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Presenting the humble mic, this sits happily on top of the camera:
However, the mic picks up loads of camcorder noise. A suspension was in order, but what to make it out of... After having surveyed some materials, rubber bands, foam etc, none of them worked. Then I cut my ruler lengthways in half and using the inches side (Who uses inches these days!), obtained a plastic strip. This was cut and bent into a U shape with the help of a lava lamp lamp (About 25W). A screw hole was drilled so the mic could be attached, then a small rubber band was used to place a foam suspension in the middle of the U so the mic won't bounce too much. Hey presto, a mic suspension and it cost next to nothing! I still had a working 30cm ruler at the end as well:
Here's a close-up:
But that wasn't all. Now the mic problem was solved, I thought "I need a steady cam for the camera for smooth movement without having to shell out £100s for a dolly/boom/pro steady cam." Where to start...First, I had to find a screw which fitted the bottom of the cam. That didn't work. If I did find one, I would need a pole to attach it to. Since I can't weld, there was only one other option. Look in the garage. Lo and behold I found a pole with a screw thread on it, which exactly matched the cameras! Only glitch was the screw was too long and would damage the camera, so I chopped some AOL CDs and a piece of white plastic, drilled a hole through them and the screw was short enough, and the camera had plate to take some of the force. I knew those AOL CDs would come in handy, although they were tough to drill through nevertheless. With the top part sorted, I had to find a mass to hang off the bottom. I tried flowerpots with gravel, but that didn't work. Then I found an old fly-wheel in a reel-reel tape machine which weighed just right. Attaching it to the pole was tough, since I can't weld, but a spare TV aerial clamp came in handy along with part of a 486 heat sink to make the mass stick to the pole nice and securely! After tightening up the bolts, this is what it looked like:
And here it is with the camera stuck on top:
Much better don't you think? Now I just have to test it in the field with Andrews movie, Bankrupt!