Upside down polecam using tripod mount?

I've been thinking about a remote pole cam, but one that is as easy to make as possible. As I'll be using it with my large dome for splits (for now) i suspect it'll be quite buoyant. 

My idea is to use my existing tripod, mounted at the bottom of the camera. And somehow connect the 3 balls to a fixing, which would be at the end of a pole. Not sure what this fixing would be yet. 

In addition there would be some padding at the "top" of the camera (now bottom) to prevent damage from it being dropped, but also to protect the fiber optics and strobes. 

Lastly there would be a remote mechanical trigger of sorts, but I do think to begin with I'll use Nikon's very unreliable snapbridge live view to get going. 

I've yet to see a mechanical trigger (if you know of one that is an easy fix or easy DIY I'm all ears!). I did read on people's recommendations for bike brakes, which is a neat idea.

I'd love to hear about your opinions on a set up like this, and if you think the tripod mount and connector is viable, given the weight of a D500 + strobes. 

Thanks! 

Here are a few preliminary designs. Sorry, you need to use your imagination somewhat. Assume the thing that looks like a theatre spotlight, is a DSLR housing

UPRIGHT design with single strobe, connecting to the handles of the housing

UPSIDE DOWN design with two strobes, connecting to the tripod base of the housing (where you have 3 1/4" screws)

If anyone can please provide advice on:

* What type of pole has worked in both fresh and salt water? I presume the answer is "one that isn't extendable, or one that is permanently extended"?

* How to connect the pole to an anchor point? My main concern here is one of weight. A single anchor point to a housing with 2 strobes feels like a weak spot. This rotatable PA mount seems like an absolute *perfect* fit, but again, I would be concerned about a single screw holding up a heavy load.

* How to trigger these reliably. I did read about brakes for bikes, perhaps this is the best way?

You have some interesting ideas here. I have thought about an inverted housing as well. This would make use of the tripod socket in the bottom of the housing. I would bolt the housing to a flat object - a sheet of marine plywood, plastic or aluminum to which as layer of closed cell foam was attached to make it all float on the surface. My main concern was shading caused by the float that would need to be somewhat large. I thought of using a surfboard but they are in short supply where I live. I would have a simple ball adapter on top (bolted into the floating sheet of material) to attach a camera pole.

There are pieces to make tripods out of underwater strobe arms. See: https://ulcs.com/shop/?_product_use=underwater&_product_categories=tripod-kits
Note the piece to merge the three legs. This could possibly solve your problem.

I have used several different pieces for the actual pole from pole painting parts (from a hardware store) to camera monopods to antenna stanchions to the Seacam pole. Everything breaks eventually. Extendable legs become unextendable.

Not clear what metal is used for the PA mount. Stainless would be the best solution due to strength but this I doubt is used.

I use electrical releases. This is the simpler solution and meshes with most cameras as most have a wired release solution. As well there are two positions to the release so that AF is turned on first and then the camera is triggered so is like using the release button. Electrical cables can be made in a range of lengths so much easier to adapt to a shooting scenario. Most housings have spare bulkheads that could be fitted with appropriate fittings. I have been using the Seacam releases but there are newer ones on the market. Reef makes one that seems very reasonably priced. https://reefphoto.com/products/zen_remote_release_handle
Note that I have not used it. I have one of the Aquaticas but there are no separate AF and trigger positions so is very limiting - I bought it to retrofit my Nikon D1x housing so this was quite a few years ago!

BTW I now have a gallery of behind the scenes shots showing some of the configurations used over the years here: https://www.salmonography.com/Salmonid-Topic/Photography-techniques/
Lately I have shot a few vids using my iPad. That is snow flying by in some of the vids!

Another option so you are not flying blind is a tethering setup, generally when you connect into the camera you can focus and take the image on a laptop or similar device.  I believe you can tether the D500 with a USB3 microB connector and you can buy a bulkhead with this connector from Dive and See:

https://diveandsee.com/usb-3-0-micro-b/

You would also need the cable, it would end costing a fair amount , but you can see what you are shooting.  You might also need a signal booster, depending on how long a cable you need.

