Car Mount

[Gian Joon]

I was wondering if Filmtools Medium Weight Camera Suction Cup Mount Starter Kit for Cars would be any good for REDONE. It comes with following:
10" x 7-1/2" cheese plate, six full-sized Matthews Grip heads, and 6" Suction Cups with 3/8-16 spuds

I do not know how good suction cups will be. Filmtools website says this mount is good for 50 pounds.

http://www.filmtools.com/filmedweigca1.html

Thanks in advance.

[Dominic Cochran]

Should work fine, but the thing with suction cup mounts is to pretend you aren't using one and ratchet strap the hell out of it also, especially if you're close to 50 pounds with that particular mount.

[zak forrest]

I own a similar kit from Filmtools and use it with my Red One. It's great. The ball leveling head is nice to frame shots quickly, however I've found that the camera wobbles a tiny bit and if you have the time, it's better if you mount the camera directly to the cheese plate instead of the ball leveling head, so that the entire bottom of the camera is flush against a surface so there is nowhere in the front or back for it to wobble. I've used the same car kit with various video cameras, and they did not wobble on the ball leveling head, the Red's a bit heavier so it wobbles.

[Carlo Rho]

Here the european way.
The vendor rate it up to 80Kg (176 lb), may be is too much but for sure enough for a REDone with MB, motors & battery.
Great tool.

[Mark Phelan]

The Filmtools mount actually states it is rated at 210 pounds but to be safe, they derate it to 50 pounds when used on a vertical surface. I prefer the suction pads of the filmtools having the red line to tell you visually when things are getting ready to become exciting.

[Mitch Gross]

Abel has the Panther Multi-mount for sale & rent. It is a 3-suction cup system and works great for this. Very adjustable and strong.

Mitch

[Osler Go]

Hey Joon, we purchased the base kit from Filmtools and have been very pleased with it so far. And believe me, we used it extensively, including mounting it on the hood of a car for interior shots coming down a steep and curving mountain road and also when chasing another car, one that was drifting (but not on the drifting car itself).

The kit is really simple and allows you to build on it in the future. Each suction cup is supposed to be weighted for 70 lbs but as mentioned above, should be halved when mounted vertically. These are industrial strength suction cups.

Some things to keep in mind though:

Clean the surface of the car you are mounting it to and keep the suction cups clean as well.

Always check and lock down all arms, cups, etc between every take. Bring allen key wrenches to tighten everything. Secure the mount and camera with straps/bungie cords.

Give yourself some time for setup. The mount is not the fastest to setup and secure, especially if you use the cheeseplate as the base. A small camera angle change can take several minutes. Shooting Taxi Driver type shots of the car for example can take a while as you unmount, remount, unsecure, secure etc.

Before a car mount shoot, might want to check that your insurance policy is still effective and solid.

And test! Before mounting your camera we mounted close to 25 lbs of bottled water in a bag, which we strapped to the car mount. We then drove around town and tried our best to test the limits of the mount, braking hard, making bad turns, etc. We had a good time and received quite a bit of strange looks from passerby - "What in the world is that?"

Anyway, we were satisfied with the mount and have enjoyed using it without problem so far. I will see if we can post our drifting footage soon.

[zak forrest]

Hey Joon, we purchased the base kit from Filmtools and have been very pleased with it so far. And believe me, we used it extensively, including mounting it on the hood of a car for interior shots coming down a steep and curving mountain road and also when chasing another car, one that was drifting (but not on the drifting car itself).

The kit is really simple and allows you to build on it in the future. Each suction cup is supposed to be weighted for 70 lbs but as mentioned above, should be halved when mounted vertically. These are industrial strength suction cups.

Some things to keep in mind though:

Clean the surface of the car you are mounting it to and keep the suction cups clean as well.

Always check and lock down all arms, cups, etc between every take. Bring allen key wrenches to tighten everything. Secure the mount and camera with straps/bungie cords.

Give yourself some time for setup. The mount is not the fastest to setup and secure, especially if you use the cheeseplate as the base. A small camera angle change can take several minutes. Shooting Taxi Driver type shots of the car for example can take a while as you unmount, remount, unsecure, secure etc.

Before a car mount shoot, might want to check that your insurance policy is still effective and solid.

And test! Before mounting your camera we mounted close to 25 lbs of bottled water in a bag, which we strapped to the car mount. We then drove around town and tried our best to test the limits of the mount, braking hard, making bad turns, etc. We had a good time and received quite a bit of strange looks from passerby - "What in the world is that?"

Anyway, we were satisfied with the mount and have enjoyed using it without problem so far. I will see if we can post our drifting footage soon.

Hey Osler, did you ever have any problems with the mount, or did it ever become unsecured during your test or during your actual shoot? Have you had any problems with the suction cups? My kit is working just fine, but sometimes the red line appears and there seems to be nothing I can do to make it stay hidden inside the suction cup. Even though the red line appears ,the suction cup is strong as hell and I can't get it to come loose no matter what. I'm wondering if my one suction cup's part that shows the red line is broken, showing that it is not a good seal even though it is actually a great seal...

[Osler Go]

Hey Zak, actually I did notice that on ours too, or at least for one of the suction cups. The red indicator line will appear but the mount is solidly fixed. I am not sure if it is a problem since we have had no issues whatsoever and the mount has never come off despite some rough driving and weight.

For peace of mind though, sometimes we lift the suction cup, wipe the surface again, then reattach. But so far even with the red indicator showing, we have had no problems.*

Say, I read that you have the ball leveling head. Would you recommend it or go for something more high-end? It would be great to change the angle/shot easier without having to redo the entire mount.

* For those reading, what Zak is referring to is how the suction cups are attached to the car/surface. Once placed flat on the surface, there is a push button pump which removes air from the cup. You stop pumping once a red marker line disappears. This red indicator line tells you the suction cup is secure. Sometimes the line reappears after some time, presumably when the suction is losing its grip, although it does not feel like it is loose.

[Charles Perkins]

Abel has the Panther Multi-mount for sale & rent. It is a 3-suction cup system and works great for this. Very adjustable and strong.

Mitch

Is there anything you don't have for sale?