Are you trying to get an overhead camera shot for your YouTube channel or Instagram? It seems easy to do, but you can't do it with most equipment you might already have. In this post i'll show you my exact overhead camera rig.
The beauty of this setup is that all of the equipment can be repurposed if you're not shooting overhead. C-Stands are very popular for holding lights or microphones, and Joby heads can be mounted onto a lot of different things.
Neewer C-Stand - $140
The main item thats supporting your camera overhead is something known as a C-Stand. The particular one I use is by Neewer, and its a solid metal frame that comes with two grip heads and an extension arm. You need two grip heads and the extension arm, so if you go with another option make sure they're included or you buy them separately.
If you get this exact C-Stand, technically you can screw the extension arm directly into your camera. However it doesn't let you orient the stand or angle of the camera. The next two items pretty much let you rotate and reposition the camera along the entire extension arm.
Spigot - $10
The purpose of the spigot is to adapt between your grip head and something your camera or the Joby head can mount to. For this one the 3/8" end goes into the grip head on the C-Stand, and the 1/4" end can go right into your camera or into the Joby Ballhead.
Joby Ballhead 5K - $54
If you already have a Joby Gorillapod 5K, you can take the Ballhead off of it and mount it onto the spigot. I personally use the 5K version, which is capable of holding 5K of weight. If you use a smaller and cheaper version, make sure that it can support the weight you need it to hold!
Sandbags - $16
This last item is for safety. You fill these up with sand or rocks, and drape them over the opposite side of the C-Stand and/or over the legs of the C-Stand. This makes sure the arm doesn't fall down and the whole stand won't tip over.
Note that they do not come with sand or rocks, I went to home depot and got 50 pounds of dry rocks for like $4.