On 5/23/2023 at 12:05 AM, sinetwo said:

Lastly there would be a remote mechanical trigger of sorts, but I do think to begin with I'll use Nikon's very unreliable snapbridge live view to get going. 

Speaking of remote shooting, you should try if the same underwater wifi hack that you use for the gopro works.

I used it successfully with a 10-meter long cable and the gopro submerged in one meter of water.

Essentially you need an antenna cable stripped 2 inches at each end, some tape, and the app you use to control the camera via wifi.

Search underwater wifi hack gopro on youtube.

Hey folks, I did some prelimiinary tests, and they worked. Although liveview is slow, it's good enough for more static shots.

Here it is in the bathtub connected via wifi and me shooting from outside of the bathroom, and here is the liveview result (low res). This will do until I come up with the brake lever trigger actuation which Alex Mustard pointed out.

@Tom_Kline: in this photo, what kind of pole did you use? 

https://www.salmonography.com/Salmonid-Topic/Photography-techniques/i-ChFJBmw/

16 minutes ago, sinetwo said:

Hey folks, I did some prelimiinary tests, and they worked. Although liveview is slow, it's good enough for more static shots.

Here it is in the bathtub connected via wifi and me shooting from outside of the bathroom, and here is the liveview result (low res). This will do until I come up with the brake lever trigger actuation which Alex Mustard pointed out

@Tom_Kline: in this photo, what kind of pole did you use? 

https://www.salmonography.com/Salmonid-Topic/Photography-techniques/i-ChFJBmw/

That is the Seacam pole minus the extension section.

BTW how does one overcome the Faraday cage effect with a metal housing? How exactly is your antenna connected (to the camera)?

42 minutes ago, Tom_Kline said:

That is the Seacam pole minus the extension section.

 

BTW how does one overcome the Faraday cage effect with a metal housing? How exactly is your antenna connected (to the camera)?

Hey Thomas,

I don't have an antenna connected, the wifi works through the housing and on the surface of the water or just below (it'll work for split shots++ but I've not tested it further!).

@Tom_Kline I've done further testing, and I've realised that I am overcomplicating my set up. I think I'll be following a similar approach to Alex Mustard, here's his picture. The beauty of this style set up, is that you don't actually need an adjustable bracket, you can simply twist the top horizontal arm, and tighten the clamps (sure it's won't be 110% stuck in place, but an approximation is good enough).

I've found the best way to do this is to actually just use my long ULCS clamps, attach them to the ball mounts on the housing (x2), and then have a horizontal arm with 1" balls either end (first picture is inaccurate, I connected them to the outer mounts, rather than the inner mounts). 

As you can see, it frees up the arms, and I can attach strobes either end. But there is no easy way to mount a pole to that bracket, it's a complete non standard size. This made me think, that I can have a setup like I initially proposed:

Essentially, I want an aluminium pole, with the ability to screw in, or secure an arm with 1" balls at the end, and perhaps a way to secure another 1" mounting point on the pole for an "above water" strobe.

Do you know what parts (which are readily available) which I can use for:

1 x long aluminium pole

1 x mounting mechanism (for horizontal arm with 1" balls either end) - I'm concerned a single screw would be a weak point

1 x 1" ball mount on pole (I suspect I can use a 1" ball mount with a female 1/4" screw, and just drill through the alu pole and tighten)

Thanks!

I do not know what is readily available to you. If you have an older strobe arm that fits inside of tubular aluminum that could work. You need the parts in hand to check the fit. The old style TLC arms had holes in them so you could keep in from sliding out but having a couple of bolts through the outer tube. Both ends of each bolt and nut would be exterior so you could tighten them as needed.

Have you had a look on the ULCS website? There are all sorts of arms available one of which might work with a bit of Macgyver technique. 

I would suggest staying as far away from the photosub market as possible.

A good blacksmith who can weld well is much cheaper.

You will only need the 1" balls and little else. In case here you have several inexpensive pieces

https://www.flex-arm.com/en/components