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DIY iPhone 4/S Camera Mount for about $25

9K views 23 replies 13 participants last post by  MX5 JOE 
#1 · (Edited)
I've wanted to have a good method to record my autocross runsand track day laps but I have not really been willing to take the plunge on a GoPro. I have a weird thing with gadgets/tech in that I have a hard time rationalizing something that does only one thing. It is also due to my cheapness (frugal perhaps...), I wont lie. This has been taken to a new level since I got an iPhone and I feel like it does so many things so well, I should be able to use it for the purpose of recording my runs.
This is for my Hard Dog Sport Double Diagonal bar with 1.5" tubing. You will need to adjust for your bar if it is a different size tubing.

Version 1.0 was based on THIS

I grabbed a cheap Garmin Mount off of eBay and a cheap iPhone case from Meritline (awesome place BTW for cheap gadgety stuff/accessories...). Maybe if I would have bough the real deal Garmin mount instead of the eBay special, but still, I am not sure about the strength of the suction cup. The GoPro wins here as it was designed to do this

I don't have pics of the final product, but I'll just say it didn't inspire enough confidence to take my iPhone, probably my most loved possession, and hang it off the car while driving it in anger. So, it never even got a test run.

Version 2 came from this thread posted by OhNe0z HERE and specifically, the mount he found on another forum HERE which I am going to borrow pics from since I didn't think ahead to document all of this. I made some changes to the original in that thread, so I thought it was worth its own how-to.

So, here is what you need (All the links are her so if you want to grab it, you can buy it all online. I purchased everything but the SnapMount locally. ):

1. #2 Conduit Hanger
-I used a number #2, 1.5" hanger for my roll bar with 1.5" DOM tubing (Hard Dog Sport Roll Bar). You may need to go up to a #3 or #4 if you have 1.75" DOM tubing or greater.
2. 1.5" Rubber coupling
-This should work out fine for pretty much any size bar. You will need to slice it end-to-end to get it on the bar and trim so it fits (pics later in the post)
3. Table mount Tripod
-This is what I used base on the OP, but you could probably get others to work.
4. SnapMount Tripod Mount for iPhone 4/4S
-This was the piece de resistance. I discovered this through Googling and must say I am happy with the quality. I was concerned on how well it would grip the phone and planned two wrap rubber bands or something to secure it, but it holds very tight.

Optional Items:
5. Plastidip
-I coated the conduit hanger before assembly for 2 reasons: The first is that the galvanized conduit is ugly. The second was I wanted something that was durrable and would help avoid scratching the bar then I took it on and off.
6. Long Camera strap for a point and shoot
-In case the mount breaks I don't want the phone to fly off and bounce around the cabin or out of the car.

First step, if you go with the optional items, would be to Plastidip the Conduit Hanger. Follow the directions on the can. Hanging it is the best way do get good coverage and nat have it stick to the newspaper or cardboard you are spraying it on (ask me how I know...)

Ok, now that is done, let's put it together:
First, Unscrew this screw to disassemble the tripod. The legs will come out and there will be two identical plates. You will just need one.



Here is how it will go together:


You may need to grind the little plates to fit. I did for the #2 Conduit I used, but for the #3 I test fitted, I did not.

Take the 1.5" rubber coupler and toss the clamps, then cut it from end to end like this:


You may need to trim it to get it to fit around the bar with the clamp.


OK, now it is time to install this bad boy. You should have a pile of stuff that looks like this.


As I said, I have the camera strap and the Plastidip, but you don't need this if you wanna do it on the cheap. I am just paranoind (hence the strap) and anal about clean appearance on mods (Plastidip).

(Also, sorry the image quality is not so good going forward. Taking photos in my dark garage with the top up on the car and a car cover over it)

Put the cut couple on your bar:


Put your assembled conduit hanger and tripod over the coupler, tighten the the conduit hanger with the bolt and nut that it came with:


Attach SnapMount/iPhone to the Tripod/Conduit Hanger/Couple Assembly:


Align it to get the shot you want and you are good to go! You can use the regular iPhone camera app or any video app with this. I have used Harry's Lap Timer Pro. It is a great app that does video and does some basic data logging and overlays it with your video.

