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Camera Pole Vibration Damper Using PVC Tubing and Metal Chain - works!

edited June 2017 in Cameras
This isn't exactly about a camera, but I thought my results will be useful for those of us who have cameras atop a lamp post. I have several PTZ's that are pole mounted and they definitely vibrated quite a bit with wind and camera motion. At 20 or 25x zoom, the image shake was annoying.

I finally found a solution that has made things MUCH better. Basically, copied the idea from https://generalstructuresinc.com/product/vibration-dampener/

For my 10 foot long, 3" aluminum pole, i used 6 feet of 1 1/4 inch PVC with heavy chain fed down the entire length of the PVC. Took some work with a heat gun to get all the coil out of the PVC. The top ends of the chain and PVC pipe were affixed to each other with a bold, washers and a nut. Then, the "damper" was fed down my pole until it bottomed. The top of the damper was attached to the pole.

I can barely notice any camera shake at 25X whereas before it was very annoying.

If you are having trouble with vibrations on a mounting post, this is a cheap and easy thing to try. 2/3 the length of the pole is the original product's recommended length. Super cheap materials. The harder part is feeding chain down the PVC. Spraying some rubbing alcohol into the PVC lubricates thing well enough for the chain to pass.

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