Smartphone cameras have easily replaced traditional point-and-shoot cameras. Unless you are an avid photographer, you likely don't miss any of the added features of a proper camera. It's too bad your old tripod isn't compatible with your smartphone. Or is it?
Following a quick trip to the hardware store, we came up with three DIY tripod mounts that are cheap, very easy to build, and most importantly, quite sturdy.
1. The Super Simple DIY Smartphone Tripod Mount
Maybe one day smartphones will come with a compatible female thread adapter. But in the meantime, it looks like you're stuck with purchasing an adapter like the Glif by Studio Neat. That is, unless you dare to build an adapter yourself.
You can start with the most simple DIY smartphone tripod model you can possibly build. These are your basic components:
- Two large binder clips
- Three rubber bands
- A tripod
Attach the binder clips on opposite sides of the tripod base and see whether your smartphone fits in.
In case your phone is smaller and doesn't fit, even with the handles upright, you can also clip one binder clip onto the other.
Next, fix a rubber band to the handles of the binder clips to hold your phone in place. We used two rubber bands on each end to hold a third one that stretches across the tripod base. Make sure the central rubber band is crossed over at least once.
Finally, mount your smartphone and fix it with the rubber band. The result should look something like this:
Experience: We didn't have to purchase any supplies, it was extremely easy to build, and the result was a very stable and versatile smartphone tripod mount. The only catch is that the camera lens isn't centered over the tripod's center, i.e. the pivot point. This can be a problem when taking videos. As you move or rotate the smartphone, the position of the camera lens will be slightly off-axis.
Verdict: Super easy. However, the camera isn't centered over the tripod's pivot point—and some people might find that irritating.
2. The One-Minute DIY Smartphone Tripod Mount
This is another super quick and easy DIY smartphone mount. Here is what you need:
- One binder clip that's large enough to hold your phone
- 1/4-inch hex nut or whatever nut fits your tripod screw thread
- Pliers
- Duct tape
- Tripod
Take the binder clip and bend one of the handles at a 90-degree angle.
Tape the binder clip with duct tape to soften the edges and to secure the bent handle to the clip. After that, you can screw the clip to the tripod by pushing the binder handle through the screw.
Once you've completed the steps above, try fitting your smartphone between the binder clip to see how it sits.
Experience: It's easy to build, but it poses a few practical concerns. The clip is easily strong enough to hold the phone in an upright and tilted position. However, the clip either covers part of the screen or at least the home button. With this setup, however, you can bring the camera lens very close to the pivot point of the tripod.
Verdict: Easy to build and can be positioned very close to the pivot point. However, the clip covers access to the Home button and partially overlaps the screen.
Here is a video demonstration of a similar build:
3. The Semi-Professional DIY Smartphone Tripod Mount
Finally, the most time-intensive, expensive, and hardest project of all three, one that made our visit to the hardware store worthwhile. Despite being somewhat more challenging, this tripod mount is still very much on the fast, cheap, and easy side of DIY projects. Let's break down what you need:
- A steel angle with holes big enough to fit your tripod's screw thread
- A wing nut that fits your tripod's screw thread
- One cheap or spare phone case
- Velcro or Duct tape
- A tripod
We originally set out to glue a hex nut to the outside of the steel angle. However, we ended up simplifying this project because my superglue wasn't strong enough. Every time we tried to mount the angle on my tripod, the nut came off.
So, instead of gluing the nut to the angle, place one of the steel angle's holes over your tripod's screw thread and fix it with a wing nut. Since we started out with a different idea, we only had a hex nut for this project. This was a little harder to screw on.
Next, you have two options. Either tape a spare phone case to the steel angle or use Velcro for a more flexible option. We went with Velcro so we could re-position the phone if we needed to later.
Before attaching the phone to the steel angle, we made sure to align the camera lens with the pivot point on one axis at the very least. We marked the center of the lens on the case and aligned the mark with a matching hole in the steel angle.
This is what the mounted phone looks like:
Experience: As mentioned above, the superglue approach didn't work and we had trouble finding the correct screw. Our advice is to bring your tripod with you to the hardware store to avoid multiple trips. Other than those initial issues, the project was straightforward and provided the most satisfying result of all three.
Verdict: If planned well, this is easy to build and provides the most professional result. With some tweaking, you can even center the camera lens exactly over the pivot point.
Tips for the Hardware Store Visit
If you decide to build one of the two models that depend on screwing something onto your tripod, be sure to bring the tripod or the screw thread with you to the hardware store.
Cameras and tripods typically have an inch-based Whitworth screw thread, rather than a metric ISO screw thread. This is great for readers in North America as you will easily find a matching 1/4 inch hex nut (or wing nut). In a European hardware store, however, you will be hard-pressed to find a matching nut for an inch-based screw thread.
Fortunately, our DIY smartphone tripod had an ISO screw thread (left) in a non-critical position which we could use to replace the original Whitworth one (right). At the hardware store, we got two matching M4 hex nuts (4mm inner diameter).
Alternatively, you could get any other screw and nut combination that fits through the base of your tripod. Note that unless you want to experiment with superglue, it must also fit through a hole in the steel angle.
Inexpensive DIY Smartphone Tripod
With a little time and effort, an awesome DIY smartphone tripod mount can be yours in no time. For the home user, there is definitely no need to purchase a commercial product, especially if you have a few spare nuts and screws lying around your house.
Don't fancy building yourself? Here are the best tripod alternatives for taking photos.