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Camtree Car Camera Mount
  • I tried to see if anything existed about this already and I hope this is the right gear section. Anyways I saw that people requested it on a deal but that's about it for non cheap ones. Well I took a chance on it and just got it in tonight. I just want to say this thing is built like a damn tank!! Every piece looks like it's built pretty darn good for the price and nothing feels like it will shear off in my hand. The mounting options are amazing and so far it's sucked so damn hard to my glass door that I'm afraid it will shatter the darn thing before it breaks free. I'm just really amazed by the quality.

    Now, on further inspection, it seems to be a re-branded Pro Aim product which I'm not entirely thrilled about if that's the case. The suction cups are different from the ProAim one but the carrying case is the same cheap one they send all their larger products in. I've received both very good products from India and just complete shit. The one thing I will say as at least this didn't come covered in whatever that damn lubricant they slosh all over all their items, so that's a start. Here's a quick pic of it and I'll post better ones soon. Sorry, I need to get ready for an event tonight.

    I also plan to use this on a Drinking and Driving PSA that were shooting in a couple weeks and I'll post the results then. Here's the link so you can at least get an idea of what it looks like if you are not familiar.

    http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005I0J0FI/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00

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  • 36 Replies sorted by
  • Very cool! I've been looking for an upgrade from the sticky pod that is affordable.

  • Ok, first test kind of a fail. The camera was on HBR with the shutter at 50. So yeah, it looks like shit and I don't think I had the rig cranked down enough. So I'll back out tonight and try it again. Regardless, it looks like you might need really smooth roads to get usable footage but that might go without saying. A lens with IS would be great and my only one is the 14-140 but it's not the best in car but I'll give it a try.

  • This looks like a great rig - shame we get shafted in the UK again though price-wise. Don't quite understand what you mean by HBR and shutter speed at 50 though - are you trying to shoot NTSC?

  • @mrbill Nope, the camera was just on some weird settings. It was supposed to be 24P at 50 but somehow I had it switched to HBR and the shutter was at 50. That's all. It was terrible but the rig wasn't locked down tight enough so it was bouncing all over the place. I went out last night so I'm transcoding a crap load of footage now. Alot of it looks too bad to use. Really shaky. Like I said, you need a really smooth road so I drove around for awhile trying to get some usable stuff. I'm going to try to put together a little something so you're not just watching my goofy ass drive around Culver City for a couple minutes.

  • This looks like a mount-only solution; good for mounting a camera onto a car without spoiling the car in any way.

    For this, it's probably a good solution but I wouldn't expect any shock-absorbing characteristics. At best, it should be expected to stick without slipping and not induce any vibration of its own.

    More complex, (e.g. helicopter mounts) can be heavier and are designed to steadicam their way over bumps. [Heavy camera mount says to car, "What, you're going down into that pot-hole and bouncing up again? Then I'll just wait wait here for you to get back."]

  • So far, still trying to get a good, stable shot from a non Mega IOS Lens. On my 14-140 during the day it looks pretty good but I never liked the image from that lens. I've tried a Rokinon 24 and 35 mm and I can get a few clean seconds here and there but nothing you could have a convo back and forth and edit together. I'm going to try a new arraignment of grips and see if it works. I have footage but don't want to post anything until I think its suitable for use. So, so far, not looking too good. BTW, I've been doing my tests with a VW Jetta TDI so it's a pretty smooth riding vehicle. If people want, I'll throw something up but I'm still not going to suggest it just yet.

  • Unless you're going full out with a proper grip kit and the correct shock-absorbing mounting plate like the pros use, the suction cup method will never give you smooth footage. You're better off just going with the Delkin FatGecko mount and saving yourself the money.

  • @vicharris, can you post up some stuff we can see how it from bad to good if you do get it good. I myself was looking into buying one too but wasn't sure if will work for what I wanted to do with it. I was considering the mathews pro mount but at it's price, I'm trying to see if I can find a cheap and better option. Anybody familiar with mathews mounts?

  • I'll post some info on the setup and what I think so far in a little bit. Just wanted to get the video up.

