ElPaso2008

I've tried the Sticky Pod and a vaccum pump model I place on the windshield, but neither has given me a really smooth video image while the Rubicon is moving over 10 mph, even on a smooth road. The vacuum pump model is definitely the better of the two. There is a JeepsterGal on YouTube that has really great, smooth videos, but she is not driving a Wrangler. She said she is using a Sticky Pod. It is something to do with the solid axles maybe? Has anyone had any luck with any other products under $1000 shooting video out of a JK?

IMFletch

Check out this thread:

https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/show...hlight=adorama

A solid mount is the first part of the equation. Having a camera with optical image stabilization helps as well. If you want truly stable images from a moving Jeep you might have to get a gyroscopically stabilized mount which are $$$$$.

Check out this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nO5dMTz577o

for a vid I put of when testing my camera and mount set up. Click the HQ video option to see the best quality image. I am not using a fancy video camera. I am using a $350 Panasonic video camera and a suction cup mount on the dash. Its a nice set up.

Good luck.

ElPaso2008

Wow, looks like we are using the filmtools.com/filmtools-in-car-windshield-camera-mount.html exact same product, and I would be very happy, thrilled actually, to get that smooth a picture. It looks like you were going at least 20 mph in a few places in your video with no shake at all. The one I bought is sold under a different name, but everything about the hardware looks identical. Yet the kind of smooth picture you are getting illudes me.

My '07 Rubicon came with a two inch lift, and it's got 285/70/17 BFG KM2s. It rides great on and off road, but it only a takes a little vibration to affect the video image. I am mounting it on the windshield beneath the rear view mirror, though, and not the dash. Could it be your Rubi just has a smoother ride? Should I get better shocks? I've tried using the restraining strap slightly snug, really tight, and in between, and not using it at all. But I'm not getting anything that smooth over 5-10 mph.

I beginning to think it's something to do with my jeep because these mounts are rigid. As you know, there is no give in the suction cup. If the windshield, or dash, wiggles, the vibration is going to be transmitted to the platform the camcorder is sitting on.

Or is there something you are doing with the mount? It seems that all of the knobs and the lever on the mount need to be tight to keep the camera from slipping one direction or another.

My last question. You said you are mounting the suction cup to the dash? Which part of the dash exactly? Seems like the result would be the same, but I'm willing to try anything. I even bought a Canon Vixia camcorder for this project. It takes a really great picture.

Any further ideas you might have would be appreciated.

IMFletch

Like you said, the mounts that we have a virtually the same so I doubt the mount is the variable that is causing your blurry image.

I tried mounting the camera to the dash so that the camera was out of my line of sight but the suction mount does not adhere well to the dash and the angle of view is to low to see what is happening right out front of the Jeep. I now mount the suction cup on the windshield up high just to the right of the rear view mirror. I place the camera lens near the windshield but not close enough to touch the windshield. The mount is bomber, when everything is tightened up the camera does not move, unless the whole Jeep moves. I do not use any additional stabilizer straps, just the suction cup mount and the supplied swivel collar with the lock nut.

If you camera has a decent optical image stabilizer then the camera is likely not the variable in the equation.

When I tested the video cam mount is was on hard pack sand but I was aired down to about 18 psi which will make a significant difference is the stability of the image. I am also running OME nitro shocks and coils which seem to have a smoother ride than many of the 2-3" lift kits out there.

You might testing the mount with and without airing down and see if there is any noticeable difference in image quality.

Let me know how it goes.

ElPaso2008

It's funny how just talking through something leads to the solution. I readjusted the parts of the mount to place the suction cup on the hump over the steering wheel. I have the Daystar trays over the hump over the radio, so it wasn't available. With the camera right in front of me, I hit some backroads around where I live and then took a trail into a place called Stolen Canyon. As I watched the camera wiggling I realized what the problem has been all along. It's not vibrations from the jeep at all, as would soon be proven.

