iphone mount for tower

[st68]

My brother has a brand new iPhone 4GS and his video is crystal clear! My 4G is about 2 years old and my video sucks! All has to do with how clean your lense is in my opinion.
I agree your video isn't the best, but I don't blame "Apple" for that. I blame your care of the camera lense, same as myself.

Here's a vid from yesterday of Jake knee surfing on a boogie board. He had lots of fun and was smiling bigtime most of the ride but its tough to see the face. We used the new Gopro HD2 and its alot easier to use than prior model but we just got the cam and sorting it out. Sue used a 5 foot extender pole but was not out all the way so Jake could have been closer. Also the camera angle shoots alot of sky which might be improved by aiming lower. We had a real bad lens fogging problem early in the day and used anti-fog juice (dive mask stuff) and that worked great. As the boat turns around we get sun behind him which leaves his face in shadow then flips around and thats a tricky thing when driving because as the driver I'm not thinking about lighting angle cuz i'm busy driving and coaching. the bad thing about gopros are no zoom lens and no viewfinder so u can't see what's shot real time plus super wide angle but that can be adjusted and will try that. gopros don't work well on things more than 20-25 feet way because of their design so that tube ride would be a flyspeck. The HD2 supports the wifi backpac to allow remote control and remote streaming but they have BADLY delayed shipping (those scums). There is a LCD backpac for viewing but holding off. Also gonna mount the gopro on suction cup on back of boat and want to try a 12-15 foot pole above and off the side of the rider this summer. This week plan to try the Canon T2 for vid but thats whole nother deal to play with although Sue has lots more time on the Canon from baseball. hope this helps.

That actually helps a lot. Jake does look like he is having a lot of fun and it would be nice to see his face! That is what was such a bummer yesterday... Suzette got up on two trainer skis first time and was so proud of herself (as was her Daddy) and I am so bummed that I cannot see that in the video. She encountered her first wake bumps and her face was priceless through the whole ordeal. I think the challenge will be to find something that can be mounted and to capture clear facial expressions whether that be tubing, surfing or whatever.

[st68]

So I finally have a video from my iphone 4s from the back camera... I think it looks much better. This was shot from being held in the hand versus the mount but the quality difference is much better I think. What do you think? This is my 2 year old (3 in August) on the ski trainer for the first time!!

[Nobody]

So I finally have a video from my iphone 4s from the back camera... I think it looks much better. This was shot from being held in the hand versus the mount but the quality difference is much better I think. What do you think? This is my 2 year old (3 in August) on the ski trainer for the first time!!

Do you really want to know what I think?

In time you will come to the same conclusion that iPhone (and Droids) and just expensive toys, Apple just reinvented the phone, and still pictures and video truly require a lens with zoom. But there's a bigger problem, those precious moments cannot be replaced, your stuck with iQuality for ever and ever, with no amen. Don't let Apple steal those precious memories from you, fight back and go to Best Buy tomorrow and pick up an iReality before it's too late. Remember, it iReality starts with a 200mm zoom, 250mm is better, and 300mm is heaven.

Aside from my endless preaching, it's always a joy to see mom and dad spend quality time with their kids, especially behind a ski boat.

Thanks for sharing.

[st68]

Do you really want to know what I think?

In time you will come to the same conclusion that iPhone (and Droids) and just expensive toys, Apple just reinvented the phone, and still pictures and video truly require a lens with zoom. But there's a bigger problem, those precious moments cannot be replaced, your stuck with iQuality for ever and ever, with no amen. Don't let Apple steal those precious memories from you, fight back and go to Best Buy tomorrow and pick up an iReality before it's too late. Remember, it iReality starts with a 200mm zoom, 250mm is better, and 300mm is heaven.

Aside from my endless preaching, it's always a joy to see mom and dad spend quality time with their kids, especially behind a ski boat.

Thanks for sharing.

