Filed under: Accessories, Hardware, Video, Found Footage, iPhone
Found Footage: Inexpensive do-it-yourself tripod mount for iPhone
iPhone Savior featured this short video clip this morning by Scott Patrick showing how to use an inexpensive Contour iPhone case and some common hardware to make an iPhone tripod mount.
There are two impressive points about this mount; first, by using the Contour case, you know that the iPhone is going to be held securely (my wife used one for over a year and never had it inadvertently open up), and second, Scott made it so it will work with any standard tripod camera mount head.
With the tripod Scott is using, it would be simple to flip the camera 90° to put it into a landscape configuration. This should work well for both still photography with any iPhone or video work with the iPhone 3GS.
[Thanks to TUAW reader Michael for pointing us to this video]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
tuaw said 10:25PM on 6-30-2009
Great solution for mounting on a bike. I love it!
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Michael said 1:27PM on 6-30-2009
I really don't see the point of this with such a basic camera. This plus the steady-cam guy... why?
If you are going to have that gear on you, the higher quality devices you usually put on them aren't going to be much of a nuisance because you're already carting around heavy and large mounts.
The beauty of an iPhone camera or video camera is the portability, these mounts destroy that.
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jonathan said 1:49PM on 6-30-2009
well itd be cool for like what he mentioned. mount on ur mountain bike handlebars set it to video mode and off u go!
George said 2:12PM on 6-30-2009
Why not?
The dude is an innovative thinker and obviously solved a problem that he wanted to use the phone for.
It isn't like he created a waterproof case attached it to his fishing line as a sinker and turned the video capture on so that he could record himself actually catching a fish, what would be the use in that? [chuckle]
Michael said 2:17PM on 6-30-2009
Ok, like Jonathan mentioned, it could be handy on stuff like a mountain bike, or maybe mounting it to a hat/helmet as a small video camera.
I'm just mentioning that when attached to such a large tripod, it defeats the purpose of having something portable.
YodaMac said 3:55PM on 6-30-2009
I see your point about portability, but disagree somewhat.
If I have ANYTHING that shoots video, I want some sort of option available to me to mount it for steady shots. Not everything calls for "shakey-cam".
That said, a large tripod or steady-cam device would be impractical for "on the go" impromptu videos. But perhaps some sort of lightweight Mono-pod is the answer. I saw one recently that opens at the bottom into 3 small legs so it can stand relatively unattended. Hmmm...
Patrick Rigney said 12:39PM on 7-01-2009
I appreciate all the comments on this. Rex is right, tuaw got my name wrong, but that's cool. Just to clarify, I've got friends who often use Cycorder or Qik on jailbroken iPhones for video recording, sometimes even when riding bikes or ATVs, etc. This was an attempt to find a quick solution that wouldn't let the phone get crushed in the process, and it works. I agree with the poster who commented that a ball mount of some kind would be cool for quick landscape mode, etc. My goal was simply to craft something quickly, and I ended up doing this mostly out of parts in my junk box that probably cost less than a buck all in. Again, thanks for all the comments, love it or hate it, always good to get feedback.
Daniel Brusilovsky said 1:54PM on 6-30-2009
The problem with this is it requires drilling into a specific case. There needs to be a better solution, even though this is great.
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Panda said 2:02PM on 6-30-2009
Theoretically, this would work with just about any hard case
rob said 2:01PM on 6-30-2009
Now we're just missing the self timer in the camera app...
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Tom Lopy said 3:08PM on 6-30-2009
The Iphone still has no ability to really take photography with a quality high enough to be considered enjoyable.
Maybe for a drunken memory or something.
[link removed] is actually able to send audiobooks to the Iphone.
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Scott said 7:07PM on 6-30-2009
Big deal. I'd like to see a rotating joint for landscape.
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exNewt said 7:11PM on 6-30-2009
I prefer this iPhone tripod mount...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/opusmark/sets/72157611264211206/
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Nate said 9:53PM on 6-30-2009
I have the Contour Showcase on my 3G... it really is the BEST case for the iPhone... That's the benefit of being both soft and hard at the same time!
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rex said 11:29PM on 6-30-2009
this video was not made for scott patrick .... its patrick and he made the video for scott jordan... the owner of scottevest who on a daily basis goes on hikes and bike rides and walks while streaming live on his site. he also streams live all day from his office with a show called scott tv business from the inside out.
you can find more info about scott and his many inventions/camera mounts at scottevest.com
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rex said 11:34PM on 6-30-2009
this video is in reply to this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyT-Z0WvPYE
the guy in the video is patrick
he says hey scott.... patrick here!
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grifmusic said 3:51PM on 7-03-2009
best solution yet! nearly free and ultra portable!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fLHu79ZCt4
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grifmusic said 3:52PM on 7-03-2009
Whoops, pasted wrong video! sorry. Here's the BEST solution!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNJaI5omq_0
airmanchairman said 11:32AM on 7-04-2009
I've got a PED3 iPhone fixed rotating stand and a Naja King flexible rotating stand, and I reckon they would be just perfect for this purpose as well:
The PED3 could easily be held in the hand (at the wide base or even further up) and keep the phone real steady; the Naja King even better as it would give you more variable height and position and allow it to stand free.
I would imagine the Pivotal Podium stand, with its even more flexible ball joint would give greater freedom of rotation than the PED3 but probably not as good as the Naja King in terms of overall flexibility of height and position.
It would also be eminently easier to attach these stands to a professional, semi-professional or D.I.Y. tripod stand without physically affecting the iPhone in any way.
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