Low Cost Materials Used for Mounting Digital Cameras

Getting a mini-digital camera close to the sporting action has become almost as important as the sport, itself. Many high-definition, (cameras that can record 1080 pixels per frame, or 1080p), sports video enthusiasts have devised a number of effective, low cost ways of getting their cameras into the action.

Often, it involves nothing more than a quick trip to the hardware store. Most mini-digital cameras have mounts that are close to standard PVC pipe sizes. This makes low-cost camera mounts much easier to devise.

The first challenge is to mount a vertical pole to a flat surface. Once again, the best place to look is in the plumbing department. Flanges that have screw holes are easy to find, and they are especially made to mount to a flat surface and receive a PVC pipe. Usually, the best size is one to one-and-a-half inches in diameter.

Once the vertical pole is mounted to the flat surface, the nest challenge is to mount the camera to the pole. If the camera mount is much smaller than the vertical PVC pipe, a reducer-coupler can be added to get the two holes to match in size. If the PVC pipe is close to the size of the camera mount, but not an exact match, duct tape can be wrapped around the pipe, or on the inside of the camera mount, to fill in the gaps. Sometimes epoxy glue works, as well, to help a close fit become an exact fit.
When mounting a camera to an improvised mounting device, some of the considerations are security, vibration, and view.

Security is important, because the cost of losing the camera is usually much higher than the cost of the mounting materials. Adding a lifeline to the camera, in case it falls off of the camera mount is highly recommended. Vibration is often the hardest factor to overcome. Most events that are recorded involve high-speed, jerky motion. The trick is to firmly secure the camera, and have it move along with the mounting surface. A tight fit is the best strategy to overcoming vibration.

Finally, the view that camera sees is an important consideration when devising a mount. The camera can be looking forward, looking backward at the participant, pointing down at the ground, over the shoulder, or in a number of various positions. The view that the participant is trying to achieve becomes a major factor in trying to achieve security, no vibration, and still have the intended view when everything is complete.

Camera mounts can be devised with very low cost. The trick is to achieve the preferred view while maintaining security and keeping vibration low.

There is a growing interest in the use of action sports cameras, such as the GoPro 1080p and similar devices having GoPro mounts that attach them to helmets and other sports equipment. John Meyers is a sports enthusiast who write articles on action cameras and features the action video of the week at GoProSpot.com