  • @vicarris it don't look too back if you ask me. Yes it's a bit shaky but not bad. I think the problem is as explain on filmtools.com there's some vibration on the camera itself. To overcome or minimize it, you have to add another leg and suction cup to hold the camera from the flash mount. https://vimeo.com/ 41523045 I'm really looking for a good cheap car mount, shooting short with mostly cars.

  • @HillTop1 Already ahead of ya there! Ordered a monfrotto suction cup and stem last night just for that reason. I went out with my 14-140 during the day with a setup similar to that and it worked really well but of course useless at night. Also, I've never been a huge fan of the image from it. I'll throw that up later as well. The Mega IOS solves most of the problems but $1600 is a bit steep for the new lens to get a fast enough piece of glass. I might go by film tools next week as well and take a look at that triangulation kit. With the new suction cup and brackets I bought, I'm looking at $375 ish for a total. Thats not too far off the film tools one so not sure if I'm spinning my wheels. One last thing, the footage I used was the nest I could fine out of 20 min or so. That's alot of shooting to get a few usable pieces. Hey, it's like shooting film!! :)

  • @vicharris, cool nice. Yah that should help a lot with the shaking. I wish I leave close to film tools. I know the recommend 30-40mph with car kits, I wanted to ask them if I can use any of their kits and do 70-80mph

  • Interior or exterior? I'm going to give mine a test run on the 405!

  • Exterior, a local camera shop had a custom mount for rent and they said I could mount it and go as fast I want. They guarantee the mount not the camera lol. But I didn't rented it because it was to big and impractical and it could have been really hard to get any interior stuff.

  • Another thing I learned, sync up the damn car nav and audio screen with the camera!!! Didn't even see the rolling lines when I was getting focus. Kind of hard to see from across the car while locking focus in.

  • @vicharris Nice look with the Sedna and Rokinon together. Really looks professional/filmic - like a lot of films in theater these days. I thought I noticed a bit of shakiness, but I'm sure you'll sort that in testing. (I always drive super slow when doing shots from a moving car, as things look faster than they are. I bet if you do that, the images will look nicer as other cars wont look like they're flying by...and added benefit is the camera will shake less too.) Thanks for posting.

  • @matt_gh2 I don't think I ever really went of 35 or 40 in those scenes, but I had a LED over the instrument cluster so not sure. Next time I'll have someone with me on a monitor making sure focus stays and watching speed. I knew roads in LA sucked but damn! I need to go out on a scout for some newly paved roads with lots of lights and business' along it. Thanks for the input. Maybe I'll try 20 or 25 and see what that looks like. You always feel like it's so slow but it's never like that on camera of course. Also, I'll think I'll bump it up to 1250 ISO and see how that cleans up with the Rokinons. I'd like to stop em down a bit since they might be a touch soft wide open but not too bad for the first test. I have something I need to shoot at the end of the month so I need to hurry my ass up! I'm also wondering how Intravenus would fair in this situation but I've been kind of sweet on Senda.

  • @vicharris Actually loved the look you have here with Sedna! I prefer Boom over Intravenus but it's all about testing with your lenses and in-camera setting. BKMCWD just came out with his Cinema Smooth, so maybe check his thread to find setting and try that too. Rock on!

  • Thanks. I'll check it out. I'd love to test a few but it isn't the easy tests to do! Still haven't got around to doing exteriors but I have some time off now. Hope to get that done next week, maybe down Hollywood Blvd if I don't get pulled over! :)

  • Lol. In Maryland here. Got pulled over once testing a "homemade" car mount made of wood, metal and ratchet straps. It was steady as hell - super smooth. Problem was, without thinking I used bright orange ratchet straps, and obviously drew some attention from a cop. Funny thing was, after pulling me over, and inspecting the setup, he took the time to explain how I could make it legal (in MD you can't have anything sticking out farther than the side view/door mirror). Moral of the story - keep it all black. Good luck on upcoming project.

  • One last attempt to steady the whole rig. Just got this in tonight. I'll test it out tomorrow. This brings the total to $350 or so. I'll attach this arm to the hotshoe mount.

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  • So it looks like the addition of the Monfrotto cup did it! I think I went a bit over board and could have purchased a smaller one but better safe than sorry. The footage looks pretty damn good from me driving around in my truck and it's a really rough ride compared to the Jetta I used before.

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  • That looks solid man! Where did you buy the monfrotto cup from?