A few weeks ago I made this camera holder for my Samsung Galaxy S4 out of a piece of 1 inch aluminum angle bar. The part in the photo that is attached onto the tripod with the C clamp is the holder. I’m using a C clamp to hold it on because I have not yet drilled a hole in the holder and added a 1/4 inch nut to fasten it to the tripod foot.
I have a Body Glove rubber protective case on the S4, and it slides right into the holder snugly and will not come out unless I give it a good pull. I have been using it for a few weeks and it comes in so handy that I had to blog it. When I want to take a hands free snapshot or a movie, it’s the only way to go. It’s just like a third hand. The original reason I just had to make it was because I wanted to do time lapse movies, and holding a cell phone absolutely still for even just a few minutes is nearly impossible and my arm gets tired and I have to give up. Time lapse videos are great, they can show a car trip of a half hour in just a minute or less. But the camera has to be held still during the shoot. And that’s too much for a person to do with his hands.
Also, the holder allows the camera to be mounted on a person or bicycle, like a GoPro video camera. With this holder mounted to a hat or helmet, I could get some fantastic videos. I can now mount the holder onto a remote control copter and fly it overhead. There seems to be no end to the places to go and things to do when the camera can be held and positioned optimally.
Someone should sell these, but make them out of tough plastic so they’ll last for awhile. Also add some adjustments so that one holder could fit many different sized cell phones. Someone could make a lot of money with a successful design.