Attach Your Camera To.... Anything
It is not a secret that I am a big fan of using 1/4" bolts on just about anything to create ad-hoc tripods.
However, this one by Brian Green tops them all.
Brian is the type of guy that hikes, bikes and generally enjoys the good life (I mean the really good life, not the ones that you enjoy on the couch watching Lost).
Brian used some parts from a bicycle tail light to create a rig that will mount on his bicycle handle bars. This alone is a cool concept as it will allow Brian to take great videos of him riding, as well as some great POV and slow shutter speed shots.
But, this does not end here. With this device, you can attach a P&S to almost anything. Remember the aerial tripod? this will convert any stick to an instant high-above-the-planet image taking device.
I am also thinking flash mounting device on door handles, bars and what not.
As a side bonus from reading Brian's blog, I got to know the stickpic - a tripod that get attached to your walking stick. If you're a hiker - you are going to love it.
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Comments
Photographer sydney
this is great . nice post. thanks for sharing.
Zi6 Mounting
Great idea! i have a little Kodak Zi6 that i could use with this idea to create some great POV mountain biking video.
Rad!
Another great post. I've got 4 or 5 of these floating around the garage. Now I can tell the wife why I didn't throw them out all those times she asked me to. Ha!
re: RAD!
@SMX - This sounds like just the thing to do :) I guess that you can shoot both with camera facing you and camera facing the road. I'd love to see some pics when you're done. Just stick 'em on the Flickr group pool or post a comment here.
@Zeke - This is my way to pay off for all those huge PVC constructions that readers get into the garage. by taking a bit of the "junk" out ;)
SLR mounted on a bike
I've heard a lot of people complaining that it might be risky to mount an slr on a mountain bike due the the vibration and shaking. Not sure if its true but would that be a potential hazard for an slrs inner components ?
SLRs and compacts
I did this a couple years ago with my old and not-so-little canon p&s, and it worked fairly well, you do get a fair amount of road buzz (shooting video)on anything but the smoothest pavement. This particular type of reflector mount can flip over to one side or the other if it's not tightened enough and you go over a speedbump with any speed. That's not a knock, just a limitation to be aware of. With today's smaller cameras, this should be much, much less of a problem!
@ sebastienb - this kind of mount would not be strong enough to safely hold an slr of any kind, i might suggest looking elsewhere for a more secure method of attaching your camera to your bike. As for your concern about the vibrations, i can't say with certainty, but i personally wouldn't risk my slr on a mountain bike, the quality difference in the final image over using a p&s would not be worth it for the added danger, and cost of replacement, should something happen.
Chase Jarvis has a comment about a third of the way down this page http://blog.chasejarvis.com/blog/2007/08/chase-jarvis-tech-pov-photograp... in which he states that he's never had a problem with vibrations, hope that's of some help!
Use the little rubber strips to keep the mount from turning
MY GPS and cyclecomputer mounts all come with little rubber shims to fit the mount to the handlebar. If you use them and tighten the mount well, I don't think it will move with the weight of a P&S on it. A dSLR is another story though...
1 4 bolt
Hi Yes but what thread is the 1/4 inch bolt, we seem to have only metric?
john
re: bolts and SLRs
@Jim - The bands are a great idea, will definitely help to reduce vibrations
@John - I have no idea for metric/inch thread o the bolt. The best bet is to take the P&S to the shop and check on location. however, there is some more info here.
Thanks alot for sharing
Thanks alot for sharing this.
The bands are a great idea!
Excellent Tip
Always such great ideas for new and innovative ways to get different shots and perspective with the shots. Just as Zeke put it, never pays to throw anything away and being an habitual collector of all things weird and so called unwanted just does come in handy sometimes. Off to check what other goodies I can use to adapt to tripods. Cheers
re: thanks for the great feedbak
Mariusz,
thansk a ton for all this great feedback. Me and the wife have a long standing conflict on the "to throw or not to throw" debate. I'll let you guess where I'm standing on this issue.
Cool idea!
I never thought to use a bicycle tail light as a mounting rig! Ingenious!
V cool Brian
"Brian used some parts from a bicycle tail light to create a rig that will mount on his bicycle handle bars. " that is very very cool! Great idea, I feel inspired!
hahaha
this is great, thanks for sharing.
Have you seen the StickPic? I'm the inventor
Hi everybody,
Please allow me to intoduce the StickPic shown at www.thestickpic.com. I'm the inventor. I am also a avid backpacker and amature photographer.
I was tired of always being left out of the picture when I hike solo. Because taking a heavy tripod was out of the question on a backpacking trip, I needed to invent something small enough and simple to use so I can be in the picture every time.
That is how I came up with the StickPic.
It's a very small attachement that fits on the tripod mount on most cameras and then wedges on the tips of a hikers trekking pole.
I invite you to take a look and send me your comments and suggestions.
www.thestickpic.com
Happy trails,
Rodney Java
aka SierraShade
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