Need ideas for a home made camera mount for my T-Rex 600

[cannondale1974]

The company I work for is interested in having me take some aerial stills for them and I need to make a simple camera mount. I have a T-Rex 600 ESP on 6 cell and will be mounting a Canon T3i with stock 18-55 lens. Tilt might be a nice feature to incorporate but not absolutely necessary. I was thinking of making one out of small PVC pipe, is this the route you'd go?

Any pics of home made camera mounts would be great, also if there's a particular mount on the market that's fairly affordable I'd be glad to entertain those as well. Vibrations shouldn't be an issue should it if I keep my shutter speed at say 1/500 + right?

Thanks for your help!

ps: I've seen a very inexpensive device that triggers the shutter, anyone have a link to that? I think it was around $20 maybe?

[granelli]

First let me say that I would seriously just go out with a few hundred dollars and pickup a go pro 3. I'm not entirely sure that your 600 will be able to lift a t3i/lens well. I fly the same camera on a 12s 700e. You will probably need to build an underslung mount or a front mount with the battery on the boom and then figure out how to trigger the camera. It will not be a very straightforward setup or a preferred camera for that platform. Now if you went and just bought a go pro, you could stick it on the bottom, set it to take pictures every few seconds and fly around with minimal extra weight in less than an hours time. You would be surprised at the quality of pictures even the old go pro will take, let alone a new one.

[granelli]

On second thought, if the heli can lift the camera (I can't answer that). You may be able to squeeze the camera in front of the landing gear. You could just strap it on underneath pointing in your chosen direction if you can find a way to raise the skids up a little bit. Try some foam noodle tubing on them.

[heliaddx]

My T600ESP lifts my t2i with kit lens with ease. No gimbal though, just hard mounted to the battery tray and moving the battery underneath in line with the main shaft in between the two landing skids.

[cannondale1974]

Thanks for the advice! I actually have a couple Gopro's (older HD versions) and have done just what you said. The 5 megapixel pics are ok but the fisheye is terrible. I've taken it out in post but it still doesn't look quite right. I'm really into photography these days so it will be fun to put a DSLR up in the sky and play around with the settings some. The new Gopro may be an option but they are fairly pricey for the black version. (which is what I'd have to have.

Someone on here had mentioned an older point and shoot (I believe it was a Canon, maybe 6100?) that was great for aerial pics. This may be a way to go as I'm sure they are on ebay.

Thanks again!

[cannondale1974]

Originally Posted by heliaddx

My T600ESP lifts my t2i with kit lens with ease. No gimbal though, just hard mounted to the battery tray and moving the battery underneath in line with the main shaft in between the two landing skids.

This might be the way I go regarding mounting. Simply fabricate a lightweight mount to the battery tray and reposition the battery under the frame. Do you have any pics by chance?

Thanks!

[granelli]

look into magic lantern for the t2i. I'm using it with built in intervalometer and autofocus. works well