Introduction: Ecofriendly SLR Grip for Phone Camera

By www.facebook.com/Phoenix.Van.De.
About: a crazy art lover... a crazy musician (percussions)... and an even crazier sportsman... For the love of the field, i have and will continue to train anybody who wishes to learn and be as close to 'perfect' as…

An SLR camera is well designed but is limited to right-handed individuals. A mobile phone camera is universal in its use, but then there are struggles in clicking pictures because it is too slim and the controls are too far away.

I came across such SLR grips for phone, but were out of my budget. So I made one for myself.

Supplies

  1. Phone earphone cable
  2. Electric tape
  3. Phone tripod mount
  4. Acrylic sheet
  5. Padding
  6. Metal disk
  7. Metal strip
  8. Screw
  9. Hexnut
  10. Wingnut
  11. Cutter
  12. Adhesive
  13. Hot-glue
  14. Soldering iron

Step 1: Acquiring the Materials

The Main game-changer is a typical earphone cable for mobile phones.

  1. EARPHONES: I used my old worn out apple earphones which had the rubber breaking away, but the cables were working fine. 1pc
    • Alternately, I also planned on salvaging parts from my old selfie stick.
  2. MOUNT: Typical tripod mount. 1pc
  3. METAL DISK: 35mm Ø as the internal width of the mount. 2 pc
  4. METAL STRIP: 100mm Long. 1pc
  5. SCREW: 4mm long. 3 pc
  6. NUT: 2 pc
  7. WINGNUT: 1pc

Step 2: Opening the Mic Control

This part is the most important for your shutter.

Open the mic unit and you will see 3 controls inside:

  • Volume Up
  • Call accept/cancel
  • Volume down

Depending on your phone, the volume controls will allow zooming in/out and the middle button will click pictures.

Step 3: Create the Grip Housing

Create the grip for the unit.

Dont make the grip too big that it shadows the phone.

Keep the dimensions around 3" high, 1.5"x1.5" wide

Cut the acrylic sheets along these sizes.

Secure the earphone controls on the top with hotglue.

On the top, create a second layer to sandwich the earphone controls. and puncture a hole on top above the buttons.

Step 4: Making the Buttons

Shutter release buttons and other buttons can be made in a similar way.

Paste a layer of tape or paper on the underside between the top layer of acrylic and the earphone controls covering the holes. Cut small pieces of the eraser/rubber of the size of the holes and secure them in place with the hot glue.

Step 5: Securing the Cable

Wrap the earphone cable with electric tape to strengthen it and keep it from breaking apart further.
On the side of the grip, keep a hole wide enough to allow the cable to pass and secure it together with hot glue/adhesive

Step 6: Fixing the Mount

Take the Metal discs and puncture holes 2mm Ø at 0°, 45°, 90°, 135°, 180°, 225°, 270°, 315°

Place them on both sides of the mount and run a screw through. Fix it on the other end with a wing nut.

This helps in rotating the camera between a portrait and a landscape frame.

Step 7: Finishing the Unit

On the Grip, Fix the metal strip with 2 screws and nuts and secure the other end to the wing nut.

In case of a left-handed photographer, the metal strip can be unscrewed and fixed in the other direction.

Cut the padding and paste it on the grip with the adhesive.

Step 8: Mount the Phone and Click Away

Plug in the earphone cable in the earphone jack and click away.