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Building a Bicycle Camera Mount

Can you add a picture of the completed clamp, and one of it attached to the camera, and maybe even one on the bike itself - just for completeness, like...

Andrew
Wed, 2 Nov 2005 02:31:26 -0800

Good idea, Andrew . . . I'll try to get some picture up by this weekend. And I'll even post a snap of the ride down the mountain. 8-)

Chieh Cheng
Wed, 2 Nov 2005 09:46:00 -0800

Just built one, some minor differences with your design but it looks like it'll work a charm. I'm looking forward to trying it tomorrow.

Will take a picture of the camera mounted in daylight since I've only got the one camera and the flash in a mirror doesn't work.

David Scrimshaw
Thu, 3 Nov 2005 20:10:45 -0800

Andrew, I added four more pictures in the article. One is the completed mount sitting on the table. The other picture is the mount and camcorder mounted on a bicycle handle bar. There is now a picture from the bike ride. And I added a picture of some nice wing nuts with built-in washers that I found in Hawaii.

Here is an additional picture, shown below, of just the mount on the bicycle.

Chieh Cheng
Sun, 6 Nov 2005 14:39:14 -0800

I'm super happy with the camera mount. I've posted photos on my blog.

David Scrimshaw
Mon, 7 Nov 2005 15:02:35 -0800

Dear Chieh,
I love the camera mount you made.

I am hoping of making one my self and then putting my family camera on.

Great Camera Mount,
Alex and Foxy

Alex
Tue, 10 Jan 2006 08:32:36 -0800

excellent idea wantin to do the katy trail and have video moments to share, and unit will wok with still also! modify by using lanyard to prevent from falling due to vibration like a cableguy/guide

d4sax2k1
Wed, 8 Mar 2006 05:16:00 -0800

I'll be damned. I never figured that would work, so I considered RC shock absorbers, dampers, and a dry box, never did anything as a result ... KISS wins again!

But show us a short video clip, I still can't believe the vibration isn't a problem.

Anon
Wed, 15 Mar 2006 15:20:01 -0800

Anon, vibration could be a problem. Image stabilization on the camcorder should be on at all times. When the road is smooth then it's no big deal. But on bumpy roads, I got a head-ache watching the video. Riding slower helps as well.

Shock absorbers and dampers may still be the way go to if you are looking for ultra smooth video footage.

I think the best lesson is from the 1976 documentary movie, "C'était un Rendezvous". Director Claude Lelouch drove his Ferrari through the streets of Paris at dawn illegally, averaging over 100 MPH. His wife filmed the entire movie in one take. The end result was a silky smooth footage, despite pulling high g-force in several hard corners and last second corrections. The camera never jerked.

How did she do it? What equipment she used? I don't know. But I love to hear about it if you know the answer.

Chieh Cheng
Tue, 21 Mar 2006 11:29:54 -0800

good job

steve peika
Tue, 28 Mar 2006 20:49:32 -0800

A brass bolt with steel? Don't mix metals as the metals will set up an electrical current.

adrian
Wed, 24 May 2006 06:58:01 -0700

I've a different solution, but the result is the same: camera tripod for my bike. My biggest problem was the vibration, 'cause my bike is motorized. The camera is mounted on the handlebar, of course. I've transformed a standard pocket tripod using L shape steel parts and made the shock absorber from hot glue /with a glue gun/
See the result: Bumblebee - Motorized Bicycle
scroll down to the images...

Gabor
Thu, 22 Jun 2006 13:05:20 -0700

Awesome! I've been meaning to try this for a while, and had a sort-of-similar but slightly more complex concept for how it might work. Your idea will probably work better and is way easier. I'm going to give it a whirl this weekend!

Just a quick note about a slight typo in the text: When you give the "parts list", you say "1/4"-20 Wing Nut (2)", but the design actually calls for three of them. :)

Irfon-Kim Ahmad
Thu, 21 Sep 2006 07:15:47 -0700

Thanks for pointing out the typo! Just fixed it. Good luck this weekend.

Chieh Cheng
Thu, 21 Sep 2006 10:04:40 -0700

I have a bicycle trailer which I attached a camera too, see video here:

Chris
Sat, 04 Nov 2006 19:40:46 -0800

The main trouble with this camera mount is you get photos of peoples' backs. I mounted a camera on a rear rack aimed backwards and it works really nicely. Take a look at Who Goes Out in the Midday Sun? which has photos of and from the mount. Next time I'd shoot more verticals, but hey, live and learn!

Matt Cole
Tue, 28 Nov 2006 22:00:34 -0800

Very good.I make one and use in my motorcycle,for photos and film.Very cheap
I use inox screws.
Ricardo
Rio de Janeiro Brasil

Ricardo Leve
Thu, 07 Dec 2006 05:10:08 -0800

I have made a mount with suspention, i got too much schocks in the video at first to ive made a suspended sysem. it works exellent for the big bumps, hopping off the side walk is not visable on the video, super! but the small vibrations where a problem, the camera began oscilating ( vibrating ) at a certain frequency, moastly because i used sheet metal to make the bracket from

now i am making a new one with a aircylinder for suspention together with a spring and i re-desinged it to thicker sheet metal and shorter pieces of metal ill upload it as soon as its tested and finished

Arjen Helder
Wed, 22 Aug 2007 05:57:07 +0000

Neat, Arjen. It would be interesting to see your suspension system. Please upload pics when you have a chance.