This is why I am posting... I want to capture those precious memories and am looking for help with finding a good solution for video. I don't think the iphone is the end all be all. I do think it is easy and convenient to use and the picture is pretty decent, however if there is a specific alternative that would be better (yet still easy and convenient to use with a better video) then that is what I am looking for. Zoom in HD that could easily be used on the fly (meaning I can easily and safely zoom in and out while driving the boat) would be the ideal situation... any suggestions are welcomed.

[Nobody]

That's a tuff one, because I'm assuming your the only adult on the boat.

High end video requires a high end computer and software to edit and render.

720 is all that's needed IMO, but finding something to mount with a zoom feature....don't know.

I typically have someone else drive the boat while I'm on the transom shooting video/pictures, but your peeps are too young and a lot of times the ladies/wife simply won't drive in fear of the husbands wrath should they do something wrong.

Still working on my editing project, it's quite lengthy. Work and other things (boat maintenance repair) seen to take higher priority.

[Nobody]

Hey, look at this!

Canon ZR-1000 Zoom Remote Control for all Canon Camcorders

http://www.amazon.com/Canon-ZR-1000-.../dp/B00006IZCY

Just remember, H.264 compression (aka AVCHD) is a pain, and these camera's (unlike iPhoney) put out big files.

[Nobody]

This is all you'll need.

Canon HF M52. 32gig internal, image stabilization, and records to SD. And of course a camera mount of some sort.

Does H.264 (AVCHD) or MPEG-4...nice!

Adobe Premiere Pro CS6 image stabilizer (called warp stabilizer) is absolutely incredible though when compared to camcorder internal stabilization. Adobe can take just about all bouncing, back and forth, and jitters out of any video. The rendering typically takes about 5 to 10 minutes but WOW, it works.

http://shop.usa.canon.com/webapp/wcs...0051_301527_-1

[Nobody]

Here we go, this will do the trick.

Use this mount, attach it to the window above the throttle control, get the remote control attachment, a small remote monitor, and your taking video's like a pro.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...ty_Window.html

It would be SWEEEEET to have a custom bracket attached the ski pylon, then mount this Vanguard mount to it......you'll have the best video position.

[Nobody]

Extension cable for remote control.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...e_Control.html

A must!!

[Nobody]

ST698....how am I doing so far with spending your money???

[Nobody]

ya know what ST68.....if you can mount your new Canon video camera to the ski pylon like I mentioned above, you could have one of your peeps operate the camera (with remote control of course) for you while you drive. The wee ones would have a blast, feel important, and make you proud.

[st68]

ST698....how am I doing so far with spending your money???

You are doing a great job!! I do like the suggestions though. It is a matter of how big do you want to go??!! Thanks.

[shawndoggy]

as nobody suggests, he's also bought you a new computer in the process. Editing avchd takes some serious processor horsepower. You're going to want AT LEAST an i5 processor. I like final cut pro a lot more than the adobe stuff, because it's simpler to use, but I know that a lot of people get 'er done on adobe, so it's probably just a personal problem.

I've got the 2008 version of that canon camera. It shoots pretty good video.

I've also got a panasonic lumix fz35 (old model, the new one is the fz47). It looks like a more traditional camera, but shoots better video than my canon, AND it takes much better stills. About $300 from your favorite online retailer.



A few examples of pics and video from the panny:







For a camera mount, you could also look at the wakejak, or something like this from Ram Mounts around the pylon http://pointofviewcameras.com/ram-mo...mount-kit.html (I know, I know, this one says 2"... I'm just too lazy to find the bigger mount, but all it is is a big hose clamp).

[Nobody]

Nice suggestions Shawndoggy. Your absolutely correct about processor horsepower, we use an i7 with 32 gigs of ram and a solid state C drive. The good thing about Adobe is their Mercury playback engine provides perfect video rendering on a $300 video card.

[st68]

This is helping me... I just ordered the RAM mount adapter for $8 that will fit the mount I bought for my iphone and I can attach my existing camcorder to it... I will shoot video and will share once I am done. This might work well, we shall see. Thank you.