Sticky Pod test from Scott Simmons on Vimeo.
Just about one year ago I joined my brother-in-law up in the Pocono mountains to shoot video for his website The Garage Blog at the International Motor Press Association’s test days. This is an event where automotive journalists converge on the Split Rock Resort and the Pocono Raceway for two days of driving, testing and writing about cars. In the case of The Garage Blog, we shot video as well. This year we are doing more of the same. I’ll be taking my trusty HV20 camera (probably minus the 35mm lens adapter in the interest of traveling light and saving time) and pretty much all the same gear I took last year with one addition: a Sticky Pod.
The Sticky Pod is a clever little, all metal camera mount that consists mainly of a metal base with camera attachment point and suction cups. These suction cups aren’t a mechanically operated vacuum variety but rather a very strong rubber cup that provides some really tremendous grip when attached to a clean surface. It’s also a very affordable piece of equipment (the ProPak that I have is $149) and comes in many different configurations to hold almost any size and weight camera.
If you’re interested in such a camera mount then you have to have a look around the Sticky Pod website. It’s not the most well organized site on the ‘net but there is a lot of information on the site about the different types of Sticky Pods and some of their applications. There’s a number of photos and videos on the site as well. A You Tube search will also yield a lot of footage too. What I haven’t found are many good videos of people applying and securing the Sticky Pod to their vehicles. Sure it’s pretty simple to use but it would be nice to see some detailed applications of the cameras being mounted and how people are using the units rather than just footage from the units.
I just got my Sticky Pod and have only had one chance to do a quick test which is embeded above. Since this was my first test I used an old mini DV camera just in case it went flying into a curb. I can report that the Sticky Pod performed well. It stuck very well and using the included knuckles and extension rods I was able to get some unique shots. There were more but the exposure on the camera was off in a few of them. There’s no plastic in the construction of the Sticky Pod so it is very sturdy. You can see in the photo that I placed some black gaffers tape around the edge of the base as it had very sharp edges. Once taped I could handle the unit with ease.
I hope we have time to really utilize the Sticky Pod while up at the event in the Poconos next week. It’s usually a frantic two days of trying to drive and cover as many cars as possible and once we get to the track there’s going to be some serious speed out on the Pocono Raceway. But according to the Sticky Pod website and its customers, the unit can handle the speed! We’ll see how comfortable the event’s handlers are with us mounting the thing on track day. Stay tuned!
In the meantime, here’s one of the 2008 runs in a John Cooper Works Mini:
John Cooper Works Mini at IMPA 08 from Scott Simmons on Vimeo.