Bicycle bell camera mount
Jens Almström realized that the screw inside his bicycle bell was the same size as the screw on his tripod. So now his bike bell is easily converted into a camera mount! He posted a simple HOWTO about it. Bicycam (Thanks, Jess Hemerly!)
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Depends. Does the camera spin when you thumb the lever?
Why would you thumb the lever once the camera is mounted? It no longer works as a bell at that point.
The thing I've run into with this is finding just the right bell. I've tried 3, all of which had screws on the inside that are too narrow.
Much great video could come from this. I could imagine nice music videos of bike rides through interesting places.
I think what SMOOBLY @1 was suggesting is if the lever could be used to pan the camera, similar to the way a tripod works.
@DP: Yeah I realized that after I'd posted the comment already. But you'd still have to hold the lever down to keep it from snapping back to the original position (I think) which would probably cause me to fall over or crash into a parked car. :)
It's cool that you don't have to destroy the bell to use it as a mount, but I'd worry about the camera coming loose after a bit. I would love the thumb panning feature though!
Using a rubber washer and wing nut as in this instructable for a cheap mount has worked really well for me. Besides, I don't want my ding dinging and flickriding to be mutually exclusive. ;)
Uhm, is anyone else curious how in the world Jens "realized" that the screw *inside* his bicycle bell was the same size as the screw on his tripod??? Perhaps it's a natural curiosity to have if you're an avid cyclist (which I am not).
Photojojo had something similar over the summer. I set up my pocket camera on my handlebar with the instructions and had a great time filming my commute and various jaunts. One drawback was the lens direction was fixed -- if you wanted to show something to the side you had to move your handlebars, which sometimes isn't wise on a busy road or pathway. So the bell's thumb lever could add some sideways motion to the camera...
http://photojojo.com/content/diy/attach-a-camera-to-your-bike/
@lummels
Some of us can't stop tinkering with the bike bell when forced to wait around for whatever reason.
Despite that, it's still a brilliant idea. I've taken my bell apart and reassembled it countless times. Ironically, often while trying to figure out how to mount a camera to my bars.
Why not just make a tripod mount from scratch that is made specifically for your camera?
Not only would it be infinitely more creative and interesting to make, but it would also look a lot less hacky than this.
This would be very handy for those times I've been almost killed on the road and wished I had a way to record the event so our city council (who insist that the roads are safe for cyclists because the police "never see anyone" in cars behaving badly)could see first hand why we need better cycling facilities... Nice find!
Nice hack! I happen to have the exact same dingy bell on my bike. I'll try it out tomorrow for a Certain Little Ride That Happens the Last Friday of Every Month.
@#1: No, it will not spin, because the type of bell that he is using is a spring-loaded double hammer type bell; no spinner. When you push the thumb-lever, the hammer strikes the top half of the bell, and when the lever is released the hammer snaps back and strikes the bottom half of the bell, which happens to be tuned to a different, usually slightly lower tone, creating a musical BING-BONG sound.
Also, it may be possible to ring the BONG half of the bell tone sequence even if the top half of the bell is missing.
Earlier this summer, I discovered that this type of bell is also quite useful for holding your map if you don't have a binder clip mounted to your handlebars for the purpose. The paper does interfere with the bell action, however.
/bikenerd
oops! I meant next Friday.
I'm waiting for a camera that looks and sounds like that bell.
If the camera does not pivot, what then is the point, because it does not look like it is positioned in order to get a decent picture while riding the bike. I mean, don't get me wrong, this is definitely cool, but I don't get the point of it.
I made a sub-pocket sized tripod thusly:
Get a 1/4-inch eyebolt. Get a length of nylon cord the length of a loop from your outstretched feet to your camera focusing position. By pulling up on the camera you create a triangle of tension that helps steady the camera pretty well and allows for complete freedom of movement.
Ummm...if the camera is on your handlebars, it already pivots.
A camera on the bars will suffer very badly from vibration. Much better to mount the camera on your head or helmet. I've seen quite a few accounts online from cyclists who have done this for various reasons, but principally, as per blackbrrrd@11, to capture dangerous behaviour by other road-users. I'm sure searching youtube will find many examples.
If only this became mainstream (a few well publicised incidents might suffice) then drivers might hesitate to cut up cyclists, pass too closely, etc, in the knowledge that they might be filmed doing so. Helmets, in their role as camera platforms, might even finally demonstrate an actual positive effect on cycle safety!
There have been dozens of these posted on instructables, although my favorite is this
http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY:-Bicycle---Steady-Cam---mount/
And yes, I like that even better than my own. My one issue is unless you bike very badly, the videos just turn out boring. Lots of peoples backsides, slow scenery and the like...