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How to Build a Car Camera Mount

Shooting stable video from inside a moving car is very difficult without some sort of camera mount. Professional car mounts sold by grip equipment houses and professional camera stores can easily cost more than $1,000, and are out of the price range of many independent filmmakers and amateur photographers. Using some basic hardware and a little ingenuity, however, you can make your own car camera mount that should be able to hold most small and medium-sized cameras. With this mount, you can station a camera in the rear of the cab, pointing it out to the front windshield and driver.

Things You'll Need

  • Ball head
  • Metal electrical plate
  • 3/8-inch 16 bolt and nut
  • 2 wide 3/8-inch washers
  • Normal 3/8-inch washer
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Instructions

    • 1

      Drill a 3/8-inch between the edge and the center hole of a metal electrical plate. This will be used to mount the ball head to the plate.

    • 2

      Pass the 3/8-inch bolt (with 16 threads per inch) through the hole you just drilled and hold it into place using a nut.

    • 3

      Place the two wide washers on either side of the metal plate over the center hole, sandwiching the smaller washer from underneath the plate.

    • 4

      Remove the bolt that will hold a child safety seat from the back seat of the car. Remove the plastic housing surrounding the bolt, and bolt the metal plate in its place.

    • 5

      Screw the ball head into the 3/8-inch 16 bolt and then level and attach a camera.

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