Pan Tilt & no zoom GoPro

[TomHoward]

Good afternoon all

What with everyone expanding overnight into the world of live streaming, I was wondering if anyone had ever successfully mounted a GoPro on one of these-

 

I've played with them years ago with an old Milford Instruments DMX-Servo board, when we used them to move some things on cue, and it occurred to me that they might be possible to mount on a clamp with a GoPro to allow some pan/tilt (though obviously no zoom).

I don't know if they would be stable when in place, or if there'd be too much jitter?

 

I'm not particularly worried about moving them live, more to move between fixed pre-programmed positions. It could be via Artnet or an ESP32 or similar.

[timsabre]

I have played around with these ... it can work but there are 2 potential problems - jitter when stationary as you said, this depends on how good the servos are and what you drive them with. Arduino needs to use a hardware/timer PWM output as you can't do a software PWM accurately enough. Also positional accuracy can be poor with some servos but if the camera is very wide angle as GoPros are, you might not notice that. They can be quite noisy when moving as well, if you are using an arduino or something you can fix this by limiting the movement speed.

[Dave m]

https://www.haguecamerasupports.com/aerial-masts-powerheads/hague-ph-pan-tilt-camera-powerhead

I have used these for years. I have run 100ft+ extension leads for the remote- although it does require manual operation.Jesops used to sell them cheaper than Hague and they are available all over the world so quite possibly available at low cost

[dbuckley]

I have one of these!!! Not used it much, mine was purchased from B&H and called a Bescor MP-1E. I concur it's rather a useful and low cost tool. Mine arrived with a fault, the power supply socket had a fault from the factory, but I wasn't about to send it back to the USA, so some rather brutal surgery resulted in the battery compartment being destroyed and a new power jack being fitted, so the warranty was well and truly voided on that item.

[GaryNattrass]

These are pretty good value on e-bay :

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/YT-260-Motorized-Pan-Tilt-Tripod-Head-with-Remote-Control-for-Camera-Phone/324085912307?_trkparms=ispr%3D1&hash=item4b750692f3:g:mVsAAOSwF7xeV5wh&enc=AQAFAAACgBaobrjLl8XobRIiIML1V4Imu%2Fn%2BzU5L90Z278x5ickk5v8gVt3hEWLVg%2F253w6XCYbNiwUlmsyAjIfy9kALB10gsX%2F8RtDbbo0Yi0V3Hxsk7DbYqgo0mCBJxaMu4GyG0hb%2BKXB0GbsJ8mVtl73QXOx0%2BZOBGIQYDC9HWnIS%2B9TlFvIkrPhi4Dg9k5TYLSz1QXiY%2Bl0mseSwPe0avzHGdlfkIU6eGbQNQwHvU1cpj7XeVWPF96MA7KM%2Ffls03aquK6YwI12Uv3PAvyAuPArBre%2F%2FL36qWiLqCrP1Ww2JharALYgJJVVNLzyOOWZeGqgcD24qMYLfwGP8v6z3aOTIqhonKRxbIvob4XY8C9VDLfOMsMdo6v8XfZsVQym5kkozM%2Fx7eQgeKvh6ma%2Fx7g0zcUP2QbNrgAum2RIVnyLmUdYJdiMmAKOV15ztFhqCup1Yf2ukGXJJwse2sEPYHAgUaJPHxUalDzU3rLwxgjVNag0VlKc8pame07YefqN%2BzC%2BcEtJX1vp9SmbGORaphhCzbVHcs80bh7CYDM1u11v3lvwu74SJsrxuDkT%2Fu7N8J95NtiEYIeN9IhcKK2NdBA8Veor6YtEiIGKTvXUT%2FMZq1EfupDceWMKGg%2FzEPHcYaR7MtBghan7OPZZ1vYlQ%2FBagkfSwxWwWoqHd2szWkglmsRg3yyIMVctMSz1OZlSJcImH4N71p%2F%2BkrMvR9002Zmpidc7zLYwSKc9yWc20E6x0UiYn5By4FVdLKeqguoD3OFIESLwhHtw%2F2p4dBxSuC3GOf0tOACfT9SwieWRpKw1jRLvO9krpR%2FimQ8frREdGniFVB%2B7VlEINJBZkf2XH6bp66tk%3D&checksum=324085912307dc147a5a93dc4914b972673e459b9995

Edited September 29, 2020 by GaryNattrass