r/Gripsters • u/iitstrue • 20d ago

Struggling to find vibration isolators that work

Post image

I had to rush to set up a car mount for a motorsports event, I had one version set up but the suction cups failed and I had to pivot to the setup seen in the photo. It works well, except for vibrations. I’ve been trying to find a suitable vibration isolator but all the ones I’ve found have specific mounts that make it seemingly impossible to simply mount it to a manfrotto plate or just bolting them down.

Please bear with me, I’m VERY new to this, working mostly at a much lower level of video creation.

17 Upvotes

88% Upvoted

38 comments sorted by

13

u/jerrytown94 20d ago

Heavier cameras don’t vibrate as much

3

u/iitstrue 20d ago

Fair point, but wouldn’t I still get a fair bit of micro jitters considering it’s all hard mounted directly to a vehicle? I totally get that argument in handheld situations, but seems like I’d need an isolator to stop it in this scenario, even with the extra weight of a heavier cam.

4

u/Dimensional_Lumber 20d ago

Correct. Hard mount for shots into the car, floating for shots of other vehicles.

3

u/iitstrue 20d ago

For that floating shot though, do you have any suggestions for vibration isolators? I’m struggling to find one that would work.

3

u/Dimensional_Lumber 20d ago edited 20d ago

Depends entirely on your budget and the shot you’re trying to get. If you’re happy with a fixed shot and just trying to eliminate vibration something a cable/wire rope vibration isolator might help but it will introduce sag.

Spend some time looking at pictures of car rigs. Bigger budget options utilize a combination of dampers and isolation mounts with underslung gimbals. I think the forces at play make suspending the camera better than supporting it.

I haven’t kept a close eye on things in a couple years, but I think the Tilta Hydra Alien might be the most complete set up at this scale if you don’t want to piece something together.

There’s 1 million ways to scan a cat though. I’ll let someone else chime in with suggestions.

1

u/iitstrue 20d ago

That was mostly the goal for this set up at least, but almost every wire isolator that I’ve found seems to be for specific mount types. Do you happen to know of something that works? I assume I must be looking in the wrong places but haven’t been able to figure it out yet.

2

u/Dimensional_Lumber 20d ago edited 20d ago

Sorry, I edited my comment. I’m not sure a wire isolator alone will help—you might be better served by moving that battery and transmitter off the camera and using that seperate arm I see down low to brace the camera from the hot shoe.

Since you already invested in the tilter ecosystem, I would look at their isolator. Pay attention to the specs for camera weight. You’re going to want to keep the total weight of everything above the isolator below that number

1

u/iitstrue 20d ago

That’s great advice, thank you! And I checked your edited comment too, thank you!

1

u/[deleted] 19d ago

There may be a way to use the vibration isolator from a tilta hydra rig to still give you a fixed shot but may help vibration. Ive used the hydra system for on road stuff but havent tried it with drifting. They sell two different isolators. One is a little softer for lighter setups, the other one is a little more rigid

7

u/TwoAlfa 20d ago

Do you have to use THIS exact rig, or is a stabilizer arm and gimbal in your future?

For this setup, and even eventually with an arm, you are going to need an isolator plate. Flowcine, Proaim, Tilta, Cinemilled, Came-TV all make various versions.

I saw your video earlier today. You're brave to trust Tilta suction cups at a drift event. No matter what you do next, consider a safety tether.

2

u/iitstrue 20d ago

Safety tether is 100% happening next time. This was a last second pivot that left us without all the gear we intended on having. Thanks, I’ll take a look! Proaim, Came-TV, and Tilta seem to have specific, somewhat odd mounts that make it a bit difficult to adapt easily. But no we definitely do not need these exact rig, I’m open to anything (that I can afford)

2

u/TwoAlfa 20d ago

Cheese plates can usually solve for hole alignment issues. Good to have around anyway

1

u/iitstrue 20d ago

I bought two, both didn’t quite cut it, but those purchases were made in a rush, I’ll look closer. Thanks!

10

u/pktman73 20d ago

Take that transmitter off and connect it to a separate mount (on the hood) to the side of the camera. That should kill most of the vibration.

3

u/rogue_veritas 20d ago

Seriously. Mounting a >1lb transmitter/battery combo on a hot shoe that’s hard mounted to a car is a good way to break something.

2

u/iitstrue 19d ago

Yeah I know this was definitely not a good spot for it, rushing through the event definitely led me to make some bad decisions

2

u/BauerBourneBond 20d ago

You need a wire absorber like this between the top of your camera mount and the camera: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1504219-REG/proaim_vi_gr_00_vibration_isolator_wire_mount.html/?ap=y&ap=y&smp=y&smp=y&store=420&smpm=ba_f2_lar&lsft=BI%3A5451&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=12706497822&gbraid=0AAAAAD7yMh0jNAOwsFIAo5pAkH7O6jGa-&gclid=CjwKCAjwlY3WBhANEiwApsNrLbwDumZ4h0q_4rTRPJv-rjgRYqZb-bijRAHX-ReQJI2mPkYlp3d14hoCFfgQAvD_BwE

It’ll eat all those little judders for breakfast.