Here is an example of video taken with the mount using Harry's Lap Timer Pro:
[VIMEO]27520066[/VIMEO]
The only problem I want to sort out is the audio. Lots of wind noise on the mic. I am going to try a few things with foam next season, but if you have any ideas, let me know.
 
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#2 ·
try using the earbuds/mic but with foam over the mic to muffle out wind noise?
 
#4 ·
get a digital recorder and put it under the hood or next to the exhaust pipe, then just sync the vid to the audio in a video editing program, win
 
#10 ·
The shake is not too bad IMO. Not perfect, but I'm not making Citizen Kane, just looking to see where I am being slow and hopefully improving my driving. It does shake a bit, as you can see in the vid, but I'm OK with it. The sound things is a bummer though. If it were in the car with the top up and the windows closed, it would be fine. Just too much wind with the top down.

The video FPS seems fine to me when I record it and watch it on the phone or computer. Might lose a few FPS being uploaded to Vimeo.
 
#11 ·
I have almost the same setup as you do! Very nice man! Ill try to get pics of mine soon, but its essentially the same thing, but clamped with two pipe clamps to a flange type fixture to the same snap mount.

I have went a step further with the audio. I might be a bit ocd as well, but i cannot stand the wind buffeting noise on any videos. Ok, so this idea was cooking in my head for about 3 months.. Watched a bunch of videos, and read a bunch of articles, and here is what i did:

Take an old mic, i had a 10ft old 3.5" one that you used to hook up to a computer before video chat cams were used with their mics.. Something like this, but this alone will not work with an iPhone!! You need to hot-wire a 1kOhm resistor in there and also use a special iPhone 3.5" jack(you can see the difference that there is four contacts instead of the usual three). I had an old pair of iPhone headphones which were blown but the jack was still good so i used that.
Now you can wire everything together: cut the iPhone jack about halfway to the headphones, call through(ohm meter) the iPhone jack to find which wire is the mic and which is the ground, you don't need the L/R headphone wires. Next, soldering: you'll have to put the 1kOhm resistor in series with the microphone. So, everything gets wired: input>1kOhm>mic>ground.

I hope that makes sense... And last i put a nice piece of foam rolled up on top of the microphone. I found the best place to attach the mic is right on the top of the rear bumper maybe a foot to the left from the exhaust(rasp on stock exhaust is mehh anywhere else).

EDIT: I found the video i was basing this on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k90FsGSTu1U but instead of the huge mic, use your own small mic! and i didn't use headphones output as well...

Anyway, sorry for such a long post! But i do hope that this will help someone sometime!! And then we can see much better videos with awesome exhaust sounds, instead of wind noise!! :mrgreen:


Here is a little video that i made while testing out the setup! :phillyb:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyTc0c_1I8A
 
#12 ·
#14 ·
I tried the same exact thing (except with my digital camera), with pretty much the same hardware, and in my car , the video was great up until 5k RPMs- above that and the vibrations overcame the capabilities of the image stabilization.​
 
#15 ·
This sounds nerdy, but it's pretty easy to do when you're faced with that problem. Edit the footage thorugh Adobe AfterEffects and use the Tracking tool. If you do it manually, it allows you to stabilze the fottage using anchor points (like the eyeball vent and the mirror). Once those are set, the program tracks the footage around the points and you have a rock solid camera. :D
 
#17 ·
That audio set up seems cool. I may have to give it a go after I try some cheapo things. I am not looking to make a great piece for the ages, just something to look at my runs. Being able to hear the engine would be nice to be able to tell how much I am screwing up my throttle inputs. If I figure out a cheap way to to it, I'll post it but is it still a few months away from taking the car out of hibernation.
 
#20 ·
I thought about taping a cotton ball over the mic on my camera. Enough to allow some sound, but not so much that you cant hear the run. Just an idea, although I dont use my 4th gen Ipod.

My fastest... wasted run this past sunday:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LX9RzOwWFU

** NSFW ** not safe around kids or gentle folks.

I think I said the F word... sounds like it. Turn the volume down if you need to.
 
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