Homemade video mounts and accessories

Chris Sokol

EF5
Joined
Dec 13, 2003
Messages
723
Location
Wellston, Oklahoma
Found this while doing some research...homemade underwater video camera mount:

http://www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk/personal/pdh...ing/MKII-build/

The electronics might not work (or even be necessary) for your needs, but the case should. This would be great if anybody wanted an external camera to use on their vehicle.

Some other good video camera accessories you can build:

Homemade Shoulder Support:

http://www.vfx.co.nz/DIY1.html

Homemade Steadycam:

http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/~johnny/steadycam/

Stabilizer for the XL-1 (will work for other cameras):

http://www.videouniversity.com/xlstablz.htm

A very nice stabilizer:

http://www.webbpickersgill.com/stabilizer/

Here is a great site: Homebuilt Stabilizers

http://www.homebuiltstabilizers.com/

Some vehicle camera mounts:

http://www.ae92gts.com/ae92gts_video_mount.html

http://hybrid2.honda-perf.org/contrib/came...mountintro.html

http://www.camerahacker.com/Car_Camera_Mount/

http://www.corep3.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php...&view=previous&

Homemade bluescreen:

http://www.jushhome.com/Bluescreen/Bluescreen.html


Some possible projects for the off season...enjoy!
 
Great links
now need to work out the best siting - because I need to get at the controlson the mini DV..
either that or I use a web cam linked to the laptop- can use mine as a security cam with auto record. :)
 
Here is what I built as a dashcam mount in my Honda Element:

3.jpg

4.jpg


I built this using an "erector set" methodology. ;-) I found everything I needed from Home Depot (lots of Simpson StrongTies) and modified 2 legs off an old camera tripod. I'm using a Bogen fluid head as the mount. The thing that makes this work is that the Honda Element as a small slick surface above the radio on the dash that is excellent for suction cups. Between the four suction cups on the dash and the two on the windshield, this was rock steady and highly reliable all chase season long. I had not one bit of problem with it coming loose...even in a couple of emergency stops. Total cost? Around $15. :)

With the suction cup mounting, it is easily removed and reinstalled in seconds. The adjustable tripod legs made it easier to do this as well as getting it positioned exactly as I wanted it...as well as allowing me considerable wiggle room in construction dimensions.

I hope this will help spur a few ideas for custom mounting in other vehicles and save some serious bucks.
 
Steve that is an awesome design! One question.. how did you mount the suction cups to the bottom of the tripod legs... (the two that contact the windshield)?
 
Thanks! I got totally frustrated in searching the internet for a solution I liked that didn't cost a fortune. I came close to getting this one http://www.adorama.com/CU3080.html but the head on it was not a pan/tilt and couldn't be replaced. But, it's a good design that I think others could pattern after.

For my mount and the suction cups attached to the tripod feet, I simply removed the little rubber feet (using a little force). I then used a small, wide screw to attach the suction cups with the head of the screw flat on the inside of the rubber tripod foot. Then, I popped the feet back on. All tripods are different though, so I'd recommend seeing if you can remove the rubber feet first before cannabalizing it. ;-)

I hope this helps!
 
did you make the bends in the legs or did the tripod come that way?

I have one of those crappy tripods you get with a $300 video camera. That just might work!
 
I carefully bent the legs. Being aluminum, it's not as forgiving regarding stress cracking. The tripod I used was a cheap WalMart special for about $15. ;-) It served a decent life for about one chase season until the head fell apart.
 
I posted this a wile back in the vehicle thread, but I have some diagrams now to better show things.

For those of you who prefer something other than dash mounting, here's another solution you might use, or get some ideas from. I too have looked at numerous store bought mounts and never really found anything I liked. Finally I came up with the idea of building a mount that would attach the seat frame of my truck.


Pardon my poor drawing skills :lol:


tripod_design.gif



Here's the pan-tilt head I attached to the mount. http://www.adorama.com/BG390RC2.html



Of course this design won't work for cars or trucks that have a middle console, but it could probably be changed to adapt to a passenger side mount somehow. My ride is a Dodge-a-nader 1500 pickup.

Here's a few pics of the finished product.


extended.jpg



The upper pipe slips into the lower pipe, and can be raised or lowered. The range depends on how much lower pipe you leave yourself during construction.




rear-view.jpg


The pan-tilt head just screws onto the 3/8" -16 bolt that's inserted into the fence post cap at the top of the upper pipe.


base.jpg


1/4" Iron base plate shown here bolted to the seat frame. The bottom, slightly larger diameter pipe is welded to it. When not chasing, I can pull the upper pipe out, leaving the lower half in the truck. Lower pipe comes up to just above seat level leaving it out of the way and almost unnoticeable.

To make this, you will either need to have the ability to weld, or know someone that does. Requires a bit more effort, but its sturdy as rock. The only thing I really had to spend money on was the pan-tilt head. The rest was made out of parts my friend had laying around his shop.
 
!

That is a pretty simple and very effective, clean mount!! Smart design too with the smaller pipe fitting into the larger one....leaves you lots of wiggle room for height adjustment. I had a Dodge-anader 1500 4x4 I used for awhile. I had a similar setup with a tripod that I cut the cross-support arms for the legs so I could move/position the tripod legs to fit the floorboard area. With a couple of brackets and a bungee cord, it was pretty sturdy and did the trick for a few seasons, but it took up alot of floorboard room and intruded into the passenger space as well as the tripod legs wouldn't stay set. I wish I would have thought of something like your design though.

I should also point out that I've got a laptop mount with similar basic design concept using threaded iron pipe and various elbow joints to get a custom fit. This has worked stupendously this year and the total cost was around $30. I got the basic kit off of eBay that included the plexiglass for sitting the laptop on. I then bought a few more assorted lengths of 1" iron pope with a few extra elbow joints to get it "just right". I mounted it on the florrboard, but it flexed too much. I just put a couple of angle braces on it using the seat mount bolts and it is as sturdy as a rock. I'm sure you could use this same concept to construct a camera mount similar to the one above.
 
Steve Miller said:

I had a similar setup with a tripod that I cut the cross-support arms for the legs so I could move/position the tripod legs to fit the floorboard area. With a couple of brackets and a bungee cord, it was pretty sturdy and did the trick for a few seasons, but it took up alot of floorboard room and intruded into the passenger space as well as the tripod legs wouldn't stay set. I wish I would have thought of something like your design though.
Click to expand...


LOL this is exactly the same problem I was having Steve. Like you, I pretty much just set a regular tripod over the trans hump in the truck, and then tied it off to the lower seat frame. It was OK, but as you point out, it was just too in the way. It was very bulky and I couldn't lower my cup holder....lol Actually though, strapping the tripod to the lower seat frame is what gave me the idea to make a mount that attaches there.

I believe I've seen your PC mount on another thread...pretty creative! I went ahead and bought the jotto mount for mine. Was a tad expensive but I like it. The Ram mounts look pretty sweet too, but I had a hard time sorting through all their components trying to come up with what I needed.

Vehicle mods can be both fun and frustrating. Not only is every vehicle different, but everyone has different tastes and requirements as well. It helps (me at least) to see what others have done in their vehicles to come up with ideas for mine. Kind of like David Drummonds thread....love reading through that one. Hopefully others will post their designs here too!
 
I have 2 bolts in my dash I bolted the mount to. I took a piece of aluminum bar I had (actually more of a flat bar 1/8"x1" or so) and cut it to fit in a way it forms a "C" between the dash bolt and a tripod head I modified. It works very well without modification to the car. Ill get some pics up here soon to show everyone.
 
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