Video Camera Mount by Bulldog

After going on numerous trails and always being disappointed on not capturing enough video footage to make a nice video (and also seeing a very cool video done by Land Cruiser guys of Death Valley), I got inspired to mount my video camera in the 4Runner. A tripod is often to cumbersome while on the trail. After looking around for a while James send me a cool link and after some more investigation I ordered a Hama windshield mount from IO Port Racing. It has a large suction cup that mount to the windshield and then the camera can screw on top of the base plate.

After some experimenting I realized that it is better to have the base plate point away form the windshield to allow the camera LCD display to open. This way the driver and passenger can easily see what is being recorded. With the SteadyShot technology from the Sony camera video comes out very smooth on even rough terrain. I also have the inverter in the LTD 4Runner so a quick source to plug the stock camera power supply in.

To mount the unit you need to apply some water to the suction cup. Then make sure you apply very firm pressure on the whole suction area against the windshield before using the suction cup lever. It has 2 rubber studs hat needs to be compressed a little bit against the windshield before it will secure properly. Once you need store it, it does collapse to a reasonable size. Here is a sample video.