Tube filming

My friends and I want to buy a tube, just for filming of course, but don't want to spend alot of cash. What is the cheapest/smallest type of tube that works well for filming. Are those one person ones with the hole in the center that are like 50 bucks good or are they too unstable? What's better a whole in the middle or just a flat surface?

Save yourself the $50 and borrow the "largest" tube you can.

You can film from a single person tube work, but I personally prefer the larger tubes that you can kneel on. This allows you to use your legs to absorb some of the bounce.

Also, filming in butter condition will make your tube ride/filming that much better.

If filming at a spot that will require you to turn around frequently you might consider the following as well:
1) Communicate with the rider beforehand to make sure they center up on the turnaround so you can hold onto the mainline. This will keep you on the inside of the wake.

2) Make sure the driver understands that they will need to slow *waay* down when turning around or driving through an on coming wake..


Other than that.. Get ready for the best seat in the house, have fun, and don't forget to keep your port free from water drops (it will mess up your focus)!

I'll second that idea. The bigger and flatter the better. Also inflate them to capacity! So it's hard. No donut style tubes, they suck.

Great perspectives from actual wake industry photogrpahers.

From my limited experience:
Bigger is better, more stable and more room to adjust for shots
Even though it is fun to do on a tube turns are a pain in the arse. Like Kung Fu said, slow down and you will have to adjust your weight to stay in the middle, if you dont do this, getting back sucks, a lot.

Lastly, try to keep your ropes organized. When I was on the tube and the rider fell I would try to hold on to his/her rope ASAP. this way it wasnt getting wrapped over the mainline of the tube (also pain in the arse to redo).

You wont believe how big your buddies go when they jump a foot from your face! Its awesome.

Also, some other great and easy ways to get that type of angle are ride alongs. If you have the water proof camera try it, takes a little practice for aiming and all, but also gets you some really great angles.

Good luck

Thanks for the info, I think i'll actually be borowing a big flat tube for tomorow, lets see how it comes out, I'll post the video up here when it's done

i got a big flat tube last year, one without a whole in the middle. They have a lot of surface area, and are good for kneeling down on. Also, you can get an old handle and tie it to the front so you have something to hold on to if you want to stand up, get on the back of the tube, etc.

Manny,

I also recommend using a big, flat tube so that you have some space to move around on and can either kneel or sit (or even lay down and have the rider jump right over you).

But I would suggest against blowing it up all the way. If it's blown up all the way it's going to feel the bumps and ripples of the water that much more. Deflate it just a little bit from full, that way it will absorb some of the shocks and make shooting that much easier.