Camera/video wagon

[ebay mike]

When I was in Poundland a few months ago looking for a bargain I found inspiration so I bought four and put them away for when i had time to investigate further. Until now, any videoing has been done with a VHS camcorder secured to a Playmobil flat wagon with large rubber bands. This camera tripod was designed to hold a mobile phone. I was convinced it could go further. Having removed the legs the mounting bracket was screwed to a suitable piece of 5mm plastic and the whole assembly fixed to a standard ToyTrain chassis using the existing mounting holes and screws. Gives you a temporary unit to use which can be easily returned to it's intended function. The chrome bar with the rubber finger grip is sprung and holds a mobile quite securely. I've shown a dashcam and a 35mm camera (with video option) in place. Yhe gimbal style mount gives adjustment in all directions and can be fully rotated. All I need to do now is check how steady the picture is and/or if the anti-shake function really works. Pics in the next post if not found below.

 

[ebay mike]

Pix. You could actually dispense with the black bracket and just screw the mount straight into the tripod fixing point on the bottom of your camera. Gives a little more headroom if your clearances are tight.

 

[pugwash]

Smart ideas, hope the results look as good as the equipment. However I would suggest taking the wrist strap off the Lumix because Sods law is still on the staute books

 

[Zerogee]

Looks good, Mike! Will look forward to seeing some vids taken from it.

If I ever get round to finding the time to build a camera car (I suppose I really ought to build a layout first, so that I have something to film....), my plan is to follow the design of one that I saw for sale on evilBay a few years ago - basically is was a flat car with a camera mount in the middle, much like yours, but the camera mount pivoted freely from side to side and was "guided" by a long strip of bent aluminium (maybe a foot or so long?) which stuck out over the front of the flatcar and had a weighted but free-pivoting 4-wheel bogie fixed to the far end - the idea was that as this leading bogie moved into a curve, it pivoted the camera on the flatcar so that the image started to pan before the flatcar itself hit the curve. The result of this is that the camera follows the train into the curve, giving a much more effective and realistic video without the sharp and jerky turns that happen with a fixed camera mounting. The leading bogie also had a standard LGB coupling so that the camera car could be trailed behind the train, bogie-first, and you would get some nice shots of the side of the train as it went into the curve, rather than it disappearing from view completely!

Jon.

 

[Frank Gallagher]

Tip

Run the train as slow as possible makes playback more watchable (don't ask how I know this!)

 

[ebay mike]

Looks good, Mike! Will look forward to seeing some vids taken from it.

If I ever get round to finding the time to build a camera car (I suppose I really ought to build a layout first, so that I have something to film....), my plan is to follow the design of one that I saw for sale on evilBay a few years ago - basically is was a flat car with a camera mount in the middle, much like yours, but the camera mount pivoted freely from side to side and was "guided" by a long strip of bent aluminium (maybe a foot or so long?) which stuck out over the front of the flatcar and had a weighted but free-pivoting 4-wheel bogie fixed to the far end - the idea was that as this leading bogie moved into a curve, it pivoted the camera on the flatcar so that the image started to pan before the flatcar itself hit the curve. The result of this is that the camera follows the train into the curve, giving a much more effective and realistic video without the sharp and jerky turns that happen with a fixed camera mounting. The leading bogie also had a standard LGB coupling so that the camera car could be trailed behind the train, bogie-first, and you would get some nice shots of the side of the train as it went into the curve, rather than it disappearing from view completely!

Jon.

I remember that one Jon - I did bid on it but wasn't successful. The chassis used was just one that was in the spares box and was originally destined for the Krupp gun rake. It's only got one coupling at the moment but as the camera mount will rotate through 360 degrees that's enough. I've just tried to upload an old video taken with a camcorder but the format is incompatible. Will try and convert it when I return from holiday.