GoPro mounting options, positions...advice greatly appreciated!

[Mr.Matt]

Hey all, just got one and was wondering where and how yours are mounted to your yak, or if I should just stick with the head cam strap...got the helmet edition.

Thanks Matt

[Rock Hopper]

I have a flat stick-on mount located just in front of my front hatch (side closer to me) for kayak hauls and surf launches and I also have one just below my fishfinder, for crotch shots. Yesterday I mounted mine to a long pole via the rollbar mount and got some awesome footage. I placed it in my rear pole holders and in my front RAM tube. I'll post some pictures this afternoon.

[Rock Hopper]

Here are my stick-on mount locations and my temporary boom stick.

[Rock Hopper]

Here's some shots from the boom stick. It's just a shower curtain rod with a rollbar attachment.

[Rock Hopper]

And here's some views from the other two mounts. Sorry for the image quality. They're pics of the videos playing on my Ipad. 

[Mr.Matt]

Thanks Dustin! Seems like you will be a wealth of info for me....like getting this video from my GoPro to my Ipad2....
I ordered the adapter for video, should get that in a day or two.
Thank for the broom handle idea! Was wondering how I could avoid using a tripod which takes up too much room!

[bloodbath]

Hey Dustin,
Nice shots of pedottis reef in the background.

[Rock Hopper]

Thanks Dustin! Seems like you will be a wealth of info for me....like getting this video from my GoPro to my Ipad2....
I ordered the adapter for video, should get that in a day or two.
Thank for the broom handle idea! Was wondering how I could avoid using a tripod which takes up too much room!

I do it the long way. I put the videos in my Itunes playlist first. Then click on the video, then "advanced", then "Save for Ipad or Itunes TV". But it takes dayyyysssss for it to downconvert to 720 from 1080. I have a dope computer and it still takes almost three hours to downconvert a 40 minute clip. You can avoid this by filming in 720, but I like all my videos to be 1080 so I can play 'em on my big screen.

[AlsHobieOutback]

Sweet pics and video Dustin!  Instead of a broom stick, I got a mono-pod off of ebay for 16$ and then got a GoPro tripod mount at BestBuy for 8$.  I also added a Tri-Pod Ball Mount that looks like a RAM mount, and lets you swivel any direction.  It extends a long ways, but condenses down to like 12" which when I stick in my rod holder seems to work well.  Was sporting this setup at PIF, and did a good deal of the video I made with it as well.   

[Pacifico]

Hey Al, which ball head did you buy?  I have a manfroto but it's way overkill for the go pro.

[Pacifico]

Art and I were talking about the mounts over the weekend.  We've got some ideas.

I think I'm going to contact go pro about the handlebar mount, it needs some work.

[Mr.Matt]

Does anyone have a mount idea that would go outside the kayak for an underwater filming?
Almost like whe a transducer on a boat would go....

I have a few ideas but wonder about the watertightness of them.

[Pacifico]

Does anyone have a mount idea that would go outside the kayak for an underwater filming?
Almost like whe a transducer on a boat would go....

I have a few ideas but wonder about the watertightness of them.

Keep it in the waterproof housing and you wont have any trouble.

A somewhat quick and simple way may be to do what RockHopper has done.... pole with either the handlebar or rollbar mount.  Add a paddle holder clip to to your boat pointing down so that you can insert the pole.  It wouldn't be kelp friendly and you'd need to be sure to tie it to the boat or make sure it floats if released from the clip...you'd also have some additional drag if it was in the water while you paddle but it may not be too much of an issue for quick shots.

[agarcia]

I really like the head strap but I found two major drawbacks to using it, the headshakes and the field of vision.  I think the headshakes are obvious, when you start viewing you're footage you realize how big of a spazzy bobblehead you are, makes for crappy vid sometimes.  The crappy fov might be cause I switched out to the flat lense in lieu of the fisheye but I found that alot of stuff I was looking at was on the edge of the frame or completely out of it (I'd think this would also be an issue with the fisheye as objects on the edge of the frame suffer from line distortion as the lens bends).  You really have to nail down the angle you want to shoot before you start recording so you know where to aim the cam and its not easy unless you got the lcd screen.

For ex....I was lookin directly at this with my eyes but it I barely caught it on the edge of the frame and even missed a bit of the subsequent barrel roll down a cliff into a thorn bush full of the biggest biting fire ants you'd ever had the displeasure of being bitten by.




I like dustins mounts for stability and consistently knowing what angle you're shooting at.  The head cam makes for good supplemental pov video. 


In other tech mods.....I did the dirt roll on the trails too and was slightly concerned about scratching my lens ala big jim.  I'll be covering the lens with smartphone touch screen film to avoid scratches in future crash landings.

[Rock Hopper]

Man, if anybody is thinking of getting one of these and has the dough, go for it. They are a lot of fun and I've been wowing my co-workers with the footage I have already.