Home Made Camera Mount

[turbophil]

I went out and purchased a Panasonic digi video camera that uses a SD card to start recording track vids...

After morning coffee, I set out to the shop to make my camera mount for it to mount on the harness bar.

I know stuff like this can be purchased, but like many things it would be much more fun to make...

Here's a little video I took of the machining and some pics of mount before I installed it in the car...

Just thought I would share...

Best,

Phil

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[XViperDude]

Very cool!

[Baysailor]

It is a nice looking mount.

Won't the knob interfere with the rollbar or does it sit back behind the rollbar? Hard to tell from the one picture.

[RoadDad]

and ^^that's a good question... looks like it would.

[macdady2424]

Was that a manual milling machine or did you write code and go the CNC way? Just curious b/c that seem like a small home setup and would be pretty cool if I could find a programmable one like that for work.

Also, pretty cool. I like designing my own stuff too instead of buying it. It's just more fun that way.

[Smoky]

Phil u bum. I just finished mine this weekend too. Been working on it through 5 months of procrastination. lol

Glad you posted first though. Yours is way cooler looking than mine.

I'm using an Oregan Scien. ATC2K. Found a bracket from a previous install (amp bracket), modified the included mounting base, glued it to the bracket using high-temp metal/plastic adhesive (Loctite brand). Then drilled out holes for a u-bolt. Cut the u-bolt down and used wingnuts for easy removal. Attaches to the stock (or any other) harness bar. Any l-bracket can be used. Used edge trim (from McMaster Carr) to cover the u-bolt, but anything will work. I wanted something grippy. And then covered the bracket with velcro felt. This should prevent damage or scratching to the harness bar.

All can be made for about $5 of parts from Lowe's.

Not meant as a hijack, just a "me-too", since I snoozed and loozed. Yours is A+ though. I dig it a lot. We'll see if mine lasts through the bumps and potholes around here.

[turbophil]

Originally Posted by Baysailor

It is a nice looking mount.

Won't the knob interfere with the rollbar or does it sit back behind the rollbar? Hard to tell from the one picture.

Ya it did. I ended up using a bolt in leiu of the knob, which worked just fine It was early on a Sunday morning, so that's what I get

I'll probably make Z bracket to get the camera up high so that it can see the road from my persepctive rather than my shoulder's Once I make bracket, the knob will obviously clear

The bracket turned out real well otherwise, is very stout, and looks pretty in the cabin

Thanks guys!

Phil

[turbophil]

Originally Posted by macdady2424

Was that a manual milling machine or did you write code and go the CNC way? Just curious b/c that seem like a small home setup and would be pretty cool if I could find a programmable one like that for work.

Also, pretty cool. I like designing my own stuff too instead of buying it. It's just more fun that way.

You kidding me? If you can knee mill that well, you are one tallented dude

Ya, it's CNC. I just drew it up real quick for a 2.5 axis profiling job. I've got a CNC mill and lathe at the home shop, which is where we make the majority of the stuff that goes out, i.e. clam hinges, SC'er parts, Lotus trailer hitches, etc along with a host of one-off stuff for restoration projects (currently finishing up a frame-off on a '65 Chevy Truck with a 455 olds and Muncie 4 speed)... It's a hobby turned to hobby-business in every sense of the phrase, but a fun way to kill time on the weekends nonetheless...

Best,

Phil

[Dave]

Originally Posted by turbophil

I've got a CNC mill and lathe at the home shop

You spoiled brats really piss me off


Nice work!

[turbophil]

Great Job Smoky!

Home inovation is always cooler than buying stuff off the rack...

Now all you need is some CNC 'chinery and you can start making chips fly

Best,

Phil

Originally Posted by Smoky

Phil u bum. I just finished mine this weekend too. Been working on it through 5 months of procrastination. lol

Glad you posted first though. Yours is way cooler looking than mine.

