Hero GoPro - Where to Mount?

[acesandeights]

I got a new GoPro and wanted to mount it on the bike (DR650) and am wondering what has worked best for you. I was thinking just above the headlamp, but also thought a mount along the swingarm might be handy if I wanted to check driveline suspension related issues at some point. I also thought a helmet mount would be good so people can see what I see (i.e., if I'm looking at something interesting to the left or right of travel). Again, what seems to work best for you?

[Craneguy]

I have my camera on the left crash bar so the front wheel just shows in the picture.

Head mounted takes out a lot of the vibration, but if you keep looking around you'll make your audience nauseous.

Mounts are cheap. Get one for each position and move the camera around during your ride. Edit the shots together and you'll have something interesting to show people.

[acesandeights]

Originally Posted by Craneguy

...Mounts are cheap. Get one for each position and move the camera around during your ride. Edit the shots together and you'll have something interesting to show people.

That's my point. I can put mounts anywhere, I just don't know where.

[Photo Boy]

I've used the engine guard, rear saddlebag, top of the gas tank with a suction cup mount, ram mount on the handlebar. A helmet mount is my least popular while my favorite is the chest mount. See my avatar photo taken from the chest mount. No matter where you mount it it's good to be able to see some of the bike. No bike visible and it might as well be mounted on a car.

[acesandeights]

That's a good point Photo Boy. I hadn't thought of that, but you're right. I always like seeing part of the bike. I think that's why I like the idea of a swingarm mount too, just because you see so much of the movement of the bike, or the cycling of the suspension.

[fastdirt505]

I have been a huge fan of filming dirt bikes for 10 years. I started with a 3 lb. 8mm camcorder mounted to the side of my helmet with a metal plumbers strap. It made my helmet tilt so I'd have to lean my head to counter. I've since moved on to the GoPros but I did some time with the Samsung Sportscam before GoPro came out. I have the Hero1 and the Hero2. I have found the absolute best place is on the chin hands down. You have to be creative in the mounting technique. On my DS helmet I just stuck the Hero sticker mount on the chin. On my MX helmet I drilled a hole below the mouth vent. I used the Hero tripod screw mount with a screw that I removed from a cheap tripod. You need the mini sdapter to get the mount out some so you can point the camera out and up. It is clear out of sight and out of harms way unlike the top of helmet mount. It has a perfect view of your hands, bars, fender, and dash showing your speedo too. However you can hear some breathing but I'm going to block of the vent w duct tape. Also a mount on the back of the helmet shows an epic view of your friends riding behind you. Bike mounted cams are too distorted and the top of the helmet is too high and doesn't show much action.

Check out my Youtube link ang you'll see my latest videos with the chin mount and resr mount. My previous vids show top mounts and bike mounts. Hopefully GoPro will catch on and provide us a mount for the chin. The chesty mount did not work for me at all and the ones that do are to low.

[acesandeights]

Huh, never thought of a chin mount.

[Ceri JC]

I have a Go Pro and have experimented with pretty much all mounting options, other than those that use a boom. I have found that for filming offroad, presuming you are stood up most of the time, the official Go Pro "Chesty" chest mount is the best all around in terms of capturing what is going on and isolating the camera from unwanted noise (whilst picking up the good stuff) and perhaps most importantly, eliminating vibration. Sure, long videos of nothing but this angle get boring, but if I was only allowed to use one type of shot for filming in the dirt, this'd be it.



This is shot as described above. IMO, pretty much perfect angle for capturing just enough of the bike/bars and my hands to give what is going on some context without them filling the shot. Even as you shift your weight forwards and backwards, you still get a reasonable viewing angle of what's you want to capture.


.
This is also from a chesty, but this time, sat down. Notice how even though this is an Enduro bike (Husky TE310), with minimal clocks/switchgear, the bars take up a lot of the shot when you're riding. EG at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-2BWmWjcIY#t=01m53s. When you try it sat down on an Adventure touring bike, or God-forbid, a Rally bike, you see next to nothing unless you've got a completely transparent (and very clean) screen.


