kite video cam

Hey,
I am keen to find out if anyone has tried attatching ATC 2K cam to their kite for some arial views?
Did you mount on your kite or to your kite lines???
I got some great video today with dolphines cruising along with me,keen to learn how others are filming from above and how you mount to your lines ect
cheers.
any info greatly appreciated

When will we see the dolphins?

Hey folks, yeah the camrig with the W30 is definitely the go -- works a charm. You could build your own but for $50 you wouldn't be bothered. I've only had a chance to use it twice (no wind in Sydney lately...) but on both ocassions it worked great.

I know some people have had some issues with the W30 but mine's been brilliant, and as far as I know, there is nothing else available that's comparable.

There are a couple of things you need to know about it:

1. It fits on most kites but not all. The camrig.com site has a list of compatible kites. The key issue is that the centre strut on the kite can't be attached to the canopy between the leading edge and the first seam on the strut otherwise you can't get the mounting strap around the strut. Notably, it won't work on SS Fuel for example but works fine on the new REVs.

2. Only use the Pentax Optio W30. The Olympus waterproof cameras can be used on some systems (not the camrig) but the Olympic will only shoot video and not stills.

3. I've got nothing but good things to say about my W30, but some people have have problems with them leaking water and dying. The key thing is to inspect the rubber seals EVERY time you use it. Even a single grain of sand could cause it to leak and then it's gone for good.

4. Also, if you crash the kite in the water for some reason the focus mechanism jams on minimum focus and the only way to reset it is to remove the battery and start it over again. This happens even if you have it set on manual infinity focus.

5. Aiming it properly is a little tricky but once you get it right the first time it's easy to duplicate it on successive runs.

6. I'm not sure if you can still buy the W30 in Australia. I couldn't find one. I bought mine off Amazon for US$244 a couple months ago. Great value.

7. Make sure you get a 4G memory card, otherwise you'll be wondering about all the shots you missed when the memory runs out and you're still kiting. BTW, Windows XP has a flaw in it and most 4G or larger cards won't read on all-in-one readers, however, if you plug the card into an external USB reader and then put that into a USB port it will read. Took me a week to work that out. You can find some really cheap 4G memory cards on eBay these days for around $25 or less

8. Buy a spare battery off eBay. Nothing worse than running out of battery when you want to shoot another session.

9. It will also shoot video but unless you have a special plug-in that runs only on Final Cut Pro it's difficult to get it to look right when you view it, otherwise it's rotating every time you move the kite and will make you ill trying to watch it. Be warned.

That's about all I can think of right now. Email me if you have any questions. I'm building a single line 2m Rokkaku kite that I plan to use to loft the camera for some aerial shots next time. If that works, should turn up some nice shot on the next outing. Will post these on the site in the next week or so if it works.

You can find the gallery of the last shots I took last month on the web page. Scroll down a bit on the main page to find the link to the photos on my Picasa page.

Cheers,

Rob

kitesurfing.com.au/