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Filming flying ravens over an an extended period of time.


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I started filming Flying Ravens. Using a Tripod won't work, and hand held for 20 or 30 minutes at a time doesn't seem the ideal way to do it.

Is there any type of rig for being able to lean against so a camera person's body can easily pivot while having some type of stability.  A wall actually

worked but I am curious if anything else is available.  

Handheld Raven shoot after deeming Tripod would not work.

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Would crows be similar to seagulls with this problem. I thought there was some written about shooting Johnathan Livingston Seagull. Videos, can't remember.

If that's a S8 camera then the light weight is making it harder. You could make an ineria rig that placed masses 300 or 500mm from the centre of mass (CoM). The critical axis, I think, is the pitch axis (nose up/down) and the masses for that will also steady the yaw axis (nose left/right).

The rotational inertial contribution of each mass is proportional to the square of the distance from the CoM.  Masses would be in pairs so that each pair is balanced at the CoM.  You could have a shoulder pad and shift the CoM back to that. I would try that.

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I’m also filming Ravens! Have been for a while and I made a crow doc in the early 2000’s. Both Crows and ravens are too smart to trust someone pointing a camera at them and not smart enough to recognize that it’s not a threat, so it’s very difficult. Once they spot the camera, they’re gone. On top of that, they don’t fly in straight lines or at consistent speeds, so tracking them with long telephoto lenses is very difficult. I use a tripod for digital and S16 and hand-held for S8. Some footage samples are at Vimeo.com/epdavee

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  • 5 weeks later...
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On 6/27/2021 at 7:29 PM, Gregg MacPherson said:

Would crows be similar to seagulls with this problem. I thought there was some written about shooting Johnathan Livingston Seagull. Videos, can't remember.

If that's a S8 camera then the light weight is making it harder. You could make an ineria rig that placed masses 300 or 500mm from the centre of mass (CoM). The critical axis, I think, is the pitch axis (nose up/down) and the masses for that will also steady the yaw axis (nose left/right).

The rotational inertial contribution of each mass is proportional to the square of the distance from the CoM.  Masses would be in pairs so that each pair is balanced at the CoM.  You could have a shoulder pad and shift the CoM back to that. I would try that.

I haven't seen the early Star Wars films in a while now but in early Star Wars films when the fighters are engaged in combat doesn''t the commander's chair have some kind of swivel to it, or were they just holding onto to the gun and using that as their swivel when the opposing forces race by? I seem to recall some very cool pivots going on. I'd like to be able to pivot from one spot without having to move.

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