An idea I've never heard anyone use?

[Paul R Johnson]

Has anyone ever put a small lightweight camera on a sound departments Fischer Boom?

I was wondering how useful that would be - left/right, up and down, boom left and right and to make it better than using a simple jib - the track in and out function?

Big video jibs are heavy and have lots of inertia and an electronic pan tilt that is often less than responsive. Putting a small camera on a sound boom would be very stable, but offer amazingly quick repositioning and make following people , keeping a constant distance away, quite simple. I'd have thought at some point people in studios with one, often now underused, would have popped a camera on it and got some great shots?

[John Nantz]

Paul - I don’t know what the capabilities of a Fischer Boom is, for example, what kind of controls it has and how they are used. However, one thought might be to combine the boom with a small cam on a gimbal.

As part of my tool kit I use a small Sony X3000 “sport cam” and put it on a Feiyu electronic gimbal. The X3000 is 4K and it can generate a nice picture given how small it is. The Feiyu G5GS gimbal is easy to control in order to point the cam in various directions while at the same time it can keep the horizon level.

Both the cam and the gimbal can be controlled with an iPhone or an iPad, and the newer iPad has split-screen capability so one can control both items easily on a bigger split-screen. For some reason, the word “multitasking” comes to mind.

Is the Boom operated manually or electronically?
Weights:
X3000: ~ 114g / 4.1 oz including battery but excluding underwater housing
G5GS: 314g + 64g battery

[Paul R Johnson]

Fischer Booms come in different sizes (for reach) and are worth looking at on Youtube. Telescopic microphone booms - a handle that winds the boom in and out, then a lever that pans and tilts - all worked via cables. Ideal for using one mic to pick up individuals and groups - sit coms, where radio mics would be impractical still use them. The mic can be pointed at the actor, and can follow them as they move on set.

I just thought a video camera instead of the mic could be quite interesting. Normal jibs and small cranes don't have the telescoping function.

The thing that always intrigues me is how the counterweight moves on the rear end to compensate for the other end moving in and out. Clever things.

[Larrie Easterly]

Have also mounted an X3000 and an iPhone on a nine foot hand held sound boom pole and gotten good results. Just need to be rock steady while holding it. Will have to try it with a gimbal.

[Paul R Johnson]

I've answered my own question - YouTube presents you with videos linked to what you've watched and it gave me this one - a studio Fischer 7 op who stuck a go pro on the boom. It also shows you how bloody hard doing the job is.

YouTube (Short URL)

[Greg Smith]

Man, that poor guy's neck must be sore from all the head swiveling he does looking back and forth between the monitor and the live action. I think he could benefit from having that screen mounted closer to his line of sight of the scene.

[Brian Drysdale]

The Jimmy Jib operators usually have the monitor on or close to the axis of the arm.

[Paul R Johnson]

A jib with a monitor is quite tough - I'm not very good at it to be honest, but the sound guys have to aim the mic by eye, and if they dip into shot, that's a fail. With the GoPro you can see how accurate their aim is by a view from very far away. They're still selling these things as they're so good, so it's absolutely a skill that is a good one to try. I wish I had.

[Warren Kawamoto]

Several years ago, I made a polecam in my garage using some Jimmy Jib parts. In this video I'm using a DSLR, but now I use a smaller 4K camcorder.

My homemade polecam for professional use! - YouTube