wheelchair user needs camera mount

I'm an occupational therapist trying to grant my client's wish to take up

hobby of photography. With cerebral palsy, she has very limited hand functions

and would have help setting up the mount, but wants to use a simple beginners

camera independently. Just thought I'd pick your collective brains about

wheelchair mounts for photography or good companies to work with. Thanks,

Pamela

A Bogen Magic arm + Super clamp.

Bogen Magic arm (A camera platform is part of the Magic Arm package):

: http://www.calumetphoto.com/item/BG4230/

As a lighter weight and less complex alternate for a lightweight camera:

http://www.calumetphoto.com/item/BG42111/

With either you'll need a

Super Clamp to attach the arm to the Wheel chair:

http://www.calumetphoto.com/item/BG4208/

A rather talented mechanic or handyman could rig up a mounting fixture, and the following should be noted:

The camera should be mounted at eyelevel, and should be a fully automatic point and shoot. The camera will have to be able to be pointed up, down, left, and right, and a shutter must be released. Much will depend upon the degree of the handicap.

Google 'wheelchair camera mount' www.abledata.com has several articles on homemade and commercial mounts.

Does your client have enough fine motor control to push the shutter button? If not you might be able to modify an air bulb shutter release by replacing the bulb with a stronger bulb used for cleaning infants' ears & nose. I made this replacement when my bulb wore out. I was using a Graflex Crown Graphic at the time and the original rubber bulb was too weak to stand up to the air pressure needed to trip the shutter. My replacement was bigger and stronger. Your client might be able to squeeze the bulb between her knees or under her elbow on the wheelchair arm.

Look for a cable release mounting hole on the camera you choose. It is possible to make a simple frame for holding a shutter release over the shutter button using common material like an aluminum ruler from the office supply store. (A metal supplier can provide a 1" wide aluminum strap 1/16" thick and 9" long that would be stronger & work better, but the ruler is a great way to build your first prototype to perfect your design.) Bend the ruler into a large 'U' so it comes around the camera from the side. Drill a 1/4" hole to line up with the camera tripod mounting hole. Drill a small hole in the top over the center of the shutter button. Tap it using a #6-32 tap. In practice make sure the hole is as close to the center of the shutter button as possible because the shutter may not trip if the release strikes the button on the edge.

Make sure to brace the camera strongly so that if your client is able to push the shutter button herself, but cannot control how hard she pushes it, the camera will not shake and blur the picture.

Post some of her results.

Many digital cameras will use an electrical/electronic remote. Use of a digicam with an electronic zoom control will likely be less difficult that trying to use a traditional circular zoom control around a lens. Digicams also will often have a live view rear lcd for viewing, this avoids the need to get right up to the camera to use an optical finder.

Sony (I believe, as may some others) has a couple of tripod, including the VCT-D680RM , that have more remote controls, potentially for zoom, etc. It may be possible to to use that head with a compatible camera to have more somewhat readily accessible remote functions.

I'd suggest calling Sony Style and trying to get some current detail. There is a list of compatible cameras but I'd want to be sure.

I would use a computer USB bus controlled motorized tripod. Most digital compact camera (digicam) also allows USB computer control. This way your client only have to learn to interface to the computer and the computer inturn control everythings else. Here are some examples (Disclaimer: Do check them in details as I myself have not use these products before):

USB control Tripod:

http://www.trackercam.com/TCamWeb/motorpod.htm

USB Controlable camera (field of view 28-510mm):

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/olympussp550uz/