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14 February 2020
My fiancee and I often video high altitude balloon launches for Arizona Near Space Research (ANSR). One of our tasks is to record the balloon as it reaches maximum altitude and bursts at around 100,000 feet. That is possible because the balloon continues to expand as it rises making it visible for the entire trip up. Unfortunately, our tripod will only tilt up about 45 degrees. Since getting this kind of footage via hand-held is very difficult, if not impossible (though we did it once), we needed to come up with something that would allow us to point the camera straight up and keep it steady.
Another view showing the back side. In the beginning, this design was a solid triangle. My fiancee suggested removing some of the material in the middle to reduce the cost & weight.
A view from underneath. To make this design work, it was necessary to make sure the mounting plate design and dimensions conformed as close as possible to the mounting plate that came with the tripod. There was a lot of measuring and remeasuring. I didn't want a part showing up at my door that didn't fit!
This is a view of the original design in SOLIDWORKS. The downward sloping side is where the camera slides in from the top with the original mounting plate. The slot tapers in gradually to create a snug fit. I wanted to keep the design as simple as possible and without any moving parts. This design uses gravity to keep the camera in place.
This is the mount as it showed up from 3D Hubs printed in black ABS plastic. When it got here, it was clear that I had still over-engineered it. It was heavy and it was immediately clear I didn't need nearly as much material as I thought to hold the camera in place. Also there were some problems in the printing that required some work to make it fit on the tripod. Photographing something that black makes for interesting challenges. The main one being getting enough detail in the picture.
Here is another shot showing the mounting plate. It's hard to see from the picture, but several of the layers were slightly offset making the mounting plate surface not completely flat. Getting it to slide in and out of the tripod head meant doing some filing and grinding with a Dremel tool.
A more direct shot of the mounting plate. It's easy to see all the filing and grinding to make the surfaces closer to straight. This process involved a lot of grinding/filing, testing for fit and, grinding/filing again. Over engineering it probably contributed to the problems in printing it. Nonetheless, I'm happy with how it turned out.
The mounting adapter in use. Shown is our Canon XL-405. The camera points up at around 55 degrees with the tripod head level.
Another view. Near the bottom, one can see how the mounting plate portion of the adapter fits into the tripod head.
A view from the camera monitor side with the monitor shroud in place. Since we would be using the camera outdoors, having shade for the monitor to clearly see the balloon is essential.
Backside view of the new design
This is the new improved design with less plastic and more rounded edges. If we needed another made, this is what we would send in to print. We would also have it printed with PLA. We've discovered that PLA works well and lasts long for many things as long as it's not left outside in the elements.
Underside view showing the mounting plate. I didn't make any changes to the mounting plate portion.
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