Sometimes you get to find out about things in the most chancy of ways - and I recently stumbled across the Camzilla CZ1 Monster Grip online and to paraphrase an old ad, 'I'm glad I did!'

In a number of projects I have wanted to mount a camera securely to a car and record the moving scenery from the internal forward and backward views, the bonnet, roof or window view, etc - you get the idea. However, having watched a mate risk his much-loved Sony VX21000 tied to the roof facing the rear and using duct tape, string, tie-downs and faith, I knew it would take something more substantial for me to risk my wonderful Panasonic GS400 much less the Sony FX1.

And then I came across the CZ1.

Now as an aquarium owner, I know about suction cups since they 'hold almost everything in place' (NOT!) under water in a fish tank. I KNOW and realise they are worth three quarters of the square root of bugger-all in terms of reliable holding power, but vacuum cups are the real deal. Although derived from the suction cup principle, a vacuum cup is basically a round sheet of flexible rubber-like hi-tech plastic material moulded into a flattened round sheet that tapers to the edges and is attached to a supporting rigid concave cup. When the assembly is pressed firmly against a smooth surface, a lever system raises the rigid supporting cup from the flexible sheet while pressing down on its edges, creating both a great seal and a strong negative pressure. The result is a strong attaching force transmitted to the rubber diaphragm below it which is now held strongly in place due to external atmospheric pressure and I gotta tell you - it requires more than a reasonable degree of force to break its grip.

This kit comes in a number of pieces. First from the top down there is the quick release mechanism with a small (I wish it was bigger) plate that attaches to the base of your camera. This bit goes on top of the mounting plate. This quite substantial piece of metal attaches by a ball base to one end of a short arm which in turn is held firmly at the top and bottom ends by the strength of a two-plate compression system which grabs on the balls at both ends with mated shallow sockets thus allowing positional flexibility and strength at both ends. The lower end in the 'default' arrangement then attaches to the twin-lever vacuum cup assembly which ties to the smooth surface as described above. Certainly you can crank this baby up with a fair degree of one-handed force and it will hold its position.

There is also an extension which lengthens, again through a ball and socket arrangement, the overall support arm giving even more positions and flexibility in size of camera used. In addition there is a clamp which does without the vacuum system and binds the unit to any available bar, such as the handle bars on cycles or motor bikes.

Finally, there is a safety strap which anyone with any sense would always use to minimise a catastrophe if any part of the system failed. (If this did happen, at least based on my experience with mounted in-car GPS systems, it is highly likely to be a user error. L)

In use, it is not surprising that the closer to vertical the overall axis of the Camzilla is, the more stable the image produced will be. If either the main arm or the extension is horizontal, there is more opportunity for more movement and this is more pronounced with heavier cameras. Accordingly, it is advised to turn on the camera's image stabilisation system to minimise this as well as vibration from the vehicle itself.

I think this is a good bit of gear at a good price. It opens up some avenues for movie making that average amateur might not have considered. If the possibilities that open up with the use of a device like the Camzilla CZ1 Monster Grip system are of interest to you, I suggest a visit to their website to check out more of the detail for yourself.

Vendor:                                

Serious Media
PO Box 314
Artarmon NSW 2164
www.camzilla.com.au
02 9415 4488

Price:      Basic CZ1 kit                                $139

             Optional heavy duty 3-cup base       $69

AusCam Ratings

Ease of use:                          8         

Features:                              9

Documentation:                    8

Value for money:                  8

We liked:        The overall strength and flexibility of the design in use; it does what it says it will do.

We didn't like: The inescapable concern that the system will let go and damage the precious camera. So - suck it up!

By Frank McLeod

Dr Frank McLeod is a specialist physician who in his ‘day job' works in the area of Addiction Medicine. Frank reckons he ‘dribbled' into video as a way to get information across to his patients and their families in an accessible way that avoided information overload. From there, the monster just grew. With a long-time interest in things technical and gadgetry of all kinds, he had been writing tech review-type-articles on a casual basis for a medical publication for some time, when an introduction to David Hague led to his continuing this level of activity in the field of video.

Frank says that one of the parts he likes best about his involvement with Australasian Camcorder is the opportunity to play with other people's toys. The downside, he says, is having to give them back at the end of ‘playtime' that precedes publication of the resulting review.

"I suppose I want to present information from the non-professional point of view, which is not difficult, given that I am the only amateur punter in the camp," he says. With a strong commitment to the amateur video club movement, he is the Secretary of his local video club. In part because of this, and with a long time history as an avid DIY-er behind him, Frank has an interest in the do-it-yourself construction of devices for the amateur videographer and strongly wishes to continue this type of contribution as part of his future involvement with auscam