When kite mapping with mini cameras, #gopro or #mobius cameras, I like to use a really lightweight and portable camera holding system, and I recently made some prototypes, shown above.

These are made from coroplast, which we carry in the store's materials section, and are designed to be used with:

• Mini Cameras or GoPros
• Mini Kite Kits
• Mobius cameras

Just another design to add to the great list over at our Camera Rigs page! This provides a surface for the wind to blow on and keep it from spinning too much (like a windvane).

The assembly steps were:

1. Cut a diagonal line across the letter-sized sheet of coroplast (or corrugated cardboard!)
2. round the corners to protect people's eyes
3. punch 2 holes as shown below (or three if you want to use a bottle; read on)
4. use a 1/4 inch bold to mount the mini camera's holder (a standard camera mount screw) through the bottom hole
5. use a zip tie to attach a swivel to the top hole (so the whole thing can rotate freely in the wind)

If you want to use an Odwalla or narrow juice bottle, a second lower hole can allow a zip tie to strap in the bottle top, with 2 holes punched in the bottle to match those on the corrugated sheet (see below).

This all is pretty lightweight, the camera is not the lowest thing, so it can scrape the ground a little bit, and it fits inside the balloon mapping box or in a backpack pretty nicely. You can write your name and email or phone on the flat part with a sharpie.

We flew one of these last week in Providence and it worked really well!