Wire management.
Background:
I have been flying a Canon M series mirrorless cameras as my principal kite aerial photography (KAP) gear since 2014. At last count, I had a little over 100 KAP sessions with rigs carrying the Canon M and M3 cameras (sound of Benton knocking on wood). I really like working with the smaller Canon M-series cameras. They are tough. The larger APS-C sensor is relatively smooth and the higher ISO settings are more useable.
During this strange pandemic year, I have found myself grounded for months at a time when my Special Use Permits for photography over the wetlands have been put on hold. I have used this downtime for various KAP-related projects: documented old KAP sessions, creating a cartographic index for my Salt Pond work, and building a new radio transmitter. I also set about creating a new HoVer KAP cradle for the Canon M6 Mk Ii camera. The M6 has been my primary “on the ground” camera for a bit over a year now so the novelty has worn off and it seemed fitting that I should send it airborne.
The cradle is now finished and I have had it up for a couple of sessions at my Berkeley Waterfront proving grounds.
This cradle is the 14th I have built since starting with KAP in 1994. All of its predecessors were built principally of wood components fitting to carbon-fiber-reinforced arrow shaft rails. This time around, I decided to make the components using Autodesk Fusion 360 for design and my Prusa Mk3s 3d printer for production using PLA filament. The end weights were:
Cradle empty ………………………………….…. 1 lb., 1-1/8 oz. (486 g)
Picavet and kite line attachments…………..….… 3-1/2 oz. (99 g)
Camera body with 11-22mm lens………….. 1 lb., 6-3/8 oz (636 g)
So, my all-up weight with the 11-22 mm lens is 2 lb. 11 oz. (1.22 Kg). This is about 65% of the weight of my previous Canon DSLR rig but a bit heavier than my previous M-series cradles.
More views of the rig are available in this set:
www.flickr.com/photos/kap_cris/sets/ 72157718763061467/
This rig uses a radio transmitter to rotate and tilt the camera. The radio can also switch the camera between portrait and landscape format (HoVer) as well as fire the shutter. For a description of the transmitter see:
arch.ced.berkeley.edu/kap/wind/?p=35
I am activating the EOS M shutter using a radio-controlled switch to trigger the wired remote jack in the camera.
