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[tourerjim]

Wildlife of any kind are very cautious when anything comes within a certain distance, even R/C ducks. Maybe a motorised and camouflaged "log" or other natural looking piece of flotsam would be better than a normal model boat.  Start with a slab of blue foam and do a floating island with clumps of rushes and so on.  A very quiet drive train would help but "drifting" is  most likely to get closer. The power unit could be ....wait for it , a Springer or a hull like Tomsby`s with no superstructure but the natural looking rushes on your "island" or "clump weed".    I like brainstorming like this

your idea I already had in mind & have now ordered this http://www.howesmodels.co.uk/RadioControl/viewProduct.php?ProdID=8486 which is very stable & can easily be camouflaged & your idea of blue foam would be ideal for extra buoyancy on the sides.

A Geico 17 or one of its larger siblings might make a decent camera platform. I must admit that I have been toying with the idea of putting a camera on my Blackjack...


Steve

[tourerjim]

You couldn't get much closer than this just a quicky vid.   http://youtu.be/4qk_mTjyOuU

[Arrow5]

Hilarious sequence isnt it.  Maybe the bears thought it was food. The Beeb used all sorts of  remote controlled devices in their African epic including dung balls and "rocks" .    Our local wildlife park has a pair of Polar bears that just love workmen`s hardhats as playthings diving in their pond to bring one up to pounce on them just like the ones shown in that clip.   Staff have large sack of donated hats to replace the broken ones.

[tourerjim]

Hilarious sequence isnt it.  Maybe the bears thought it was food. The Beeb used all sorts of  remote controlled devices in their African epic including dung balls and "rocks" .    Our local wildlife park has a pair of Polar bears that just love workmen`s hardhats as playthings diving in their pond to bring one up to pounce on them just like the ones shown in that clip.   Staff have large sack of donated hats to replace the broken ones.

Yeah remember watching the whole series, brilliantly done

[Arrow5]

What is your underwater subject Jim ?

[tourerjim]

What is your underwater subject Jim ?

At our local pond i've been studying the various birds & there behavior & want to capture there feeding below the water so i need to capture there heads going into the water then fit the camera under the boat to capture there feed, then video edit so it looks as if same bird has gone for the feed.
I've already manage to get some birds to feed out of my hands & most resent is with my hand raised up with food the seagulls swoop in for the picking & once they get more used to me I will also video them..

[Arrow5]

Interesting, is the water clear enough ?   Light could be another problem.  The biscuit box idea has some merit if you can bait the area and light it , a sort of underwater studio.

[Tombsy]

I'm not sure how close to shore you want to film the birds underwater but maybe the pole idea would work with the camera mounted on the end, I have seen it used for filming little electric jet boats in a creek and when it's all edited together it looks good.
Also if you haven't seen it there is a GoPro mount fitted to a headband on ebay that would be great for feeding the birds.

[tourerjim]

Interesting, is the water clear enough ?   Light could be another problem.  The biscuit box idea has some merit if you can bait the area and light it , a sort of underwater studio.

the pond is fed from a stream so water is always crystal clear

[Arrow5]

That  is nice, where are you ?   Good idea to have your location (approx) in your avatar.

[tourerjim]

I'm not sure how close to shore you want to film the birds underwater but maybe the pole idea would work with the camera mounted on the end, I have seen it used for filming little electric jet boats in a creek and when it's all edited together it looks good.
Also if you haven't seen it there is a GoPro mount fitted to a headband on ebay that would be great for feeding the birds.

I need to get the same effect as the birds head enters the water & do another capture under water as the bird feeds, although it may well be a different bird but with editing the video it should look as if its the same bird that feeds, I did try it on a pole but the depth of water is to shallow at the edge. 

[Big Ada]

Whats a Gopro camera cost and where is the best place to buy one ?.
 
Len.

[tourerjim]

Whats a Gopro camera cost and where is the best place to buy one ?.
 
Len.

