How to make a DIY smartphone gimbal with just a mop, paint roller and tin cans
May 27, 2019
John Aldred
John Aldred is a photographer with over 25 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter – and occasional beta tester – of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.
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Motorised smartphone gimbals have gotten pretty inexpensive over the last couple of years. Something like the Zhiyun Smooth 4 only costs $120, and you can find ones that are even cheaper if you shop around. But there’s something to be said for the humble gravity stabiliser, especially when you can make one yourself.
In this video, the guys from COOPH show us how we can make a DIY smartphone stabiliser using just a mop head, a paint roller and a few tin cans. It’s a super simple project, and the results look pretty good.
The build begins with three tin cans. Two of these you’ll want to empty, removing both the top and bottom of each. In one of those, you’ll want to cut a window so that you can access your phone’s LCD. The third can, you want to keep full. These are then gaffer taped together in a row, with the can with the window cut in it at the top, and the full can at the bottom. Your paint roller gets pushed through the middle can.
The full can acts as a counterweight, with your phone in the one on top that has the window cut into it holding your phone. The full can is heavier than your phone, and the bearings in the roller allow it to balance freely, keeping your phone at the top.
You could just use it as is if you wanted to, but there is a chance the phone won’t stay level, as you’re still grasping that handle. To help eliminate this, a mop handle can be taped to the paint roller handle to take a little more of your own movement out of the equation, giving you a steadier shot.
Considering you probably have these bits lying around your home anyway, it won’t really cost you anything to make one. So, if you wanted a gimbal for your smartphone but don’t have the cash to spend, now you have an option.
John Aldred
John Aldred is a photographer with over 25 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter – and occasional beta tester – of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.
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4 responses to “How to make a DIY smartphone gimbal with just a mop, paint roller and tin cans”
While this is a nice show of diy prowess, this would almost certainly cost more than a cheap gimbal
?
You can get everything needed at the dollar store. 3 cans, a roller, a mop handle, tape =$6
Yeah, I think I’d rather spend 100 bucks on a gimbal than be seen in public with that thing.
This seems to have only 1 axis of stabilization. Please show some footage shot with this rig.