The vibrations were coming from the parts of the mount itself. The suction cup had a rock solid grip on the dash, and when I reached out and used a lot of pressure to push the camera platform forward from the bottom the camera grew stable. Right in front of you is never a good place for a camera, of course, but there is no traffic out here, and it was just an experiment --- one that led to the answer once I saw the camera platform sway back and forth on the stem of the mount, an exagerated version of the problem I'd been having.

I knew I had the solution now, and so I reconfigured the mount and put it back on the windshield under the rear view mirror. I got back on the smooth paved road leading out of the mountains and back towards El Paso and tried applying pressure with my hand to the bottom of the camera platform. It's 8 miles to the mailboxes we use, so I set the cruise at 30, then 35, then 40. The more pressure the better, if what I was seeing in the viewfinder was any indication. I was really testing the grip of the suction pad pushing so hard, but it held perfectly and didn't even require pumping but once in the 40 minutes I was out.

For the 8 miles on way back I applied reverse pressure, pulling the platform towards me. I set the cruise control at 45, and when I got home, sure enough, I had the smooth picture I'd been striving for all this time. I made a DVD of the just the ride to the mail box and back and have watched it over and over again. It's just a real thrill to be able to enjoy the sight on the mountains in the background as the jeep travels along this two lane road. I was even rewarded with a break in the clouds and got those rich pre-sundown browns and greens.

I'm not exactly sure how to achieve the same thing using paracord or straps, but rest assured that will get worked out. Actually, the end caps of the bar that the Daystar trays are attached to would probably be the anchors for the cords. They are plenty strong enough to deal with the pressure I was using with my hand. The reason the camera safety strap wasn't doing enough was that it was the platform the camera sits on that needed stabilizing.

It's all clear as a bell now. I'm sure with the tires aired down to 14 psi or so as you say the trail videos will also become acceptable. I'll be sure and post a link to the first really quality video I'm able to make after working out the stabilization stragety.

IMFletch

cool, glad you were able to sort this out.

tulsarob

Here's a cheap idea that works purty good, although after seein the suction thingy, think I'll look into that.

All of these vids are using the bean bag trick when I'm driving.
http://www.youtube.com/results?searc...rch_type=&aq=f

I'm usin a Canon fs200. It's laying on a bean bag I made from an old leather purse of my aunt's, filled with small dry beans about the size of bb's, forget the name of them. Look in the pasta section at the food store.

Rice works good too. Use a zip lock bag to hold the beans, then cover it with leather, old jeans pant leg sewed like a bag, or whatever. Mine is about 8 inches wide x 10 inches long x 2 inches thick (not braggin though)

The idea is to make it heavy so it don't move but formable like a sand bag. They sell bean bags for cameras but cheaper to make one. The bag asorbs a lot of vibrations and keeps it positioned. (Mine is bout 2 pounds)

You could even use sand but if you spring a leak....uncooked beans/rice is prob a better idea.

The camera is zoomed out max. The fs200 has stablization but when you zoom it's a little shaky.

The bean bag trick works purty good. When I followed Terminator into the trails of fear, it mostly stayed where I put it. Couple of times I had to re-point it forward.

They sell a little rubber matt thingy that would lay just right on the dash that would help even more. Saw one at O'Rileys, sposed to keep yer sunglasses, phone, etc from slidin around, think I'm gonna get one, bout 3 bucks.

If you make the bean bag big and heavy enough, it mostly stays put. Leather covering (or something non-slick) works the best.

Oh ya, tip of the day, clean yer windshield often lol

tulsarob

Decided to make a window mount today. Used the aluminum glass handler suction mount from Harbor freight, bout 7 bucks, a little alum angle and alum flat, screwed together.

The weather today wasn't too great, camera didn't focus as well as I wanted in places, not enough light I assume. It does great on a sunny day.

But the mount worked well I think. When I slowed down it performed better, which is how I intend to use it, for trail vids and such.

Easy to attach, take off, adjust. Don't think it will come off the window untill you want it to.

test vid..usin a canon fs 200
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EcZMB0vZcI


pics

castor07jk

I went with a cheap Tri Pod quick release foot and mounted it to the dash.

SmurfJK

Neat thread!