The Frugal Crane 2.0
After a long wait, here is the update to my previous crane design. This isn't a complete overhaul, but merely an improving of certain parts to make for a better functioning camera rig. The good news is that the replacement parts cost about the same as the original ones and many parts are re-used. The bad news is that some cutting and drilling of metal is required.Steel Tie Angle / Joist
Garage Door Pulley
Vinyl-covered clothesline
RCA 7" Portable Television
Comments
At the very end you say that you want to put a smaller pulley at the base so you can have a smoother and better control of tilt angle of the camera.
I just emailed you about an idea to make that work, which will require an additional two pulleys (one the same size as the other two you're using and one smaller) and a small belt or loop to link the two.
The basic premise is that it's better that the camera and base pulleys are both the same size. Otherwise, when you tilt the pole up or down to elevate or lower the camera, the camera tilt angle will change too!
The tilt crank or lever will be attached to the smaller pulley, which will in turn drive the base pulley that is connected to the camera pulley.
Hope this helps and gets built into Frugal Crane 2.1!
(Frugal crane 3.0 should be reserved to camera tilt + pan control!) LOL
Also, make SURE you get your pulley holes and connecting holes drilled EXACTLY in line! Otherwise you get a "caster" twist to the camera on tilting. AND use a drill press for exact 90 degree to the pipe holes!! Drill your connecting hole first for the two sections and CONNECT IT before drilling the pulley holes.
And lastly, try Walmart for their $39 7" TV. It works GREAT as well. Being frugal is easy. Just SHOP AROUND.
What's the total weight of the rig? I want to make sure my tripod can handle it. Don't want to have to buy a new one.
Cheers,
Ian
Great creations you're making here. Are your cameras equipped with the old RCA 1/8" pin out? My current cameras only support mini HDMI, and I was wondering if you have any suggestions for a cheap rig to use a monitor out of those. THe signal converters for them are more expensive than a flat screen computer monitor, which might be what I end up needing to use. Any help you can muster would be awesome.
Keep up the great work!
I find it funny (i.e. annoying) that camcorders will allow you connect an external HDMI monitor while retaining picture on the camera LCD. Most DSLR manufacturers (including Sony and Canon, the maker of my camcorder) disable the camera monitor when you plug in an external one. Why? Very stupid.