Any suggstions for a stable portable camera mount?

[brad_p]

That headline suggests "get a tripod", but hear me out. We're ready to implement a permanent solution for our stake, and we've got it all figured out except the camera mount. We're stuck on this. We've got old buildings, so the only permanent solution which works with cords is the chapel's back corner.

My needs:

* Mount a PTZ camera about 150 feet back.
* Put the camera ~7 feet high to see over heads.
* No wobble. At 20x zoom, wobbles easily show up.
* Small footprint, one old chapel has at most a 2x2 foot area on the floor for us to use, that building is cramped with pews.
* Easily bring it in and out of a closet for meetings. The PTZ and software will handle the pan/tilt/zooming.

The easy answer is a simple 8 inch L bracket wall mount. Two bolts in a wall, and I'm done. But FM is adamant that church HQ won't let us do that.

I've considered using a narrow shelf and put the camera mount on top of that. Pull the shelf out of a closet, rest it against a wall, and I'm good. But all such shelving I find online only goes up to ~5 foot height.

Tripods don't seem to work for my needs. They require wide legs to avoid wobble, stable ones cost at least $600, and the tripod will almost certainly get a hard accidental kick by someone in the congregation at some point (I've already lost two cheaper tripods that way.)

Any ideas out there?

[Wattsuk]

We use a microphone stand. It is very stable and has a very small footprint. You can get threaded adapters for whatever camera you are attempting to mount.

It extends to 7 or more feet but we find that high is a bit unnatural for viewers at home. At 5-6 feet high it till sees over the congregation and just is a more natural angle.

One picture of a mevo start mounted directly to mic stand without extendable boom attached and one pic with it attached.

We've since gone to a larger, heavier camera with a 10x zoom and the stand is now at the back left corner of the chapel instead of front and centre.

Not experienced any wobble that I know of but we are careful to keep it well away from any passing feet.

[brad_p]

Huh, I hadn't considered microphone stands at all. That's a really good idea.

[brad_p]

This mic stand seems like a great fit:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/ ... stand.html

I think this adapter will also do the trick:

https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B013X10T1C/ ... BAZDJRPWMG

[Wattsuk]

Yes, we have those adapters which were needed for the PTZ camera but not for the Mevo camera.

FM group in our area were happy to provide microphone stands but not the required adapters for the camera.

You may want to enquire and see what they can provide for you from their budget.

You may also have plenty of old microphone stands tucked away in a cupboard somewhere in the chapel?

[CalS201]

Construct a "J" shaped bracket using 1/2" pipe, wood, or steel strap that can just hang from the soffit.

Camera Hanging from Soffit 500px.JPG (93.8 KiB) Viewed 2363 times

[CalS201]

Construct a "U" shaped bracket using 2X12 lumber and 1/2" pipe. The bracket "floats" around the pew to avoid vibration.

Camera U Bracket in Pew.JPG (142.38 KiB) Viewed 2360 times

Buy a stone patio umbrella base (35lbs) and insert a 7ft chainlink fence pole. Attach camera shelf using pipe hangers.

Floor mounted Camera Pole.JPG (126.58 KiB) Viewed 2360 times

[autryld]

Have you considered using the device for the hard of hearing as an audio input? That's what we use. It includes the organ and all microphone inputs in the chapel. You may need the crab box to patch it to the camera or the PC depending on equipment configuration.

--
Larry Autry

[autryld]

Our Sony SD camera is permanently mounted at the back corner of the chapel on top of the ledge where fluorescent lights are mounted. The FM group also had the IR control wired back to the satellite closet so I can position the camera most anywhere on the stand - chorister, piano, organ, choir, etc. The audio is also permanently wired to include all audio including the organ. We currently use the VidiU to encode for our webcasts. When we switch to zoom, I believe all we need to do is change the configuration as noted in the image below. The Magewell is a video capture device but I think it's a bit expensive. If you know of a good and less expensive one, please share a link.

--
Larry Autry

[russellhltn]

Have you considered using the device for the hard of hearing as an audio input? That's what we use. It includes the organ and all microphone inputs in the chapel. You may need the crab box to patch it to the camera or the PC depending on equipment configuration.

Depending on the receiver, it may need a load to turn on.

I wouldn't expect the mix for it to be any different than the audio output.

Some have reported it as too noisy.

It certainly an option if a better one isn't available.