(post in english because of the frequent Xacti visitors)
So after my underwater experiments I decided to build a helmetcam case for the Sanyo Xacti VPC CA9 HD.
This is what I need for a helmetcam:
– need to be able to de)attach quickly you don’t use it all day
– review movies: you don’t want to come home with footage of sky/snow for a whole day. Possible with the Xacti
– Wide angle: otherwise you miss to much. I bought a wide angle converter that magnetically attaches to a stick-on metal ring
– rotating: I have a habit of tucking my head in when I go faster: so if the camera would stay horizontal that would be perfect
So this is what I came up with: navigate to the gallery below to see the building process
I actually did a test run with it..in dreadful conditions: mines 4 celsius on top of the mountain, snow changing in rain. Conclusion: works fine, but needed to minimize the shaking in the hinge (a small plate of alu in there) .
Problem: after that the camera stopped working. It was under guarantee and the Sanyo people repaired it in 10 days time. The flex cable between screen and camera was kaput. Camera works fine now, but because I needed another cam to go on my board trip, I gat a GoPro Hero HD version tot test out. Results of that one where amazing!
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DIY all day! Dont buy crap, make it yourself!
Hello, how do you fix the wide-angle converter to the Sanyo Cam an what typ do you use.
thanks, Jörg Haupt
I bought a wide angle lens on E-bay. Don’t remember the brand actually. You glue a metal ring with double sided tape on the camera. The lens has a magnetic side that snaps on the ring.
Hello, i’ve got exactly the same camcorder (exept red) and I was also thinking of making a case for it for extreme sports. I would also like to find a wide angle, so could you give me the reference of this one. Do you need to zoom in or does it perfectly fit?
I saw that you talked of a steadicam construction for it… I made it! For the moment it is a bit experimental, and quiet hard to find the good balance. I found inspiration on Youtube, and some guys made some things very amazing.
The problem of this mount is that you do not control very well the camera, but it does give really smooth shots.
Please tell me more about the wide angle, i’ll give you unformations about the steadicam copied from the merlin model at 800 bucks.
Hi, there… Thx for the comment.
I bought a lens with a magnetic ring fro this eBay reseller: http://photography.shop.ebay.com/Lenses-/3323/i.html?_armrs=1&_mdo=Cameras-Photo&_mspp=&_pcats=78997%2C625
Just measure the lens diameter (I can’t remember it) of your Xacti and choose from his collection.
FANTASTIC!
This is from the great Youtube video from the pool of Brigerbad that I discovered your blog …
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sSdrHsnkXU&hd=1)
So you are also a “xacti-fan like me!?!
Congratulations for your incredible working to make your helmet for the CA9!
I look forward to discover the videos you’ve shot with !
Because we have thie XACTI passion in common, will you allow me to put a link on my pages special XACTI ?
My special pages for models CA65 CA9 HD700 and the brand new full-HD 2010 can be found here:
All models:
http://www.anjoyplanet.com/video/sample.html
Special Page CG100 Full-HD:
http://www.anjoyplanet.com/video/cg100.html
Special Page CA65 WATERPROOF:
http://www.anjoyplanet.com/video/SANYO_XACTI_CA65.html
Special page CONVERSION & EXPORT IN HD:
http://www.anjoyplanet.com/video/export_HD.html
welcome ;-)))
anjoyplanet
Foto’s zijn verdwenen? Net nu we ook zoiets wilden bouwen!
“Hi, there… Thx for the comment.
I bought a lens with a magnetic ring fro this eBay reseller: http://photography.shop.ebay.com/Lenses-/3323/i.html?_armrs=1&_mdo=Cameras-Photo&_mspp=&_pcats=78997%2C625
Just measure the lens diameter (I can’t remember it) of your Xacti and choose from his collection.”
Hi, I tried to build a steadycam like stabiliser, but it is howevr hard to keep the camera stable while skiing fast. I therefore bought a monopod, with addet weights to lower the gravitiy center. Not tried yet.
For the wide angle adapter, how am I intended to measure the diameter? with a rule? it is square shaped, so i really don’t know how to do. Do you still have the reference of the magnetic wide angle that you bought?
The only thing i Know about the objective is that in has an aperture of 3,5 to 4,7 and a focal lenth from 6.3 to 31.7
thanks for helping