I'm using an Oregan Scien. ATC2K. Found a bracket from a previous install (amp bracket), modified the included mounting base, glued it to the bracket using high-temp metal/plastic adhesive (Loctite brand). Then drilled out holes for a u-bolt. Cut the u-bolt down and used wingnuts for easy removal. Attaches to the stock (or any other) harness bar. Any l-bracket can be used. Used edge trim (from McMaster Carr) to cover the u-bolt, but anything will work. I wanted something grippy. And then covered the bracket with velcro felt. This should prevent damage or scratching to the harness bar.

All can be made for about $5 of parts from Lowe's.

Not meant as a hijack, just a "me-too", since I snoozed and loozed. Yours is A+ though. I dig it a lot. We'll see if mine lasts through the bumps and potholes around here.

[rnr]

You guys are way too high tech - my solution cost < $0.02 :-D

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/rnair/402565680/" title="Untitled by rnair, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/125/402565680_ed22cb1b91.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="" /></a>
Recording in-car video for free (by The Racing Geek)

[turbophil]

Dang! Where were you and your clever ideas this weekend? Now I feel like such an idiot for wasting my time when all I needed was blue tape!

I enjoyed your blog page, BTW. Cool stuff RNR...

Best,

Phil

[Conan]

Phil, nice mount! Looks very professional!

One suggestion: A piece of rubber or thick foam between the camera and the mount to help absorb vibration. It makes a BIG difference in the final video quality.

Here's the one I made. I bought a 3-axis tripod head on amazon.com and then mounted it to a PVC t-pipe and used U-bolts to hold it on with some tool box drawer liner inside the pipe to add grip and help absorb a little bit of the vibration. The tripod head also has a rubber pad where the cam mounts to it.

[turbophil]

Conan-

Thanks for the advice. I'm new to the in-car video stuff. I had wondered if vibration would be an issue. Apparently so...

Now that I've had a day to think about the mount (Which I really like the one I've got), I'm going to widdle out a new one tonight that brings the mounting point for the camera plate up higher and allow the plate to rotate. I think that will look cleaner and be more "trick" than using a Z bar mounting plate... It's got to look cool even without the camera

If I get it done tonight, I'll post up some pics...

Best,

Phil

[turbophil]

I think I fixed it... check it out here:

My *New* Homemade Camera Mount


Best,

Phil

[Phill B]

Somewhere between rnr and Conan:


A piece of angled steel bracket, two pipe clamps and some satin black paint from the hardware store. I added a Manfrotto uniball head for the camera but to stay low-tech the camera could just be screwed to the clamp. The uniball gives me extra height and more flexibility. It is rock solid. I put some cloth/race tape around the harness bar just to protect the powdercoat.

[ckalkhof]

Here is my contribution.
You can buy the delrin bushing from Mcmaster Carr for 12 bucks. PN:6048k75 The delrin will not scratch the support bar. You can bend some scrap alum to make the bracket.

[reganfin]

Originally Posted by Conan

One suggestion: A piece of rubber or thick foam between the camera and the mount to help absorb vibration. It makes a BIG difference in the final video quality.

I have to disagree. I did some A/B tests when I built my mount and found that NOT using anything between the clamp and the harness bar made the image more stable. The padding actually increased the vibrations in the image. However, it does protect the surface of the harness bar from marring.

Unless you are using something like a gimble just mount the camera in as solid a manner as possible. Most video cameras have image stabilization that helps.

[Conan]

Originally Posted by reganfin

I have to disagree. I did some A/B tests when I built my mount and found that NOT using anything between the clamp and the harness bar made the image more stable. The padding actually increased the vibrations in the image. However, it does protect the surface of the harness bar from marring.

Unless you are using something like a gimble just mount the camera in as solid a manner as possible. Most video cameras have image stabilization that helps.

I believe it depends on which type of camera we are talking about (eg: solid state, tape, disk, HD, et. al.), the mount, the material being used, how the camera is attached to the mount and how the mount is attached to the car. Many variables going on. With my camera (mini dv), the padding makes a big difference.

[rocrfella]

Wow that's pretty cool. Does anyone know where I can get an in car camera mount for around $20-$30?