Customer Reviews

Wingscapes WSBR01 BirdCam Mounting Arm

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The mounting arm is really good but I should have placed it on the pole with the feeders for better close-ups. I find that the positioning knob needs to be tightened more than I thought it might, or perhaps I just need to crank it down tighter to start. The BirdCam has a tendency to gradually slip to one side or the other as the knob loosens, maybe with the sway of the pole, and I am afraid to really lean into it but. . . .

I ordered the mounting arm along with the Wingscapes camera. I don't have anywhere else to mount a camera except on the shepherd's hook that also holds my feeder.

The mounting arm was ok in the beginning, but after a couple of months the plastic lost its integrity and the whole thing started to fall back. The screws wouldn't tighten anymore and my camera would just flop back and get pictures of the sky. Luckily I have an engineer husband who was able to work up a solution to get it working again. But now the camera can't be moved as easily.

The mounting arm is a good idea, but the durability of this plastic arm is not great. I expected it to hold up for more than a couple of months at least.

Manufacturer claims: "Connects to the standard tripod mount at the bottom of the BirdCam allowing the BirdCam to swivel 360 degrees"

Perhaps, the manufacturer meant ROTATE 360 degrees around a mounting pole. That it will do.

However it will not SWIVEL 360 degrees, as stated.

I bought this to mount the camera pointing downward at a bird bath, so that the bright sky behind the birds would not produce silhouettes of birds, which is what happens when the camera is mounted upright, vertically at the water level.

There is absolutely no way you can swivel the Birdcam 360 degrees with this arm. The tightening screws prevent any movement past them, severely limiting the range of motion to significantly less than 360 degrees. Flipping the arm upside down only exacerbates the drifting problem of the tightening mechanism. Over the course of an hour, your camera will slowly drift to horizontal from any angle you set it at, and eventually, you will be taking pictures of the ground, instead of your bird bath!

This is an inherent design defect, and not a problem with any type of defective part that can be fixed with a replacement of the same design.

See below for the specific details. Buy this only if you plan on using it mounted vertically in front of a feeder mounted on a pole, as depicted in the images. Any alternative mounting will frustrate you to no end.

Unless you plan on using this arm with the camera completely vertical, expect the camera to slowly drift, until it is eventually facing the ground. When used at a downward angle to shoot onto a birdbath, the tightening mechanism will not hold the heavy weight of the camera with 4 Alkaline D-Cells inside. The camera will slowly drift to a state of equilibrium. The tightening mechanism is a smooth plastic ball inside two smooth pieces of round plastic. There is no texture to either side of the gripping mechanism. The only means of tightening the smooth ball between the two smooth plastic pieces is the tightening of two screws, which are woefully incapable of holding the round ball securely in place so that it won't "drift" down. If you really crank down on the screws, you will either tear your fingers in the process or break the plastic. There is also no "quick release" mechanism to get the camera on or off without completely losing the angle and direction the camera is pointed. You have to physically rotate the camera onto the tripod screw, or completely loosen the smooth ball so it rotates freely, so you can turn it into the tripod socket on the camera. Finally, the screws which "trap" the smooth ball in between the two pieces of smooth plastic actually interfere with the movement of the ball, preventing you from mounting the camera in a horizontal position or even past 45 degrees. This is the only way to keep the camera from "drifting" but then you have no control over the downward angle. It becomes set at the position of the cross screw holding the plastic pieces together. There is a very limited range of motion of the ball in the socket, and the arm itself, as properly described, can only be angled in 3 different positions which are also preset. In order to use the camera, you have to be able to open the door, turn the camera on and off, set the focus range, and read the set-up display, which requires the camera to be moved so that it is facing up to be read, unless you can crawl underneath it with a flash light, which isn't practical. Hence, if you ever get the unit tight enought so that it won't drift and move, you are still going to have to loosen it daily to at least remove your SD card, or remove the camera itself to view the images with the USB cable or the video out cable. Very poor design, unless you are going to mount the camera vertically directly in front of a feeder on a pole. This is the only mounting mechanism that allows the use of a 12 Volt AC adapter, which foolishly must be attached underneath the camera, right next to the tripod socket. Use of any regular tripod is hence impossible, without buying a lightstand spacer, which will lift the camera up off the friction plate on the tripod, so that you can insert the 12 Volt AC adapter. However, then the camera wants to rotate off the spacer because there is no friction plate except for smooth metal to plastic contact to prevent unintended loosening and unscrewing of the camera from the required elevating spacer.

Mounting arm worked great for a few weeks. Without removing the camera or adjusting the arm, the swivel arm "lost" it's grip and won't support the weight of the camera. Can't be tightened any more (have used tools, anything tighter will crack the plastic). Great idea but just doesn't support the weight of the camera. I end up with the camera facing the sky - just can't get it positioned so that the camera weight doesn't overpower the swivel arm.

I am using this arm on a shephard hook which hold my birdfeeders. The arm can swivel all around which is great. I move it around to face various bird feeders on my deck. A great purchase.

Product works great. It is outside most of the time - in wet, hot and humid weather. No issues. Works as advertised.

This is a good mounting arm for those situations when the wrap around tie downs aren't enough - It has worked great for me to get the shot I want.

The Wingscapes Birdcam is built like a tank, and is heavy.

For many outdoor situations, this mounting arm is the solution.

Some of my digital camera mounts, clamps, etc were not strong enough to hold this camera without slipping.

I attached the BirdCam Mounting Arm to a spare "shepherd's hook" and I can move it easily around the yard, stomping it into place wherever it suits, then loosen and slide the arm up or down the hook in order to aim the BirdCam at my target for the day. (see my photos above)

Other times, Springtime for instance, I expect to mount it directly to birdhouse posts and aim the camera directly toward the bird house openings.