This wooden DIY camera rig is about as frugal as it gets
Jul 23, 2018
John Aldred
John Aldred is a photographer with over 25 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter – and occasional beta tester – of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.
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When push comes to shove, the kinds of DIY solutions people come up with to solve photography and filmmaking problems really can be amazing. Take camera rigs, for example. DSLRs aren’t exactly the most ergonomic of devices when it comes to shooting video. But camera rigs can be very expensive, even relatively modest ones. So what can you do?
For Ghana-based filmmaker Abass Safian, the answer was obvious. Make his own. And that’s exactly what he did with a few pieces of wood, some basic tools, and a little time. It’s a great looking DIY rig and probably does the job as well as some of the commercial options.
Abass tells DIYP that he built the rig over a couple of days. The process began with measuring and cutting the individual pieces. But he didn’t have all the tools he needed. So, he went to buy some nails and borrowed a saw blade from a friend to cut everything.
After sanding all the pieces, Abass constructed the frame, holding everything together with 2″ nails. He then added a platform for the camera and handles at the top and bottom.
A very simple and inexpensive solution to a common problem. Sure, it may not be as durable as a rig based around a metal cage. And you won’t have as many connection sockets for things like monitors, audio records and other stuff. But it certainly looks like it’ll do the job.
Abass tells DIYP that he plans to paint the whole thing black, but he was eager to show it off, so the photos above are in its unpainted state.
John Aldred
John Aldred is a photographer with over 25 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter – and occasional beta tester – of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.
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2 responses to “This wooden DIY camera rig is about as frugal as it gets”
Why can’t we have more articles like this?
of course we can. help us find the good stuff.