Camera Accessories

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Has anyone heard of a device that you can mount your camera on and you can brice it up against your shoulder holding this as you would a gun? I am looking for something of this sort that will assist with steading a camera for better shots.

Thanks

-- Kelly Reed (kreed@nygh.on.ca), January 16, 2002

Answers

You want a shoulder stock.

You can buy one of those $15 folding Chinese mini tripods where the legs retract into the tube and brace it against your chest. That's the low end of the scale.

Another cheapie (and it acts like it) is the Bogen 3248 "Shoulder Brace for Monopod" for about $20 at B&H. It swivels all over your chest because its main joint doesn't lock.

LL Rue (www.rue.com) sells the wooden "Original Harry Bonner Gunstock" (#E120) for $139.95, which is a heck of a lot for a piece of plywood or its shorter variant, the "Rue Gunstock" (same price; less wood).

Hama makes an all-plastic stock which locks all its joints and so works pretty good for its small size but over-priced. B&H has had one in its used dept for over a year now and I guess I'll never buy it, even though I'm an inveterate gizmo collector.

I have the best: A tubular aluminum and hard plastic "Duroplast" number with leather strap, detachable pistol grip, and 20-inch cable release by Rowi called their "Shoulder Pod" which is, I sadly believe, discontinued. In their 1982 catalogue it was item number 1100. I got mine off of eBay. It gets the immediate attention of security guards everywhere.

-- Robert Segal (robertsegal@juno.com), January 16, 2002.


How about a Bushhawk Shoulder Mount?

-- Hoyin Lee (leehoyin@hutchcity.com), January 20, 2002.

Unless you're already good with a rifle or shotgun, there's more to using a shoulder stock than meets the eye. Robert's sugestion of the cheap pocket tripod is a good one; I have one and it braces well against my chest, against a wall-tree-or-fence, against the top of a church pew, etc. Very easy to carry. There's one for sale today on eBay if you want to see a picture:

http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1322953125

-- Jeff Polaski (polaski@acm.org), January 22, 2002.


I use a Bushhawk with a Nikon F4e and a 400mm lens, and it's great, especially for tracking birds in flight. But Jeff is right -- there is lot more to using a shoulder stock than meets the eye, even if you've held a rifle before. I'm also a competitive rifle shooter, and have had to make adjustments in how I handle the Bushhawk (mostly where you position your hands and elbows, and how you brace your shoulders).

-- Jack Reddy (redjack62@yahoo.com), April 03, 2002.

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