GoPro Purchase
New Purchase. A Go Pro HD helmet cam. Going to add a little extra fun to our upcoming biking trip to the Alps
Screenshots from The Bushcraft Show 2011
We filmed at The Bushcraft Show 2011 in the Lake District at the weekend. Putting together a promo and a few other videos for them. This is a montage of shots from some of the footage.
Epic Mountain time-lapse. Inspirational stuff.
Epic Mountain time-lapse. Inspirational stuff from TSO Photography.
Best Outdoor iPhone Apps
107 of the best outdoor iPhone apps as rated by Adventure Journal.
Kessler Crane Lite Review
Our new 8ft Kessler Crane Lite (KC-Lite) arrived in the post last week and I have been very keen to test it out. Rather than try anything too gnarly we decided on a trip to the park following Patrick about on his bike. I used a Panasonic GH1 for all filming.
Why buy a crane?
The affordability and quality of footage produced by many HDSLR’s has really opened up the filmmaking playing field over the last few years. Back in May 2010 I bought my first Panasonic GH1 and have been a HDSLR convert ever since. It’s been a super lightweight and versatile camera that’s accompanied me on expedition to India and allowed me to delve further into the world of mountain bike filmmaking. So much so that over the next twelve months we are about to embark on what we’re calling our ‘uber film’. Essentially, the creation of a mountain biking film based solely in the UK and filmed throughout all four seasons. We want our film to stand out from the crowd and join the other high quality films within the mountain biking and outdoor adventure film genre. There’s obviously a huge amount of skill, time and effort associated with creating such a film but there are also tools that can assist us along the way. That’s why we chose to purchase the Kessler Crane Lite or KC-Lite as it’s known. It’s our hope that the Kessler Crane will enable us to create shots with an unusual and professional perspective.
How did the 8ft Kessler Crane Lite handle?
Kessler’s reputation is pretty sweet and I wasn’t disappointed when I set up our crane for the first time. The crane itself is extremely well constructed. The Davis & Sanford tripod that comes as part of the KC-Lite package is a no-frills but robust tripod. I had hoped to use my Manfrotto 745xb tripod and video head but it just wasn’t heavy duty enough to take the weight of the crane, particularly the fluid head.
I had read that there was a potential for unwanted side to side movement whilst using the KC-Lite because it only has one support rather than the double support system of the standard crane, but I’m pleased to say that I didn’t notice too much movement on my first test run. I can definitely imagine the double supports create a much studier framework but the potential to carry the crane up and down hills was extremely important factor in our decision to buy the ‘Lite’ version. I think there is a definite knack to using cranes and a skill set that we will have to develop. Bringing the crane to a smooth finish is something I hope to improve.
How easy is it to set up?
It’s really easy to set up and can be done on your own in about 10 minutes or less. Getting the balance weight right is definitely important and we found we had to change the weights based on small changes such as which lens we were using.
Results
A couple of days after receiving our crane we put it to the test. We didn’t want anything too gnarly so we made a trip to the park to follow Patrick about on his bike. Check out the video results below.
Conclusion
I’m sure the KC-Lite is a compromise from a stability perspective but one I’m very happy with. After weighing up different crane options (and we researched a lot) I’m happy we chose the 8ft KC-Lite. The whole rig minus balance weights currently comes in at 20kg which is already pretty heavy if you’re going to be hauling it up and down hills. I wouldn’t want to carry anything heavier on a days shoot in the middle of nowhere. The KC-Lite package also worked out to be about half the price of the standard 8ft Kessler Crane plus K-pod and Hercules head.
What next?
Watch this space. Hopefully in the not so distant future we’ll be bringing you some exciting mtb footage from the top of Snowdon of some other big hill! We’ll also be working on and thinking about other creative ways of filming such as our recent DIY cable cam. We will also be purchasing a new Panasonic GH2 which will enable us to use an external monitor on the crane.
You can keep up to date with our ‘uber film’ by following our Maia Media page on facebook.
8ft Kessler Crane Arrived
Our 8ft Kessler Crane Lite arrived in the post a couple of days ago. I cannot wait to test it out on the trails and film some exciting mountain biking footage. We’ll keep you posted.
3 Things We Learnt Making Our DIY Cable Cam
- Choose a very slick wheel/pulley, the less rolling resistance the better. We used a set of rollerblade wheels with good quality ABEC 5 bearings in. £79.99 new. On sale for £25, bargain.
- Braking mechanism is really important. The forces of the unit running into the knot at the end of the rope were enough to bend the steel frame of the cable cam. We used a towel laid over the rope at least 10ft from the knot, this worked perfectly. Some people suggest using a double rope.
- A camera keeper is very useful for when you are setting up shots – ie a tether for the camera so it can’t go sliding down the rope accidentally. It can also be used to help you haul the camera back up to the top for the next take.
Click here to watch our DIY Cable Cam video.
How to make your own DIY Cable Cam
At first I thought it was impossible but increasingly I’ve been coming round to the idea especially if we keep it simple.
So there’s two key elements to a cable cam. The rope/cable the camera runs on and the unit holding the camera. Our first choice of cable or rope was decided for us. Coming from a climbing background I had plenty of rope and kit to get it reasonably tense so we decided on 10mm semi static rope as our ‘cable’. The major issue for us was the design and build of the unit. I had seen a really good version on the web so decided to pretty much copy it.
We selected some heavy duty aluminium box section, found in my Dad’s shed. (We saw some steel or Aluminium box section in B&Q which would have been fine.) Cutting the box section to length was easily done, we cut it at about 75cm. The frame for the camera to sit in was made by bending the drilled steel plate to make a squared off U shape. The tilting plate for the camera was made using a cut to shape section of plywood and the corner brackets from B&Q screwed together. These all bolted together with some M6 threaded bolts cut to size and butterfly nuts. The thought then was to use cord to attach the pulleys to the box section once the cable was in place. This was all bought and cobbled together in about 4 hours on a Sunday afternoon.
Some lightweight steel plate with holes already drilled in it looked to be perfect for the frame for the camera to sit in. We also found some corner sections of steel in the roofing section of B&Q which worked perfectly as the tilting bottom plate for the camera once we screwd a section of plywood to it.
DIY Cable Cam for Mountain Biking
A cable cam is something we’ve been toying with as an idea for shots in our next mountain biking film that is currently in development. There’s two key elements to a cable cam. The rope/cable the camera runs on and the unit holding the camera. Our first choice of cable or rope was decided for us. Coming from a climbing background we had plenty of rope and kit to get it reasonably tense so we decided on 10mm semi static rope as our ‘cable’. The major issue for us was the design and build of the unit. I had seen a really good version on the web so decided to pretty much copy it.
The video gives you a little insight into how we made the cable cam and the end results. It was all filmed on The Beast in the Peak District on a Panasonic GH1. It was rather overcast on the day but we did the best we could.
Perfect Morning
My favourite kind of morning. On an idyllic trip to Fforest in south Wales.
