Question for the male video shoppers

I'm looking for someone who has not had a shirt altered by Kathy. A new video shopper needs to get one altered quickly and is looking for some suggestions in case Kathy can't get it done soon enough.

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This is not an alteration, but a temporary solution: Buy a shirt from a second hand store for $3. Cut the button off that sets just below the sternum. Cut a slit about the size of a button loop where the button was with a utility knife. Pop the button camera through the hole and button up the shirt. Use some duct tape or painters tape to secure the camera in place if you need to.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/11/2016 08:10PM by joer_shoppersview.

I was wondering how guys secure the camera since they don't have the advantage women do with their undergarments

I will pass that along, thanks.

A lot of women use a shirt mount rather than the elegant bra mount that Debra Bugge designed and popularized. Aside from binding off the new button hole, that would be a typical button mount. It provides better flexibility, IMHO, since if one is seated in a low chair at a desk, you can actually move the cam up by grasping the shirt by the shoulder seams and lifting it a bit, as if adjusting to a hot, sticky day. It also means that you can wait until you are within a block of the site to set up and stow your equipment and can easily dismount it between shops.

Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel

Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.

After five years of doing it the way I learned originally, I decided not to risk the change or to spend the money on new shirts. My polo style shirts wouldn't work with Kathy's set up.

I never set mine up until within a block of an assignment and remove it immediately after the last of the day. Heck, I'm often wiring up at stoplights

Lisa,
Wiring and "robing" at stop lights is an essential v-shopper skillset, lol.

Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel

Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/11/2016 08:49PM by walesmaven.

In honor of Neil Patrick Harris' character on How I Met Your Mother, I just say "suit up."

I prefer loose fitting polo shirts from the thrift store. I have several set up. Remove the second button and cut a small slit for the camera button cover. I have never gotten around to building me a popsicle stick frame to fasten the cam to. I cut a diamond shape out of an old credit card, cut a square hole for ventilation of the camera, and use medical paper tape to tape it to my chest. Set up time is about 10 minutes in front of a mirror. Eventually i will build that popsicle stick frame and attach it to an elastic back support harness that I have scrounged for that purpose.

I have had Kathy alter a couple of polo shirts for me. I also use a coupe of chef shirts--I just have to remember to stand at a slight angle so the camera is aimed correctly.

"To be persuasive we must be believable; to be believable we must be credible; to be credible we must be truthful." Edward R. Murrow

Thou shalt not steal. I mean defensively. On offense, indeed thou shall steal and thou must.--Branch Rickey

I always wondered why its such a complicated shirt wiring process. I mean haven't we gotten to wireless hidden cameras yet like ball caps and a pen you could stick in a shirt pocket.

Shopping Western NY, Northeast and Central PA, and parts of Ohio and West Virginia. Have car will travel anywhere if the monies right.

Many Realtors are familiar with the pen camera. Unfortunately, that camera does stand out a bit. As far as ball caps, many of the shops require either business or business casual attire and ball caps don’t exactly fall into that category.

I recall a discussion about a necklace camera for women, but the camera was too obvious in the set-up.

Standard cameras are not wireless and personally I find the body mount to be much easier for most shops than glasses or a hat. With a body mount you can keep yourself square to the target while turning your head to look at whatever they are demonstrating. It is also much easier to block the camera at chest height which can be crucial when walking into a room with mirrors (to block your image), walking behind a leasing agent going up stairs (they really don't want to see someone's butt), or shopping at a senior living facility where they prefer no residents are on camera.

I just have to ask this question. What kind of video shops are you getting that require business or even business casual attire? I cannot think of one single shop where I wasn't wearing jeans or shorts. But then again, if the guidelines for a new car shop say business casual, I laugh a lot and then go put on my jeans.

Your use of the old credit card is great! I am so stealing that.

@AZwolfman wrote:

I prefer loose fitting polo shirts from the thrift store. I have several set up. Remove the second button and cut a small slit for the camera button cover. I have never gotten around to building me a popsicle stick frame to fasten the cam to. I cut a diamond shape out of an old credit card, cut a square hole for ventilation of the camera, and use medical paper tape to tape it to my chest. Set up time is about 10 minutes in front of a mirror. Eventually i will build that popsicle stick frame and attach it to an elastic back support harness that I have scrounged for that purpose.

Wireless rigs ARE in the works, but I am waiting until Dan at Greyhawk puts them through their paces before I bite.

That's my attitude, too. While I would love the wireless technology, it is not worth the risk with so few video assignments allowing for reshops. Somebody else can be the guinea pig

Like the client who requires the hi-res, high-quality video, necessitating buying the upper-end PV500 rig. I spoke to a scheduler who said the company bought several to use in-house for the client, but rigs are unreliable and he wouldn't recommend my getting one just for this client. There wouldn't be enough work to justify the expense, plus who wants a rig prone to failures?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/14/2016 04:50PM by TechSavvy.

If wireless is in the works, it sounds like I should wait before making a major purchase like this. Maybe they'll have some insight into when the newer technology could possibly be available at the upcoming conferences?

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