Finally, this is shot from one of the sticky pads applied directly to the bike's rad guard (be sure to tether it when mounting it here!). I think it's a good angle for capturing the front wheel and suspension working, without them completely filling the shot. The only problem (as is likely to be the case anywhere on the main body of a dirt bike) is the vibes. You can see in this video a lot of distortion, caused by youtube's "image stabalising". The original shakes a lot more. This might seem a minor point viewed in a 4"x5" youtube window on a PC, but playing back in HD on a 50" screen, it'll make you feel sick (I'm only slightly exaggerating).

[acesandeights]

Thanks. Very nice examples!

[ThirdBestFriend]

I'm about to mount mine either on the crashbar facing forward or a passenger peg. You definitely want to get some of the bike in the shot, not just so you can tell you're on a bike. It'll also give the viewer a sense of scale for long shots, like say you're cruising down an open road and there are mountains in the distance.

Anyone think it is worth putting one on the crossbar facing back up at the rider (for reaction shots)? I'm planning on getting a couple of these (as gifts) so I can make my planned movies more dynamic with multiple cameras.

[Peirre O`Bollox]

Where to mount a Gopro?
You can mount them anywhere ................ just have a play around & have fun, It`s only limited by your imagination

[Ceri JC]

Originally Posted by ThirdBestFriend

Anyone think it is worth putting one on the crossbar facing back up at the rider (for reaction shots)? I'm planning on getting a couple of these (as gifts) so I can make my planned movies more dynamic with multiple cameras.

I have Ram mount points on my bars for mounting my mirrors. I usually take my LHS mirror off when I arrive at the dirt, freeing this mount point up one up. I have found a 3" Ram arm put diagonally out so it's over my clutch hand is good for catching my head.

This sort of shot makes for good "B-roll"; if it only has your upper torso and head in shot, unless the sky is really different, you'll be able to use whatever you film here to splice into other videos for dramatic effect. You need to film quite a lot of this shot in order to get the good stuff where you get flung off, or third person shots of you crawling back to the bike after a crash, etc.


It's good for showing how far you're thrown back over bumps and I think if there is a group of riders in the video and you're audibly talking, it'd work well too to show it's you talking.

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If you're interested, to I mate one of these:
http://www.transair.co.uk/sp+RAM-1-I...rce=Googlebase

with one of these:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B002RCLYX...SIN=B002RCLYXG

To make a RAM->Go Pro adaptor to mount it this way.

Alternatively, you could buy one of these:
http://compare.ebay.co.uk/like/19075...var=sbar&cbt=y

Personally, I keep the two seperate as it give me options for mounting my Lumix FT3 on the bars with only having to carry one set of connectors.

[cchoc]

I have a top and a side helmet mount but I think I'm going to end up getting a chest strap and do a chest mount.

[Ceri JC]

Originally Posted by cchoc

I have a top and a side helmet mount but I think I'm going to end up getting a chest strap and do a chest mount.

I've tried the side of the helmet. One good place I've seen for full face lids is on the bottom of the chin bar, with the camera hanging down. You can enable the 'upside down' option in the Go Pro's settings, to record it right way up (and save time processing it on the computer later). It was a sportsbike rider I met who was filming this way and the footage looked great. For Offroad, it has the added advantage of having the camera more protected (and somewhere you're more likely to notice it dropping off and easier to tether to). I am always worried having it on top of the lid when riding through trees, for fear of it getting knocked off.

Plus, if you're a tart like me, it looks less stupid than on top of your lid.

[cchoc]

Originally Posted by Ceri JC

I've tried the side of the helmet. One good place I've seen for full face lids is on the bottom of the chin bar, with the camera hanging down. You can enable the 'upside down' option in the Go Pro's settings, to record it right way up (and save time processing it on the computer later). It was a sportsbike rider I met who was filming this way and the footage looked great. For Offroad, it has the added advantage of having the camera more protected (and somewhere you're more likely to notice it dropping off and easier to tether to). I am always worried having it on top of the lid when riding through trees, for fear of it getting knocked off.

Plus, if you're a tart like me, it looks less stupid than on top of your lid.

My helmet is a Hornet DS and my GoPro side mount is on the left side of the chin. Feels funny there at first but after a while you get used to it.