Self filming

[Bigshooter19]

Hey have been in and out of trying to do some self filming and was wondering what people would recommend for camera/camera arm. I have shot enough big deer now that i want to start getting it on film. Any other info would be greatly appreciated Thanks!

 

[gwm]

I recommend the Fourth Arrow camera arm. It's lighter than the Muddy Outfitter and the base and shoulder system is significantly better than the Muddy. The base on the Muddy arms is a pain in the ass. I can also put this all into a normal sized backpack.

Fourth Arrow also sells four bases for $100 so you can have multiple set-ups in place for a reasonable cost. Muddy was selling one base for $80.

 

[gwm]

 

[gwm]

 

[1quick70]

While I haven't actually used the Fourth Arrow Arm, I want one! My Muddy does the job but it is bulky to pack in and out. For a camera I'd look into a Canon G20 or G30 depending on your budget.


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[gwm]

I hated the Muddy because of how bulky it was. In order to carry everything within a backpack you had to get a huge pack and that looked like you were giving a piggyback to a small child. I didn't want a big pack so I ended up strapping the base to the outside and carried either the camera or arm. It was such a pain that after a while I would only take the camera certain times.

The small base and shoulder on the Fourth Arrow help tremendously in that regard. I can get everything including the camera in a normal pack.

 

[gwm]

Here are a few more pics with the arm, camera, base and shoulder in my pack. This happens to be a Fieldline Pro Series pack I got on sale at Cabelas for $20. It's 1,700 cubic inches.

Arm and base:

 

[gwm]

Camera which is a Canon HF G10:

 

[gwm]

And the small shoulder. I promise it's down in there.

 

[MoBuckChaser]

I love your set up GWM. How sturdy/steady is the arm when it is mounted?

 

[gwm]

You can find some deals on a used Muddy arm, along with others, but if you're looking to buy new I recommend the Fourth Arrow.

If you want a cheaper arm I would look at the Hawk Hunt Hard arm. I haven't used it but heard some good things about it.

 

[gwm]

I love your set up GWM. How sturdy/steady is the arm when it is mounted?

I've only played around with it in my backyard but it certainly seems as steady as the Muddy I was using. The base gets strapped to the tree with a ratchet strap and the shoulder sits down in the base. You finger tighten the shoulder and then use the lever to really tighten it down.

My camera, mic, etc is less than five pounds so I don't have much weight on there to get any "bounce" effect.

 

[gwm]

Here's a close up of the shoulder. The black part rotates so you can level it on any tree, no matter how crooked it might be. You can see the lever sticking up and you hand tighten that and then use the lever to really tighten it down. The pic also gives you an idea of size. You could put this in your cargo pocket on your pants if you wanted.

 

[Steve Bartylla]

I'm afraid I don't have a worthy suggestion on an arm at this time. In the early years, I filmed every hunt, most myself. I then stopped for a long stretch before agreeing to film a few for D&DH TV, which I self film. So, I have a bunch of junk camera arms from back then and have had a handful of others given to me over the years to try out. I'm too cheap to buy new when I have these others and they work. So I haven't tried any of the newer ones.

If you want a good prosumer cam, Cannon's VIXA G30 (think they have a G40 out now) is pretty tough to beat in my book. I film all my stuff with two of them, including the D&DH TV footage. It has a decent sized view screen, very good auto settings, solid color, decent zoom and good low light, all helpful for self filming. It's bigger than the smaller cams, but not so big that it won't fit fine in a pack. The catch is that they ding a person in a couple thousand and the couple hundred dollar cams work fine enough for most that want to film hunts for fun.

P.S. That Fourth Arrow setup looks pretty darn nice.

 

[shawnv]

I've really found the versatility of the http://www.lightningcameraarms.com/ to be great for self-filmers and is at a better price point for having the third joint in the arm which is almost a must have.