I've been trying to find a way to mount my iPhone to a tripod head or camera arm for the upcoming season. There are a couple of commercial mounts, and a LOT of DIY tutorials on the web, but they all seem to be geared for the 3G/GS or the Iphone 4 without a cover, which is a dangerous proposition in itself, but especially when wanting to use it 20 feet up in a tree!
I finally figured the best, and simplest, method would be to modify the existing belt clip/holster for the Otterbox Defender to mount to a tripod or head. Here is a quick and simple way that I did it this morning:
First, I bought a 1/4" - 20 "T-Nut" (I've also seen them referred to as a welding nut or connector nut) from the hardware store.
I flattened out the edge of the nut so that it would mount flush.
I originally considered mounting it to the inside of the holster, but the neck of the nut was longer than I wanted, and would have protruded too far outside the holster, which I think would cause a bit of instability. Therefore, I decided to drill a hole in the clip, instead.
While I had the drill handy, I decided to mark a hole for the rear facing camera to "see" through while it was mounted in the holster. I removed the soft cover from my phone and used it as a template to mark the hole with a Sharpie.
Then I drilled the hole in the holster. I ended up having to use a fairly large bit to avoid vignetting when the camera was attached.
I applied a generous amount of Liquid Nails to the neck of the T-Nut...
...and then pressed the nut into the clip. I was careful to get a tight fit when I drilled the hole.
I used pliers to press the nut tight against the clip. Once the adhesive was dry, I simply screwed my Bogen quick release plate to the nut on the clip.
Finally, I attached the quick release plate to the tripod head, replaced the Otterbox cover on the phone, an snapped it into the holster, as designed.
Rear facing camera (actually attached to a monopod)
Front facing camera (attached to monopod)
With the quick release/tripod head setup, I can use the head to adjust between vertical and horizontal.
I can also mount directly to a tabletop tripod, or perhaps my Gorillapod, and adjust the level of the camera using the rotating clip on the holster. I think it's going to work well!
I finally figured the best, and simplest, method would be to modify the existing belt clip/holster for the Otterbox Defender to mount to a tripod or head. Here is a quick and simple way that I did it this morning:
First, I bought a 1/4" - 20 "T-Nut" (I've also seen them referred to as a welding nut or connector nut) from the hardware store.
I flattened out the edge of the nut so that it would mount flush.
I originally considered mounting it to the inside of the holster, but the neck of the nut was longer than I wanted, and would have protruded too far outside the holster, which I think would cause a bit of instability. Therefore, I decided to drill a hole in the clip, instead.
While I had the drill handy, I decided to mark a hole for the rear facing camera to "see" through while it was mounted in the holster. I removed the soft cover from my phone and used it as a template to mark the hole with a Sharpie.
Then I drilled the hole in the holster. I ended up having to use a fairly large bit to avoid vignetting when the camera was attached.
I applied a generous amount of Liquid Nails to the neck of the T-Nut...
...and then pressed the nut into the clip. I was careful to get a tight fit when I drilled the hole.
I used pliers to press the nut tight against the clip. Once the adhesive was dry, I simply screwed my Bogen quick release plate to the nut on the clip.
Finally, I attached the quick release plate to the tripod head, replaced the Otterbox cover on the phone, an snapped it into the holster, as designed.
Rear facing camera (actually attached to a monopod)
Front facing camera (attached to monopod)
With the quick release/tripod head setup, I can use the head to adjust between vertical and horizontal.
I can also mount directly to a tabletop tripod, or perhaps my Gorillapod, and adjust the level of the camera using the rotating clip on the holster. I think it's going to work well!
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