| A quick update after a few runs with the SL Trakker mount:
Setting up the mount is reasonably straight forward. You need to be careful not
to lose the rubber covers over the threaded ends of the u-bolt. As you open the
bolt to fit over the top of the pylon, the covers can come off.
The trakker pans more smoothly that what I was able to do by hand, and with the
right elevation the skier can be centered mid frame filling about half the
height. This is as close as I've been able to capture and still keep the skier
in the frame on both turns. So its hard to tell if the skier is gritting
his(her) teath hard enough. The anti-vibratrion plate has produced a couple of
problems.
First, with the plate, they provide a longer mounting screw to go thru the plate
and into the mount on the bottom of the camera. However, there is no extension
on the alignment pin that prevents the camera from turning on the screw. I spent
a couple frustrating runs unable to center the skier, to find out later the
camera had swiveled on the screw and was no longer parallel to the
anti-vibration plate. A 1 1/4" #8, up thru the plate provided an extended
alignment pin.
Secondly, the mounting block on the bottom of my camera is raised a little,
meaning it becomes the only point of support. The anti-vibration plate that
extends the length of the camera provides some lateral support at both ends.
I'm guessing some foam rubber between the camera and ends of the plate will
offer better support. I also think a shock tube will reduce some of the
vibration further.
One source of disappointment- the camera follows the handle and not the skier
during falls. If you want to capture that $10,000 prize on America's Funniest
Videos, hold the camera by hand!
All in all, I'm reasonably pleased with the mount, less so with what I capture
on tape :*( Hope its not too late to teach this old dog some new tricks to
improve the technique.
dave
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