head - 100 USD

Danny Natovich.

Easiest way to film from one car to another?
 

or, filming from the hood/front quarterpanel of a car? We can't screw anything up, and we cant spend much. Anybody have any "bootleg" or not so expensive solutions?

rent. It's not worth messing up the car/camera trying to improvise cheap solutions. Plus, it may be something you'll never use again. There are a TON of great and safe car mounts out there, even ones that seem like piecemeal. The simplest solution is a saddlebag, hi-hat, and ratchet straps. Other solutions use purpose-built suction cups and grip heads and arms. Most large rental houses can ship if you're not in range of going yourself. Either way, make sure you get good instructions on how to properly set the system.

One EXTREMELY important thing to consider is the safety of others. It's one thing to drop your camera and rig and mess up your car. It's an entirely different matter to cause damage or injury to someone else. A quick drive through town for a 2-minute shot may seem quick and easy, but make DAMN sure you have things secured and triple checked. Any time other peoples' lives, as well as your own are on the line, it's worth it to do things correctly and have good safety procedures in place.

On set with experienced grips, it sometimes seems ridiculous how many times they radio to one another to call out simple things or how many times they check rigs. They also (often) refuse to rig certain things for safety reasons most of us would consider marginal. But getting in a habit of proper safety procedure is a way to make it automatic so that no details are missed when it comes to more dangerous rigs.