Camera cradle (?) or holder for car while driving around

I'm trying to come up with a good way to hold my camera somewhat securely while driving and have it easily accessible. We've always done a lot of back road exploring and having the camera just gives us that much more of an excuse to find the out of the way places. I've found however that there's no good place to set the camera down while actually driving. My wife ends up holding it her lap but that's not always feasible, especially for long drives or having to deal with dogs, etc.

Right now I have a full size truck so there's ample room, even on the dashboard but I don't really want to cludge it up too much with drilling holes etc. I want it to be able to hold the camera securely over poorly maintained roads (some of these places wouldn't qualify as roads). It's not like I'm doing any Pre-Runner style driving (at least most of the time:cool but there's always places that jar your teeth and bounce around your kidney's a bit.

The idea is to have the camera handy for any wildlife you run across or the scene the no one else has seen. I don't want to pack everything away then have to stop, get into the back seat and take it all back out, then do over.

I have a gripped 60d with typically a 70-300L attached, although could be a shorter lens too (and sooner or later a Bigma). It makes a bulky item to stow.

I had at one point considered mounting a quick release onto the dash (my F150 has a tray in the center of the dash for pens, phone, etc) but not sure it would do well with all the jostling, plus it would have to be in an akward location/position.

I have a fuzzy mental picture of a padded cradle (for lack of a better term) that I could just set it into that would be attached to the dash or even the top of the central armrest.

Any ideas? I figured this would be the place where if somethings been made that fits the bill, the people here would know about it.

thx in advance

JR

I have a car so this might not work for you. I have a messenger bag and just sit it on the floor with the top flap unzipped and strap hanging out of the bag, when I see something worthy I grab the camera strap and pull out the camera then use the other hand and grab the lens when it gets closer to me.

You may also try to get some of the foam from a smaller pellican case and attach it to the floor on the hump area somehow between you two and just sit your camera lens down in a hole you make, you might even get a knockoff pellican case and attach that to the floor in the same place and remove the front "door" (for lack of a better word) that way it is more durable

In general I find it easier to pull the camera out by the strap, I have used anything from winter coats to cardboard boxes to hold cameras in a car while driving. It is really up to you and what is more convenient for you, I've experimented a few times and you may have to too, especially because you have dogs and you dont want them climbing on and scratching the camera or lens.

Maybe a cotton carrier attached to the dash in some fashion. Lift, turn and release the camera?

If you're just looking to keep it at hand yet out of the way, how about a super clamp on the headrest rail with a ballhead that has a quick release plate?

Thanks guys for some different ideas. It helps me unstick my fuzzy mental picture of something that that my brain has locked onto uselessly.

The nice thing about a full size truck is there's a lot of room, the bad thing is that you can't reach anything. There's a nice big center console that somehow they designed to be useless and you need 7' long arms to reach over. The rear floor area is unreachable except by getting out of the truck.

Todd, I had thought of something along the cotton carrier type of attachment but a single point of connection and rutted roads would bounce the whole assembly around and probably break the dashboard mount. I looked again at there site and maybe something like the detachable lens pouchwhere I could just slide the whole camera into a padded case that attaches to the console or dash...

I'm not sure about the size of the 70-300L, but something like the holster might work, I'd try to see if you could elevate it from the bottom floor and put additional padding

http://www.thinktankph​oto.com …igital-holster-40-v2.aspx

or you could just get a lens case and somehow secure the rest of the body from bouncing out
http://www.amazon.com …TF8&qid=1333000​696&sr=1-6

The Peak Camera Clip is a belt/strap mounted QR system

http://www.amazon.com …TF8&qid=1333037​352&sr=8-1

You could get a web strap from an outdoor sporting goods store to strap it onto some part of the car/truck, or even clip it to the seatbelt in the car!

Wilt wrote in post #14174973
The Peak Camera Clip is a belt/strap mounted QR system

http://www.amazon.com …TF8&qid=1333037​352&sr=8-1

You could get a web strap from an outdoor sporting goods store to strap it onto some part of the car/truck, or even clip it to the seatbelt in the car!

I was just about to make the same (seatbelt+camera clip) suggestion.

I think I'm leaning towards more of a holster type arraingement. That fuzzy picture in my head seems to be more like one of the holsters, but in my version is more like just half of it (if that makes any sense. It would need a little more structure for the sides to stay in shape and support it, the ends wouldn't need to be enclosed so any length lens would fit. It would be easy to attach and remove from almost any flat surface.

Hmmm (that burning smell is from the gears in my head spinning...)