DIY Image Stabilizer for Your Digital Camera
Here’s a little DIY fun for the weekend. It’s a video of how to make an image stabilizer to reduce camera shake. All you need is some string, a bolt and a washer (or some other small weight).
$1 Image Stabilizer For Any Camera – Lose The Tripod – For more amazing video clips, click here
Of course this won’t stop all camera shake but it is a system that I’ve seen a number of people use (or variations of it) and it does cut down camera movement at least a bit.
36 Responses to “DIY Image Stabilizer for Your Digital Camera” - Add Yours
February 3rd, 2008 at 1:28 am
When I first saw the name of the article with DYI in it, I thought it was going to be really stupid. (like other DYI articles here?
)
But now, I think it’s kind of cool. I might even try this one.
February 3rd, 2008 at 2:44 am
Wow, what a fine discovery this is. I’m definitely going to use this. I do own a tripod, but it is a really clumsy thing to carry around, especially with my trips to mountains. This will make it all so much more easier.
The only thing that might bother me (but will not, because I am not that type of guy) would be the looks on my friends faces. They’ll get used to it, I suppose.
Thanks for the great tip!
February 3rd, 2008 at 4:18 am
Wow, such a simple tip but so effective. thanks for the video – very helpful!
February 3rd, 2008 at 4:22 am
I’ve seen this before but had forgotten about it! I’m going to try it out!
February 3rd, 2008 at 4:34 am
Thanks for the tip, a smart technique!
Ill try it for sure, cant wait!
February 3rd, 2008 at 6:10 am
This is great! I find myself taking pictures not only in lowlight but in crowded situations, this looks pretty unobtrusive. And I have all that stuff in my basement.
February 3rd, 2008 at 11:00 am
I will definitely try this. It’s practical and fits in my small camera bag.
February 3rd, 2008 at 12:38 pm
WOW!! Totally Brilliant!
I will definitely try this.
February 3rd, 2008 at 1:14 pm
I’ve heard of similar techniques before but this is so elegantly demonstrated. Nice one.
PS A variation is to do away with the washer and have a loop at the bottom that your foot slips into. Its one l less item in the construction but can be a bit clumsy to slip your foot into.
February 3rd, 2008 at 4:24 pm
Thanks for the tip. This is perfect for outdoor/backcountry photography when weight is an issue.
February 3rd, 2008 at 4:30 pm
This was a great demonstration, but I have what may be a stupid question (I know…. there ARE no stupid questions……)
When you say “coarse threads”, is that the way you measure it? Is there some kind of other measurement that I need to know? I ask, because I did try what I thought was a coarse thread to replace a broken tripod screw, and I couldn’t find one that actually went into the camera’s hole. Anybody know this one?
February 3rd, 2008 at 6:20 pm
An excellent posting! Simple and practical advice, whic I’ll certainly be putting into practice. Please provide more DIY articles like this.
February 3rd, 2008 at 6:31 pm
wonderful idea! i will certainly try this out!
February 4th, 2008 at 1:25 am
Great tutorial. That device would be great with a retractable cord/wire, a la measuring tape mechanism, and the bolt could store in a slot on the side of the cord-case. Have some kind of locking mechanism for the cord to stop at various heights.
February 4th, 2008 at 11:04 am
After I have spent the last few weeks trying to find out if I can take a tripod or monopod in carry-on luggage, and getting wishy-washy replies… making me not want to take either…
And knowing I hate carrying the tripod around on longer outings…
This cool tip shows up!
And I made two today.
I took my camera to the hardware store to make it simple to buy the correct-sized bolt.
I can see it could be shaky still with longer lenses, but then it really would be a good idea to take the tripod in those situations.
February 4th, 2008 at 3:01 pm
its a simple and effective innovation. Thanks and i appreciate ur innovative idea. surely i’m going to have one in my pocket when i carry my camera
February 4th, 2008 at 10:21 pm
Looks very effective, must try it real soon. Probably I’ll try to find a way to set the length of the string, so I have multiple heights.
February 5th, 2008 at 1:08 am
If you may the string a loop, from camera, to the ground, back to the camera, you can step on the string in two places, making a triangle, and that will reduce horizontal shake also.
February 5th, 2008 at 7:35 am
I do not mean to be a pin in the party balloon but I think we may be missing some very important points about this method. Some words of caution might be in order:
Some less well-built cameras have weak tripod socket mounts and can pull out of the camera body causing much personal distress and a very expensive repair, far exceeding the cost of a tripod. The money you save is far from the money you will spend if you break your camera’s lower plate and internal mounting structure.
