In car photography

[stigmundfreud]

I've always wanted to do some in car photography whilst moving. I am a particular fan of the long exposure whilst going down the motorway - dash in focus lights all wiggly jiggly.

Now I could just do this with a remote cord and tripod but fear it wouldnt be particularly stable enough should I brake or accelerate harder than a snails pace.

What do people use to get a really firm inside set up?

[GetCarter]

"all wiggly jiggly"

Now THAT'S the kinda' talk I like to see in here. Less F stop... more wiggle & jiggle.

Several in here do said stuff and will I'm sure, respond in time.

[poah]

I would drive slowly + long exposure

never tried motorway speeds

[stigmundfreud]

wiggly jiggly is a technical phrase

I could try driving at 1mph but I dont want to

I'd like to figure out ways of haveing the camera fixed in the car in different locations too but for now the cheapest secure way is what I'm after...

[matthew_h]

What camera are you using Mr Freud?

There are a few options for mounting but they depend on how heavy your camera and lens are.

[stigmundfreud]

i have a 5d and a 350d

[JimNotJon]

If you did a long exposure at a slower speed, surley it would give the impression you was going faster, providing you didn't get you speedometer in view.

[matthew_h]

In that case, I reckon the best bet is a decent sized suction mount. Have a look at the Hague site:

http://www.b-hague.co.uk/camera%20supports%20syste...

I've got an SM4 and it works well. Think Poah uses something similar too. The SM1 will hold the camera but is a bit less stable.

Other than that, you could make something that would fit to the headrest uprights or similar but they are less versatile than a suction mount.

[nick_bbb]

This was a tripod set up in the back of a VW Samba, traveling at speed up the M1. 30 second exposure....

[cw42]

another vote here for the b-hague suction mount. I've used it for lots of stuff outside/inside the car. Video camera mounting for most of the films on this site:
http://www.scoobysmacs.co.uk/video.asp
and then used with a cable release and my 300d with battery grip to get lots of shots like this:



and this:


It's a great bit of kit and I've never had any trouble with it, highly recommended

[stigmundfreud]

thats the stuff, I'll be using the 350d on external shots - I aint no fool!

Brilliant, its not for anything ohter than my own personal hobby as I do studio

fantastic stuff lads cheers

[stigmundfreud]

I remember a thread a while back where someone had those suction mounts but on long poles so you could really get elevated views

The sm4 has 2 suction mounts, is it easy to add a 3rd or extra long poles to get more elevation?

When driving is there any advice regarding something to protect the camera lens or are the screw in uv filters usually adequate? Cheers again all

Those scooby pics, what kit was used?

[cw42]

You're up late!

I used a Canon 300d with kit 18-55mm lens, extended shutter extension, b-hauge m1 camera mount. Speed through the tunnels was around 35-40mph max. No need to go too fast.

I've got a uv filter on the lens for protection, but I've never had any problems in all the filming/photos I've done so far.

As for extending the view, I've yet to try anything too far away from the car, but I'd be dubious about passerby and other road users, and whether it might fall off!

[stigmundfreud]

I did find the excellent thread from le gravy noire here: http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/xforums/topic.asp?h=0...

His rig seems to use speeds of about 5mph over a longish exposure using 3 suction cups, a load of superclamps, tripod and a lot of patients

for cheapness I might give it a whirl with my really cheap jessops 220 tripod

[cw42]

ah yes, I tried hunting for that last night, but didn't have time at work. Let me know how you get on, I'd be interested to see it in practice