Nature photographers have al lot of patience and can really be very inventive, especially when, a product they need for their job, doesn’t exist. Han Bouwmeester prouved this by designing his product: The Eckla-Eagle HBN car door tripod.
© Han Bouwmeester
His experience was based on an animals’ fear for humans. That’s the main reason that he started to use his car to come closer to animals. So he used his car as a hide-out. But still you’ll need some practice to shoot (taking pictures) animals from a car with those large lenses. You can use a beanbag on the car door, but that’s far from a stable option. To produce another solution, he asked the help from the Eckla factory, known from the “Beach Rolly”. He designed the car door tripod and Eckla was responsible for the commercialisation.
The installation of the car door tripod is easy!
You can install this tripod on the car door square or on the glass part (you need to use the small plastic to protect). Next, you’ll need to fix the 2 screws. Now you put the lower part on the arm support. Next is to adapt the height until the top plate is perfectly in balance. To check it, you can use the integrated level. This may seem complicated, but it’s really quite easy when you actually do it. When every screw is fixed and the whole support stands stable, you can fix the swing head (or normal ball head) on it, using the screw in the middle. When everything stands steady (check it!), you can attach your lens + body.
© Han Bouwmeester
© Han Bouwmeester
When the lens stands perfectly in balance, even with these sizes and weight, it’s comfortable to photograph for several hours. Depending on your car and size of your lens, you’ll need to change seat in your car. Due to the tripod that’s fixed very well on the door, your lens stands very steady. With the 38/ inch connection, you can connect every ball head or swing head.
The whole tripod is made of aluminum, but still doesn’t weigh a lot. When you close the tripod, it stays compact and is easy to transport.
© Han Bouwmeester
Personally, I use the tripod more on safari to take some shots from inside the car instead of on the roof of the 4x4. Sometimes, these shots are more beautiful.
If you want perfection? Use a camouflage net over the car and car door. At the height of your lens, you could make a small opening for your lens hood. For the “beanbag-lover”, Han did make a special beanbag for it. It’s especially designed to be used on the tripod. I didn’t test it, because beanbags aren’t my favourite.
The only disadvantage I could find is a tiny one: some cars don’t have an arm support! I do have to tell that I could find more than 5 cars without it. Eckla will soon launch an accessory to help resolve this issue.
© Han Bouwmeester
The HBN Eckla-Eagle car door tripod costs 175 euro. The special beanbag costs 36,50 euro. As a package, you’ll pay 199 euro. Everything can be bought at the local shop Cameratools.
Still need more info? Han Bouwmeerster or Eckla.
Best regards,
Sven Michiels