anybody tried a compact camera on a pole?

[fish80]

Hello,

I used the gopro for some time and I loved the ability to get really close to the subject offered by mounting it on pole. I could get the gopro really close to a morey eel for example, but I would not do that with a camera I hold in my hands. Or I could just get those important 2/3 ft closer to skittish subjects such as sharks and such.

Now I am upgrating to a compact camera for stills and video. How to gain that extra 2/3 feet assuming you are shooting with ambient light? Is anybody ever mounted a compact camera on a pole? For video i don't see any problem, for pictures maybe in a timelapse mode?

Any experience?

Thanks!

 

[northernone]

Yes it can be done. I have done it and seen others as well.

I am not a fan of camera on a stick style filming, but yes a compact works the same as a go pro underwater.

 

[fish80]

Yes it can be done. I have done it and seen others as well.
I am not a fan of camera on a stick style filming

thanks, can you share your experience? Pro vs cons?

 

[DazedAndConfuzed]

I used it a few times with my Panny ZS3 P&S. The advantage is that the lens is only moderately wide (and zoomable), so you don't have to stick it to the subject's face to get a good closeup. I just used it for videos a few times when my still camera setup was only capable of super low res video.

I have also used it on my RX100 w/dome lens for some selfies. All I can say is that it is heavy, and I spend 5 min disconnecting it from my strobed setup to the stick, then 5 more min back to my normal setup.

For still photos, I still use strobed setup, so no reason to use a selfie stick, and strobes and dome lens on a stick would probably still frighten the fish.