DIY car headrest camera mount

[stingOM]

http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/e39-m5-e52-z8-discussion/143656-my-6-diy-headrest-car-camera-mount.html

http://www.ae92gts.com/ae92gts_video_mount.html

[marty]

Thanks for sharing, Sting. Looks interesting, but in my opinion needs some tweak. The first one with PVC tube looks suitable for a light camera, I think a reflex will shake a bit too much (has to be taken in account that the tube is secured only at one side). The 2nd one with aluminum square tube looks lots more robust, what scares me a bit is that is secured to both the seats. This may pose some logistic problems, sometimes there are passengers in the car and eventually a different driver than myself. Maybe an in between solution, aluminum sq. tube secured at one side only that is. Maybe with a foot on the camera side. You gave me something new to think about .

Cheers, M.

[stingOM]

Hi Marty,

Also, you may need to consider safety risk whilst travelling. What will happen in a car crash? Will the bar act as an unexpected metal barrier hitting someones head? I guess my point is that it should only be used when you are stationary.

[marty]

Yep, that is of my concern too. To be hit in the head by the camera or stabbed by the tube would be not nice. I must being becoming too much an optimist for not having thought in first instance about the eventuality of a crash .

Cheers, M.

[Scheimpflug]

I too would be worried about safety with those mounts... especially the "stabbing" concern with the single-sided mount. Seats are designed to move around in impacts to lessen the forces on the passengers, and passengers move around quite a bit as well, so you really never quite know where things will end up.

I made a camera mount for one of my cars a while back, which used the two center ceiling mounting points for the sun visor anchors, and held the camera upside-down tucked in right above the rearview mirror. It worked great, as it kept it out of the way, didn't have any bouncy lever arms or complicated brackets, and had a great view out the front.

If you want some other ideas for automotive camera mounts, you can read the regulations for some of the racing organizations (autocross, etc). There are lots of good recommendations/requirements such as secondary restraint straps, etc.