Car Dash Camera Mount

An inexpensive (CHEAP) and efficient (WORKING) way of mounting a video camera to the dash of my car for recording purposes.

FOR RECORDING ME!

I tried gorilla tripods, mini tripods.

My buddy suggested a bean bag (which we couldn't find anywhere)

but....

This works. It's stable, cheap, and stays where you put it (No matter how bad the driving is!)

Step 1

*CAMERA*

Take your Camera...

This here is my buddy Craig's Sony DCR

Comments

[hirod3]

Great instructable, and a clever idea :) The good times photo is the icing on the cake ;)

[boopha]

LOL, this is so far my favorite step to any project i've read yet! Tooooo funny, "I don't really know if I needed to do it, but I did need somewhere to put pennies" my goodness you sound SO much like my brother who i'm making this for its unreal.

[wirenut1980]

2 thumbs up!!

[Gortess]

ahh... the sony dcr-hc38.... i always did hate that camera...

[Styluss]

Excellent! This is really handy for budget racers (Autocross, Rally Cross, etc). Thanks for the write up!

[KnexFreek]

Nice job!

[shrotiman]

Great idea ! Thanks.

[Pretty Idiot Productions]

Thanks!

[Zion_Sphere]

This is a really good idea and easy to produce and customise. Why didn't I think of this when struggling with the blasted broken tripod and trying to balence my playstation eye ontop of a pile of game cartridges and magazines!? Thanx for the idea.......now, how to fix my camcorder??????

[Pretty Idiot Productions]

Ha!

Thanks Zion!

[Buzzinski]

I did this for our last road trip from Townsville to Brisbane (all up 4000klms over 2 weeks) and back and my wife used her Digital SLR in a Jumbo Sponge just as detailed above.

The only improvement was to add a layer of non slip matting under the sponge so it wouldn't slip off my Camry's sloped dash. 1500+ digital photos and 4 hours of HD Video later it has a permanent place in our car. Thanks for a simple and very effective Ibble.

[Pretty Idiot Productions]

That's great Buzz...
Thank you!

(One thing. I did put a non slip matting under it... step number 4)
;0D

[DELETED_jorgegunn]

So simple yet brilliant now the big Q is whether to try it with my expensive camera??

[thatsgenius]

you can turn it around and make it a cop cam in seconds!

[angelabchua]

that is toooo awesome! and I have to say, that still shot at the end is too cute!

[Pretty Idiot Productions]

I think that end shot is my buddy Craig and I (I'm the bearded one) in the middle of our rendition of "Too much time on my hands" by STYX!

[sickdog74]

Genius! I love it!

[Pretty Idiot Productions]

Thanks!

[halberdear]

who needs one of these when you have a good TT!

[Pretty Idiot Productions]

Who needs a TT when you have one of these!

[kirnex]

 Okay, I actually NEEDED this some months ago, and wish I'd found it!  

This is awesome for being able to record people in front of you as well, obviously. That was my need, having a wacked-out neighbor who tried several times to purposely cause accidents with me.  The police recommended having a dash cam in case she was ever successful in causing one--but how to install and make jitter-proof?  This is the perfect solution.  Must go find a car sponge...

[Pretty Idiot Productions]

Let me know when you post an instructable for "good fences make good neighbours: barbed wire project!"

[thedogsaysocho]

ghetto lol

[Pretty Idiot Productions]

Ghetto works hard to do things expensive stuff can't do at all!

[cdizzle]

this is a great idea

[Pretty Idiot Productions]

Thanks!

[muffinhead]

this is awesome. plus, it gives you more space for loose change when you pull into drive-thrus!

[Pretty Idiot Productions]

Thanks!

[phenoptix]

Great 'ible and even better beard.

[Pretty Idiot Productions]

Thanks... it's my first! ('ible and beard)

[berky93]

instead of pennies and grippy rubber, you could make another hole on the other side of the camera. then pass a strap through one hole, through the grill on one of your windshield defogger and back through the other hole, then strap it together. that will hold it really well. but still a good trick, especially if you just need something fast.

[Pretty Idiot Productions]

This thing never went anywhere. Totally stayed put! I thought of the straps earlier, but I have an 07 Honda Civic. The windshield is at such an angle you can't even get your hand in far enough to reach the defog vents. I also don't really think I needed the pennies... it was more of a last minute add on. Maybe instead of the penny tube, cut out a square storage space for more mini-dv tapes or maybe if I don't have it plugged in, a spot for an extra battery? ...or a slot to hold your mp3 player? A multitasking Sponge? who knows? Thanks berky93

[Phoghat]

Go down to your friendly pharmacy and ask them for a 20 dram or larger vial (vials for pills are measured in drams). A 20 dram should be large enough to hold quarters and you'll have a multi-tasker with quarters for tolls, parking meters etc.

[Pretty Idiot Productions]

Nice Suggestion! Thanks!

[spectral08]

After looking at so many 'ibles on the same topics, it's nice to see something fresh. This looks like a fairly sturdy rig and it's something I haven't seen on this site before, so kudos for that. My only suggestion is that you could perhaps try to reinforce the camera slot to make it easier to insert and remove the camera without ripping up the sponge at all.

[Pretty Idiot Productions]

No rips yet, and still going strong! Thanks

[oniume]

genius!!!!

[Pretty Idiot Productions]

Thank you

[Setarcos]

I can see the numerous podcasting capabilities. Thanks!!

[Pretty Idiot Productions]

That's kind of why we did it! Thanks!