As a keen tinkerer myself, I built my own. The most important feature is to get the camera as close to the bottom as possible without shooting down. I found the best way to do that is to build the tripod around the camera instead of under it.
I destroyed a cheap sony VCT-R640 tripod (just use the legs) so that the legs are adjustable in length, and then attach it however you can depending on the housing. I used the same principle (and Sony tripod) for a smaller version for my Navigator 900 housing too. For the bigger housings (like the one i use now), the ability to adjust the angle of the back leg is very important from a practical point of view.
Interesting quadpod Josh....I know what you mean about getting the videocam on the bottom. I am always trying to mash my battery pack into the sand which makes for a good tripod yet I can still pan it a bit and follow a subject.
Ok, we have had a chance to check out both Joby tripods as shown in the opening post.
Frankly, both sizes work. The smaller one in the original article is all plastic, and is lighter for travel. It moves a little easier underwater in case you are slowly deforming the legs by pushing the housing around following a moving subject.
The larger one with aluminum segments works well too, and is sturdier, with legs a little longer. I am toying around with the idea of putting a Manfrotto ball head on it set loose.
Both of these are between $110 and $60, quite a bargain and I am pleased with both of them.
As soon as I get the wrong port sent to us issue fixed so I can use my screw on achromatic diopter again for some serious macro, I will post some footage.
I had the gorilla tripod before but I found it unstable in currents or surge, as the legs only spread from the center position. So I did something similar as Josh I assembled 2 legs in the front and one in the back. I just used arms from an old still camera used for strobe lights. The length suits me well and if I want to extend them I can always add another arm as they are connect with ball joints.
this is easily done and works well for me.
I just got back from Malapascua shooting an HD promo video for that region.
Since I try to do some pretty strong macro, currents and surge are always a problem. If I stay still, the subject might still be swaying. I just need a scuba sherpa to carry around some studio style sandbag weights to weight my rig once it is set up on tripod, lol.
Interesting handles you have there, I still can't figure it out.
I have heard of others successfully using cheap land tripods and if they give out after a week, for the $20 dollars 1000 pesos they don't care.
The handles are actually pretty simple. They are loc line segments www.loc-line.com
I'm sure you've seen them many time for lights and strobes,as many manyfacturers use them to attach their products. Originally they are cooling systems and can be bought at these companies by the meter for a much cheaper price then from the scuba industry. I bent them to the position I wanted and filled them with marine exopy adhesives so that they stay in position. At the end I put a skrinking tube over it which you can get in electrical supply shops, this is the blue rubber hose you see on the pictures.
As the Gates has only manual controls in different locations I found the original handles always too far away from the controls, so I solved the problem this way.
Diy
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