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Super Cheap Alternative to Railing

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Jeremiah Kuehne

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How unreasonable would it be to get creative with some duct tape and make your own camera railing? It doesn't seem too hard to me. Any thoughts on this? I know that getting the full production pack would be optimal, obviously, but how crazy would it be to just make a duct tape sling or some velcro to use for a handheld setup? Just curious.
 
Doug Beatty said:
Very unreasonable- you don't want your 10K investment held together with 10c worth of duct tape. Try to find someone here on the forums that is selling used goods and don't cheap out on the accessories.
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It's just that I saw an episode of Mythbusters where they held up an entire car with duct tape. I figure about 10-20lbs of equipment could easily be held with a creative duct tape setup. Flexible, light, and durable. Doesn't seem all that unreasonable.
 
Doug Beatty said:
Well, when your camera overheats because the vents are stuffed with duct tape, come back to the forums and look for alternatives. I'm actually curious to see what you come up with though. Post pictures!
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Not sure when I'll be getting the camera yet but probably not any time terrible soon unfortunately. :( How easily would the camera overheat? And I wasn't intending on actually sticking anything to the camera..it would be more like a cradle made of duct tape. OR perhaps just use some strongly fibered cloth?
 
Jeremiah Kuehne said:
How easily would the camera overheat? And I wasn't intending on actually sticking anything to the camera..it would be more like a cradle made of duct tape. OR perhaps just use some strongly fibered cloth?
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Try it and tell us. Also, were you planning on screwing your duct tape cradle into the camera? How would you attach it other than levitation, holmes?
 
Doug Beatty said:
Try it and tell us. Also, were you planning on screwing your duct tape cradle into the camera? How would you attach it other than levitation, holmes?
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Lol I haven't got the details worked out. Just was wondering if anyone else has thought of this besides me. There are a couple of spots to hook onto on the Scarlet as far as I can see..I think that the small camera size would allow for more possibilities for handheld shooting.
 
It is all based on what you are going to do with your camera.
Some home made esperiments became companies after few years, and we have many examples on this forum.
On the other hand I am not sure what you having in mind... if you are planning to build industry standard gear I'm sure you'll find a lot of customers in this very website.
For fun I worked on a Arri compatible dovetail few years ago, a fun project.
Alluminum is a good material to start with, and if you have the right tools or friends with tools you can definitelly make yourself a base plate, or a 15mm rods mount.
 
Jeremiah Kuehne said:
How unreasonable would it be to get creative with some duct tape and make your own camera railing? It doesn't seem too hard to me. Any thoughts on this? I know that getting the full production pack would be optimal, obviously, but how crazy would it be to just make a duct tape sling or some velcro to use for a handheld setup? Just curious.
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This is amongst the dumbest things I've heard after the Scarlet announcment.

You really want to support $10000 of camera with a couple bucks of duct tape ... and potentially ruin your camera.

If you are truly living on the dirt cheap ... you can mount the camera directly to many tripods. If you use autofocus Canon lenses, you'll be able to focus the camera properly and everything else - save the duct tape.

If you want or need to use manual focus lenses life is a bit more complicated.

You can get a set of rails for about $100, and a complete system for tripod mounting for just a few hundred.

It wouldn't be as cool, or as configurable/adjustable as the Red gear ... but it would work fine and secure your investment.

Check out Red Rock and Cinevate.

If you can't come up with a few hundred bucks to secure the camera... please just save your money. Don't buy the camera until you can also afford proper support. You need a solid tripod and head, plus any support brackets.
 
Guys, be easy. :-)

Jeremiah indicated he's not getting a camera right now, he was just curious. It may sound silly, knowing what we know about how it would work in practice, but I suspect there will be a lot of DIYers joining the forum because Scarlet will be at the ceiling of what they can afford and accessories will be tough for some to go all out on. So people will think of various ways to do things, some of which will work, and some definitely won't. I applaud anyone who searches for ways to do things that are more affordable for them and allows them to build their own gadgetry for their cameras.

But I do think this one will be difficult to implement Jeremiah. There are other ways to do support your camera in a DIY manner, so have at it. As long as you don't break any cameras, there's no harm in trying.
 
Steve Sherrick said:
Guys, be easy. :-)

Jeremiah indicated he's not getting a camera right now, he was just curious. It may sound silly, knowing what we know about how it would work in practice, but I suspect there will be a lot of DIYers joining the forum because Scarlet will be at the ceiling of what they can afford and accessories will be tough for some to go all out on. So people will think of various ways to do things, some of which will work, and some definitely won't. I applaud anyone who searches for ways to do things that are more affordable for them and allows them to build their own gadgetry for their cameras.