Costco were doing the gopro HD Hero for £155,

[Tombsy]

I was thinking about the GoPro mounts, if you had a flat smooth narrow plate attached to the front of what ever boat you decide to use and you use the suction cup mount you could just slide it up and down. From out of the water to under the water or anywhere in between.
The suction mounts are extremely strong they use them on race cars and airplanes but maybe still put a lanyard on it. 


There is also this build where a fellow is putting an underwater FPV (live video) camera system in a Springer tug.
But you might have to join the forum to see it.
http://forums.offshoreelectrics.com/showthread.php?38609-Rescue-boat-build-springer-pusher-with-underwater-fpv-and-recovery/page1

[tourerjim]

I was thinking about the GoPro mounts, if you had a flat smooth narrow plate attached to the front of what ever boat you decide to use and you use the suction cup mount you could just slide it up and down. From out of the water to under the water or anywhere in between.
The suction mounts are extremely strong they use them on race cars and airplanes but maybe still put a lanyard on it. 


There is also this build where a fellow is putting an underwater FPV (live video) camera system in a Springer tug.
But you might have to join the forum to see it.
http://forums.offshoreelectrics.com/showthread.php?38609-Rescue-boat-build-springer-pusher-with-underwater-fpv-and-recovery/page1

Ive opted for the Geico boat ideal size & very stable with camera ether mounted top or on the bottom, still got some work to do on it but ill upload pics nearer the time.

[ModmanMax]

I have one of the long arm servos for sailing. You coud mount your GoPro on the end of that and put it in and out of the water while filming. Pan tilt could work this way too.

[tourerjim]

I have one of the long arm servos for sailing. You coud mount your GoPro on the end of that and put it in and out of the water while filming. Pan tilt could work this way too.

Have you got a link to one of these servo arms.???

[malcolmfrary]

Have you got a link to one of these servo arms.???

The usual way of getting a long arm is to make one from the chosen preferred material, aluminium, plastic, ply, etc, and bolt it to the existing short one.

[Arrow5]

A very strong/large/expensive servo might be needed if the camera is to be fitted at the end of a servo arm.  I`d think of an alternative way of lowering the camera, say chain driven on a slide ?

[Big Ada]

A very strong/large/expensive servo might be needed if the camera is to be fitted at the end of a servo arm.  I`d think of an alternative way of lowering the camera, say chain driven on a slide ?

You could counterbalance it with weights?.

[tourerjim]

The problem with this idea is if camera is forward facing & you then use ie servo arm as camera swings under the boat its then reversed.

[malcolmfrary]

The problem with this idea is if camera is forward facing & you then use ie servo arm as camera swings under the boat its then reversed.

Can't quite see the logic in that.  You get about 90° with a servo.  Rigidly mounted, the camera will face 45° up at the top of its travel, 45° down at the bottom.  If allowed to pivot on the arm, counterbalanced or not, it should remain vertical. 
Arrow5's winch and slider on a track is probably the top idea so far.  An end stop on the track, of course.

[Arrow5]

A swivel on the mount would simple to turn the camera but I still think an "up and down" sliding action would be better. Tilting the camera would be easy to arrange, pan by turning the boat.  We haven`t heard from the originator of this thread on his ideas. TourerJim  has chosen the boat so what do you think Jim ?

[tourerjim]

A swivel on the mount would simple to turn the camera but I still think an "up and down" sliding action would be better. Tilting the camera would be easy to arrange, pan by turning the boat.  We haven`t heard from the originator of this thread on his ideas. TourerJim  has chosen the boat so what do you think Jim ?

your idea sounds good but will increases the weight.??? i haven't made allowances for the extra weight on the boat i got but i now have two mounts with double sided adhesive pads that will do the job just means me swapping the camera from topside when to bottom by means of a thumb screw.[size=78%] [/size]

[Arrow5]

Thanks Jim. Any pictures ?  Agree weight could be a problem.  What about drag when the camera is submerged, might be handy to raise it to move the boat ?