Video Camera Mount

I have an 01 Super Air with the FCT and want to get a video camera mount. Who makes a good one and has anyone tried to make one on their own?

I tried one last summer, it was a "tracker" or something like that. I am glad that I was able to borrow one before I spent the cash, as I really didn't like the results.

My observation was that the camera mount assured that the camera was always facing the wrong direction!

The bow rises a little when pulling versus idling, so the angle has to be adjusted while underway. Different speeds = different angles, crew position effects the angle, so it may need to be adjusted on every run.

It is rather hard to adjust the camera, as it is up on the tower. Fortunately, I had a small LCD monitor that I could place down on the dash and observe the results, as it would be impossible to see the viewfinder and the on camera screen can not be seen through the bimini top.

The most frustrating part was the "lag" in side to side position. The idea is that the camera mount is turned by the rope. It does, but not immediately. For slow turns it worked fine. On all the really great tricks, however, the rapid cut the rider made left the camera filming just behind the rider, rather than right on. Not too bad if you are filming wide angle, but if you want full body shots it won't point correctly.

Another annoyance is snaps in the tow rope. If the rider is smooth, no problem. If the rider just landed a 360 and jerked the line a little bit, then the camera tends to jerk too.

Bottom line is that the observer is likely to do a much better job.

Rod McInnis

I agree with Rod on the issues he brought up, but it is easy and convienent if you don't have someone willing to video all the time. I don't adjust mine all the time, just not zoomed in as far and I don't worry about not seeing the rider at the very start and the boat is taking off. If you want to make a fancy video with all the flash, then it is not the best choice, but if you just want to observe more for learning and have a hands free option, then it may work for you. You can always just un-clip the camera it and do it manually with just a flick of a lever. It is also nice to have it over everyones heads so people aren't getting in front of when filming. With it mounted high, the air you get, doesn't look as high as if you were videoing from a lower point.

I modified the trakker to clamp down on my flat middle tube near the rope pylon.

Good luck with your decision.

Thanks for all the info. I wa going to try to build one, but now it seems that another person holding the camera is the way to go.