But I do think this one will be difficult to implement Jeremiah. There are other ways to do it though, so have at it. As long as you don't break any cameras, there's no harm in trying.
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Ha ha!

I don't think you can get a sainthood for your demeanor on RedUser!

To be perfectly sanguine ... its a very very bad idea. Inredibad. Like "you win the FailBlog" bad.

I can see some situations where I might add some duct tape as an additional measure of security ... but I can't see one situation where I'd use duct tape as my primary means of securing the camera - even on a 7D, much less on a Scarlet.

Wait ... is this the guy who invented using rubber bands to turn any cellphone into a "headset" ?
 
This idea may be bad, but his next one may not. I am giving him the benefit of the doubt. :-)
 
Steve Sherrick said:
This idea may be bad, but his next one may not. I am giving him the benefit of the doubt. :-)
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And if the next idea is good, I'll laud it appropriately.

You want a good idea Jeremiah? You can make some very basic mount plates if you have access to basic machining tools.

They'll cost a LOT less than the very nice mount plates Red is selling. I'd advise looking at what other manufacturers of camera grip/support gear are doing at lower prices.

The existence of this desperate idea indicates to me that there will be a market for very cheap camera grip solutions - ones that can compromise on flexibility and finish to some extent in order to get the job done on a budget.

It could be a big business opportunity. Just make sure that you give it a bit more thought.

Safe
Secure
Simple
Inexpensive

In that order.
 
Steve Sherrick said:
Guys, be easy. :-)

Jeremiah indicated he's not getting a camera right now, he was just curious. It may sound silly, knowing what we know about how it would work in practice, but I suspect there will be a lot of DIYers joining the forum because Scarlet will be at the ceiling of what they can afford and accessories will be tough for some to go all out on. So people will think of various ways to do things, some of which will work, and some definitely won't. I applaud anyone who searches for ways to do things that are more affordable for them and allows them to build their own gadgetry for their cameras.

But I do think this one will be difficult to implement Jeremiah. There are other ways to do support your camera in a DIY manner, so have at it. As long as you don't break any cameras, there's no harm in trying.
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Very well-said, Steve. I am sure that some good ideas will come from the DIYers in the end. Some ideas that many people here who could afford more expensive options will elect to go with themselves because they are not just inexpensive alternatives, but also the best choice.
 
wow... just wow. Definitely subscribing to this thread... this is one of the most ridiculous things I've ever read.
 
I would be cautious about using duct tape due to the potential of the glue heating and then melting and then getting all over the place. Even if it doesn't damage the camera, it would cause a lot of sticky annoyance. Plus there's the issue of having a level surface for the camera, which is difficult without proper machining equipment and probably impossible when dealing with the amorphous thicknesses of duct tape. I think a good way to approach things is to start by finding a friend that has a wood-working shop (or even better a machine shop), and then talk over your ideas with him and see if he can assist in the construction.
 
Thanks to those with the friendlier comments..I understand it's totally ridiculous to think of spending tens of thousands for a camera and then spending a couple bucks on securing it. Just was wondering what some of the best DIY ideas are for railing components.
 
I personally don't find it that ridiculous, as I was at one time unemployed and found myself owning a camera without having enough money left over to purchase accessories. Sometimes those situations crop up, and it's better to be inventive and thrifty then to let your major investment sit idle for lack of some part. The trick is that you should never build questionable home-made stuff, it should always be as strong as anything needed in the field. Otherwise, you really haven't built a part you've only built a gamble.
Jeremiah Kuehne said:
..I understand it's totally ridiculous to think of spending tens of thousands for a camera and then spending a couple bucks on securing it.
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just please, spend the extra $10 and use roll of Gaffer. I cant imagine the residue duct tape would leave on the Scarlet. :D
 
Sounds like you want to make some inexpensive rails. Check McMaster Carr http://www.mcmaster.com/# and http://www.mcmaster.com/#order-history/=etkxk0, the heavy wall aluminum tube 3/4" od is 19.05 mm, so it works in 19mm rod holders that often come up on ebay. Add some 19mm handles and you are good to go. If there were a cheaper and reliable way I would let you know as I'm the ultimate cheap guy. I try to build as much accessory stuff as I can. Apprentice at a machine shop, sweep the floors or do whatever it takes to learn how to build this stuff because you will need to know this in the future, it is just part of cinematography.
 
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