I’ve tried various methods of simulating an expensive video boom/jib. The trick is getting something to move without swinging as you lift it. The perfect solution is a tripod fluid head! I found an extendable “decoy retriever” and removed the hook. Then I found that a cheap tripod flash mount fitted perfectly at the end and it has a thread that screws into the tripod head. The main thing to remember is that once you have the camera balanced at the angle you want, if you move slowly and smoothly upward it will self-adjust to keep the same angle - until you want to go down again. You will need to hold it in that position for a while then slowly start moving in the other direction to allow it to self-adjust correctly in the other direction. if you change direction too quickly it will come down at a different angle.
The components are reasonably cheap and easy to assemble with the main issue being to get a pole that fits a studio stand size mount. As mentioned I used a 5m decoy retriever and the smallest pipe at the end just happened to be the right size to fit a cheap “tripod flash speedlight mount”. Once the hotshoe is removed it reveals the right size screw mount to screw a tripod head onto. Here’s a picture showing the size of the pipe I mounted it onto which is the same outer diameter as a normal studio light stand.
Here’s the flash mount screwed onto the end. It will need to be adjusted at a right angle so the camera can be raised while allowing the fluid head space to to move as it self-adjusts.
Then all that’s left is to screw on a fluid head and mount the camera to it. With my G85 and 14-150mm lens I needed the handle of the fluid head to be pointing in the same direction as the lens so it would balance at the required angle.
Obviously if people want to fine tune the angle that the camera points at small weights would need to be added to the lens or tripod head handle. As can be seen from the following image I threaded the strap through the umbrella mount as insurance to secure the camera in case anything came loose. I’m pretty sure many photographers would want to also add further safeties lower down which would be easy enough.