Chieh Cheng
Wed, 22 Aug 2007 17:31:58 +0000

Thanks. I slapped one together using a broken light mount and $2.12 worth of hardware.

My movies had quite a bit of shaking and clicking/bouncing noise.
Also, when riding rough the camera would pivot slightly.
Until I fix that, it's a bit nerve wracking to have an expensive camera on the bike.

TheRammer
Tue, 11 Sep 2007 01:11:02 +0000

Where would you find the clamps like the one shown in the picture? Or what was the clamps from?

robert
Sun, 23 Sep 2007 02:03:50 +0000

robert, see the article that this thread is related to.

Chieh Cheng
Sun, 23 Sep 2007 20:02:59 +0000

how about a camera mount strong enough to hold a nikon d2h + flash. I'm working on one now but i'm open to ideas

dan lee
Tue, 30 Oct 2007 01:08:58 +0000

If you use a shorter bolt without the wingnut on top you can screw a small manfrotto ball head to this. For a D2h you might try using a larger diameter bolt for a medium format camera ball head (with a quick release plate). if you mount this upside down the camera won't be inclined to swivel forward or backward from the weight of the slr

klikstop32
Thu, 06 Dec 2007 18:09:34 +0000

Perfect guide, did one to my singlespeed bike and it works really good. Finally I can ride and take pictures/videoclips without "risking" my life ^^

Jerry
Tue, 05 Feb 2008 13:17:07 +0000

I use a Minoura standard water bottle mount for handlebars with a metal plate attached instead of a bottle holder. Cost $25 to $30.

Barry Stephens
Wed, 06 Feb 2008 04:12:10 +0000

Will the camera's tripod mount be able to handle the stresses of off road mt biking?

Greg W.
Wed, 17 Dec 2008 18:08:17 +0000

Sorry, forgot to put the email on the post.

PS - I couldn't find an el cheapo cateye mount but I did use a front reflector mount

This unit had two screws (1 screw tightened the actual mount to the handlebar and 1 screw attached the front reflector piece to the actual mount). The screw that attaches the units I took out and drilled it to 1/4". The washer wouldn't sit flatly so I dremel'd the reflector off of the front unit so basically I had a plastic spacer to line up the units so the washer would be flat.

When I get home tonight, I'll upload a pic.

Greg W.
Wed, 17 Dec 2008 18:11:19 +0000

A lighter-weight camera will definitely put less stress on the mount and on itself. A metal tripod mount screw hole on the digital camera will help as well.

Chieh Cheng
Wed, 17 Dec 2008 21:05:53 +0000

Here is a pic of the camera mount I made from a front reflector.

Greg W.
Thu, 18 Dec 2008 18:57:37 +0000

Here is my finished product. I modified the earlier design to include a metal corner bracket I picked up from Ace Hardware. The cool thing is one of the predrilled holes in the corner bracket lined up perfectly with the tripod mount on the camera so only had to drill one 1/4" hole through the center and taper it with a 3/8" bit.

In addition, I had to dremel off about 1/2" of the corner bracket to line it up with the top of the camera.

I then got an old mouse pad and cut it into 3 strips. I put 2 strips on the bottom to pad the camera and 1 strip on the left to pad it on the left.

The center 1/4" hole on the bracket is used to mount the bracket to the mount and the other is used to mount the camera to the bracket. I hope this will alleviate some of the stress on the tripod mount; I am not an engineer so this will obviously have to be tested

Here is a 1 min video of a test ride down the road with the camera mounted on the bike.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1591050373883484007& . . .

Here is a pic of the completed bracket w/ camera mounted on the bike.

Greg W.
Mon, 29 Dec 2008 20:01:29 +0000

My JVC Camcorder has a Credit Card Remote and some of the newer Point & Shoot Digital Camera's are coming with them also. Taking Stills while moving might still be a challenge even with one of those...

Thanks for your mount hack I like it. I'm looking for ideas to make one to mount my camera's on my Riding mower and also one for mounting to My Tuba & Saxaphone for Parade Cam!

PJ

PJ Hollins
Sun, 07 Jun 2009 16:28:24 +0000

Wait, your mouth waters when you get envious listening to stories? Sounds like a neurological disorder. You might want to get that checked out. :)

Jack C
Sat, 19 Sep 2009 21:21:08 +0000

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Title: FS: Bicycle Camera Mount
Weblog: Camera Hacker
Excerpt: I was inspired by [the Building a Bicycle Camera Mount] article months ago. Enough so that I decided to make one. After a friend saw what I had I was making another. I decided to go ahead and make a bunch and sell them through ebay. If your interested please visit BICYCLE CAMERA MOUNT BIKE DIGITAL V . . .
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