DIY Low level Telephoto "trolley"

[Feg]

Somebody asked to see the rig I use for my waterbird pics that are taken just above water level so here it is.
The plate is aluminium which is attached to the tripod mount with two 1/4 inch bolts.The axle is a threaded rod (threaded along its entire length).The wheels are hardware shop bought and of a decent width with rubber tyres.The axle is attached to the plate with U bolts and the wheels are fitted with nuts onto the threaded rod.I made this out of stuff in the shed and am very pleased with how it works.I support the camera with elbows on the ground and the wheels allow you to move it along while grovelling along the ground(a bit like a seal really).The wheels also let you pan from side to side to a degree but its best used with fairly stationary subjects(if you could call a bird that).I have also used a small tabletop Manfrotto tripod with ball head to support the camera to give added stability for long exposure stuff etc.It is a bit of a fiddle though but worth the effort.A word of caution!!!.You will get a sore neck and covered in duck poo but thats bird photography for you.Cheers and hope this gives someone some ideas.Geoff.

[Art Vandelay]

The simplest things are often the best. Good stuff.

Imagaine if it had a fancy name branded tag on it ?, it'd worth $500 :)

[Shelley]

Excellent, going to show my husband - he can make me anything :) Just showed him - very clever Geoff and I think kel is going to make me one. Duck poo - that is nothing new for me.

[old dog]

nice rig ...needs shockies I reckon :D. Love the duck shot BTW.

[Cage]

Throw in an electric motor, remote control, wireless tethering and you could do it from the comfort of your deck chair.

[Feg]

Throw in an electric motor, remote control, wireless tethering and you could do it from the comfort of your deck chair.Oh.And a new AF lens.

[Cage]

Oh yeah, the new mega-buck AF lens to complete the picture.

Actually I was thinking about this after my flippant post, and mused over the possibility of mounting gear on a remote control car.

[mongo]

MOngo likes the set up Feg.

This may be disturbing to a nikon user but it looks like a canon :D

[Art Vandelay]

Actually I was thinking about this after my flippant post, and mused over the possibility of mounting gear on a remote control car.

One thing I llike more than wildlife documentaries are the 'behind the scenes' shows about what they get up too. All sorts of stuff like remote control cars or boats made up to look like other wildlife, remote control helicopters, balloons. That's besides the elaborate hides, tree houses, flying foxes etc. Real boys stuff.

If I had my time again. That would be a career choice.

[Lance B]

Looks great, Feg.

Another idea would be to add a pivot point with a lever and lockable cam so that you could raise or lower the lens mount point. This would allow you to raise the lens up or down, depending on the cam size, which would mean that you don't always need to have it so close to the ground and would allow for more freedom in composition.

[Cage]

I think you should call the prototype 'Trevor'. ;)

[ving]

500 bucks! i'll take a dozen! :p

very inventive. :)

[Cage]

One thing I llike more than wildlife documentaries are the 'behind the scenes' shows about what they get up too. All sorts of stuff like remote control cars or boats made up to look like other wildlife, remote control helicopters, balloons. That's besides the elaborate hides, tree houses, flying foxes etc. Real boys stuff.

If I had my time again. That would be a career choice.

I think the stand-out was 'Dung Cam'.

[Feg]

Looks great, Feg.

Another idea would be to add a pivot point with a lever and lockable cam so that you could raise or lower the lens mount point. This would allow you to raise the lens up or down, depending on the cam size, which would mean that you don't always need to have it so close to the ground and would allow for more freedom in composition.Isnt that called a tripod.

[Shelley]

Kelvin has made me one Geoff - will try it out soon and let you know if it is as effective as yours. Just so clever.