Many non-pro camera bodies are made of plastic, even some of the higher priced DSLRs are plastic inside. Unless you go with a pro body, which usually has a metal infrastructure, your camera is likely made of plastic through and through. This trick might be a disaster waiting for a place to happen.
Also, bear in mind that camera tripod sockets are designed for a compression (downward pressure-and not much at that) load not a tension (upward pressure) load. Again, be careful how much tension you pull on the string.
A person with even minimal upper body strength and a high tensile strength string can easily place 80 to 100 pounds of tension on the tripod socket and even more. That much tension certainly has enough pull to be disastrous.
I am not saying this method of camera stabilization is good or bad. I am just saying that sometimes ideas are not fully thought through before they are presented.
Bilka
February 5th, 2008 at 12:51 pm
Kinda like a poor man’s monopod. No offense intended…
very original. I like it.
HS.
February 6th, 2008 at 2:16 am
The bolt is technically called 1/4-20 (quarter twenty – meaning 1/4″ diameter with 20 threads per inch) Look for that in your hardware source, and in stainless steel too so you don’t have any problems with rust/corrosion!
February 6th, 2008 at 8:44 am
THAT’s the measurement I needed! And the idea of avoiding rust….. I somehow never would’ve thought of that. THANK YOU!
February 7th, 2008 at 8:34 am
very nice.
Thanks you for the tips !
February 8th, 2008 at 3:24 am
I found that this technique is very much like using a monopod – except that it is easier to adjust the height on the monopod.
There is a big difference in price, however.
February 8th, 2008 at 8:33 am
… The bolt is technically called 1/4-20 (quarter twenty – meaning 1/4″ diameter with 20 threads per inch)…
It’s actually 1/4unc (unified coarse thread) – if you ask for 14/20, depending on where you live in the world and on what they have in stock you could in fact get 1/4 BSW (whitworth) or 0BA (British Allthread) as they are all 1/4 diameter and 20tpi (threads per inch.
February 8th, 2008 at 11:04 am
This is a lightweight variation on what we used to do in the old days of 35mm. I would use the strap from my camera bag (or any long leather belt) attach the screw to one side, and drop the other end on the ground. The best part of that was, because the strap was thick, you could put any part of it on the ground and lean on it with your knee, foot or slide it in a crevice to lock the length. If you used a belt, it could also be used to hold up your pants.
February 9th, 2008 at 12:51 am
Ian Wigg, you’re right, good call! UNC is pretty standard in North America, but I didn’t think of other places in the world.
On another note, I’ve been playing with this for a few days and for those who may be worried about damaging the socket on their camera, forget about the bolt all together and make a loop around the end that you can slip your left hand into. Now you have a stabilized hand to rest your camera on. It seems to almost have the same effect and no risk of damage to the camera.
February 9th, 2008 at 5:34 am
Wow! This is a really great technique! I’m definately going to try this!
February 10th, 2008 at 7:04 am
I am now scared of trying this, i don’t want to rip off the socket thing in my camera.
February 14th, 2008 at 2:04 am
You could probably do this without hooking it to the camera. The idea is to provide “tension” so you aren’t “floating the camera”. Marksmen use similar techniques to steady their rifles by putting tenion on the shoulder strap.
Nice idea. Hadn’t thought of doing it like this before.
February 24th, 2008 at 2:51 am
Hey, great tutorial with a very original idea. I think you should know, though, that the technique you used to attach the string to the bolt is called “whipped” whereas you referred to it as “lashing”. I’m an Eagle Scout too.
February 24th, 2008 at 3:39 pm
You could put the same bolt on both ends. It could easily double as the weight (not that a weight is necessary) and you won’t have to fumble for the right end of the string in those “i need my camera now” situations.
Also this could have been demonstrated in a jpg with about 1% of the bandwidth and I would’ve seen what you were up to instantaneously. All those video shy stumbler’s are sure to miss your point, which I admit was worth viewing the video for.
July 1st, 2008 at 6:27 am
You know that you just need a string right?two loops one for the cam and one for youre foot…?
October 5th, 2008 at 3:25 pm
Good tip. I learned this technique at the Nikon School of Photography in 1978 and it was hardly new then. The School even sold a “kit” with a bolt and sash chain. (Chains don’t stretch like string or cord.)
October 14th, 2008 at 7:11 am
I’ve been using a string for years, but not under foot.
My string is clamped to the belt loops at the sides of my pants with a quick release plate at the center. The release plate slips into a pocket when not in use.
A good optical engineer should be able to devise a formula for the beam width/fstop relation.
November 30th, 2009 at 2:57 am
The movie is removed… can you find it somewhere else? or explain how it works?
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