Camera Dome: How big do I need?

[Brian Davidson]

How big of a dome do I need? I have been having problems ordering and several companies have fallen through on me. This post is not about companies but on how big I need.

I need at least 15" high which I think is 30" in diameter, is that correct? I want the camera to have enough clearance to pan the 360,

Here are some images






let me know asap, thanks!

 

[Skip Talbot]

You have everything required to compute how large a dome you need: the camera, pan/tilt, and a tape measure. Get a pencil and paper, draw out how it works, and take some measurements. Spin the camera around on with your hand until it makes sense in your head. Its fairly simple geometry. This is something you need to figure out, because its your responsibility to make sure your measurements are correct. I'm more than happy to give you general pointers, but I'm not going to do all of your homework for you. I could just give you the dimensions for my own project, but you're using a different camera and a different pan, and I'm not the guy that's going to take the blame when your camera hits the side of the dome.

 

[Brian Davidson]

I have all the measurements down, I just want to make sure I get a big enough dome. The higher the the camera sits the less room it has to pan because the higher you go the smaller the dome becomes.

 

[Skip Talbot]

The higher the the camera sits the less room it has to pan because the higher you go the smaller the dome becomes.

Again, this is a geometry problem. You're rotating an object inside of a spherical volume. If the math is over your head, then I recommend getting some graph paper and drawing out, to scale, the dome, pan/tilt, and camera. In fact, you'd probably want to do this anyway to make sure your design works.

 

[Wesley Luginbyhl]

My camera sets up about as high as yours, but I only have a 9" high 18" diameter dome because I used what are basically spacers (custom cut plywood) to raise the dome giving me a couple more inches without the cost of a bigger dome. It was the cheapest solution to the same problem you have, though I dont know what you are planning to use for a base. I havent got to take my dome out in the rain yet so I have no idea how long my plywood base is going to last without further modification.

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