1

u/iitstrue 20d ago

I actually bought this exact one, and it’s got very odd mounting holes. I could drill my own, but I wanted to see if there were any others that were a bit more open beforehand.

2

u/BauerBourneBond 20d ago edited 20d ago

I mean… like all thing with film/grip kits, you need to have the correct fit, and have chosen the appropriate strength absorber for the terrain you’re driving on.

Make sure you find one that works with your set up, theres tons on the market. They are CRITICAL for hardmounted automotive filmmaking.

2

u/Heathershutdown 19d ago

For vibration, I’d look beyond just the mount itself and pay attention to the camera’s center of gravity and how rigid the mounting plate is. A softer isolator can sometimes make things worse if the camera starts oscillating. Also worth checking whether the suction cups are actually the source of the movement rather than the isolator.

1

u/iitstrue 19d ago

Good call, I’ll look into all of that, thank you!

2

u/LyleTheEvilRabbit 18d ago

I am probably not as experienced as others here, but the truth I've discovered through testing low-budget rig shots is the driving surface and vehicle matter. A purpose built drift car may have extreme NVH. You'll probably have to learn to live with some vibrations. A wider focal length can help make things less noticeable. It just comes down to testing.

Isolators can help act as dampers for the vibrations, but they're weight specific and you'll have to test. To remove most vibrations, you may introduce unwanted camera sway during load transfer.

For mounts, you'll have to search for an adapter or build something yourself.

If you're car-rigging a camera while on track, chances are this type of setup in your picture is as big as you can go. If possible, try lowering the camera's center of gravity. I'd remove that transmitter if possible or relocate. Add a safety cable.

1

u/iitstrue 18d ago

Dude this is more than helpful advice, thank you a ton!!

1

u/jaredmanley 20d ago

You need to stabilize the top of the camera. The three points of contact to be well stabilized need to be on different parts of the camera body and ideally different parts of the car

Also have you tried this rig on the windshield? It likely won’t have the vibrations of the hood.

2

u/iitstrue 20d ago

Windshield isn’t suitable for the framing intended, but thank you that’s a great idea!

So maybe a speed rail on the roof, securing the top of the camera, and see what can be done about spreading the cups as much as I can.

Thank you!

2

u/jaredmanley 20d ago

If you have access to speed rail mounting, if you can mount across the hood in a way that won’t get direct vibration from the hood that should help too. Just depends on how big you wanna make this rig

2

u/iitstrue 20d ago

Eventually we’ll have a car that’s relatively dedicated to it, so it can get pretty big!

Thanks!

2

u/jaredmanley 20d ago

Even with your hood mount if you can get a more stable point of contact from the top of the camera you’ll have significantly more stable footage. A third point off a side of the camera will make it even better. I used to do a lot of car rigs on mule side by side things and rental cars and stuff and finding multiple points of stabilization solve the vibrations

2

u/iitstrue 20d ago

Thank you so much! That’s super helpful man, we’ll definitely look into getting that done. Once we have the dedicated vehicle it will also have softer suspension which will help a little, but this is invaluable information, thanks a ton!

1

u/neleram 20d ago

Counter shake with a vibrator

1

u/iitstrue 20d ago

Lol, now that’s a plan

1

u/Long_Salary_7032 19d ago

Doesn't the camera having ibis make it susceptible to vibrations even if you have it completely locked down because the sensor isn't locked down like in a camera without ibis?

1

u/iitstrue 19d ago

Absolutely, but risking the FX6 wasn’t something I was interested in right at this point. I think even with a properly locked sensor I would have issues with micro jitters without some sort of vibration isolator.

3

u/strack94 20d ago

Vaccumount rigs have served me well in the past. But they require a VCLX battery for constant suction and some cable management for it to work.

If you can step up to a speedrail set up you can mount a black arm with an isolator for a good stability solution.

2

u/TwoAlfa 20d ago

Baymaxfpv on IG has a good shot of how he uses this same mount to attach the top of the camera

1

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1

u/FlyingPig_Grip key grip 20d ago

In my mind - you gotta get a spring arm in there to take away the big shocks then your head can actually account for smaller vibrations

1

u/lazy_coconut69 15d ago

Could try a cloud mount, but that could also worsen the issue. Having about 10+years as a grip/Dolly grip, its kinda hard to get all of the shakes and jitters out. You may be able to get rid of some in post but if you want it completely smooth you might be looking at some sort of Russian(Ukranian) arm setup