Mountaing a webcam in a window

October 25, 2007 3:01 PM

I need to mount a webcam so that it looks out a window... unfortunately this is not as easy as it sounds. Creative ideas?

Unfortunately as you can see most webcams are designed to be placed on a flat surface and not mounted at a window. Unfortunately you can't necessarily just set the webcam on the windowsill as most windows (like mine) have a screen at the bottom that severely obscures the view. So I have to mount the webcam halfway up the window where the clear pane is.

The only decent thing I've found is to stick the webcam into an electrical box, padded with wadded paper, and jam the stud tab into the window sash crack. Unfortunately you can't reach inside to make adjustments and it's very awkward.

Yes, I do know I can remove the window screen, but this is new construction and I don't want to start tearing out the windows; we might have to use the screened window sometimes. It also doesn't solve the issue of the webcam's factory mount having only a limited range of motion.

Any ideas here on how to do this better? Has anyone been in this predicament? Improvisation is fine.

posted by chef_boyardee to computers & internet (12 comments total)

Seems like this is a job of duct tape.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 3:10 PM on October 25, 2007

Thanks, but duct tape is a rigid fix and doesn't allow for easy adjustments.
posted by chef_boyardee at 3:21 PM on October 25, 2007

I was thinking something like this. You'll probably have to make your own to fit your webcam.
posted by Yorrick at 3:22 PM on October 25, 2007

It's been a long time since I used my old QuickCam, but it had a 1/4"-20 mount to mate with a standard tripod. Does yours not? Because that'd be real handy. Looks like later models might not, but here are instructions for hacking it which might help, if it's the kind of webcam you have.

Once your cam is mountable, something like a Clamperpod or Gorillapod might be able to hang onto your window molding, yes?
posted by mumkin at 3:24 PM on October 25, 2007

With my Logitech webcam I was able to unscrew the little thingy that clipped it to the supplied mount, leaving a threaded socket that would allow it to screw onto a standard camera tripod. You could see if yours allows for this.

If you don't have a standard tripod you can still buy a matching bolt that will make it easy to screw it to any number of things.
posted by bondcliff at 3:26 PM on October 25, 2007

We picked up a bunch for testing recently that are mounted on plastic bulldog clips. Something like this.
posted by Leon at 4:05 PM on October 25, 2007

Tripod, dude.
posted by spitbull at 5:00 PM on October 25, 2007

It's not very creative, but guaranteed to work if you can get a 1/4-20" screw attached to your camera:

http://www.filmtools.com/gr484mivasuc.html
http://www.filmtools.com/3suction.html

If you can't use the 1/4-20" screw method, you can still use a suction clamp -- but you may have to just use something creative like tie-wraps or another spring clamp to attach the camera to it. It will definitely hold.
posted by donguanella at 6:30 PM on October 25, 2007

Assuming your webcam has no mounting screws... you know those little shelves they make for bathrooms, showers and kitchens? The ones that attach with super suction cups?

Those stick really well to windows. You can make a tiny shelf right in the center of the pane, if you like... halfway up AND halfway across.
posted by rokusan at 7:29 PM on October 25, 2007

A PanaVise Jr with Vacuum base from PanaVise might work. I have used that same suction cup mount (with a standard tripod screw instead of the claws) to hang a 2 lb camera from the window of my car before.
posted by fief at 8:08 PM on October 25, 2007

I used a $2 "extra-heavy-duty" bathroom suction cup from Home Depot to hang a webcam from a front windshield of a car during a recent road trip. In 10 days of much driving (some on unpaved roads) and frequent accidenting cord jingling, it has not come close to undone (the cup construction indicates how much suction is being applied). I think it is a clear winner for the cost/easy removal ratio.
posted by blindcarboncopy at 4:26 PM on October 26, 2007

Oh, and the way I attached the webcam to the suction cup was using a paper tape (not as sticky as duct tape, but same idea). The suction cup had a hook, and I just taped the base of webcam to the hook.
posted by blindcarboncopy at 4:29 PM on October 26, 2007