merry Xmas everyone!

My gf being the good lass she is, brought me a new gopro for Xmas / birthday.
she got me some seperate mounts for surfboards which is awesome, but what's the best equipment / method to get footage?
theres so many different accessories for these gopros!

mouthmount? Handheld? Boardmount? Kookhat (which is not a standard accessory), paddlemount?

I like board mount. I'm a little hesitant to do another tube mount on my paddle. I don't like the weight on there and I had a paddle break right where I mount it. Not sure it was from the GoPro but I won't be putting it on my BP Surge.

I like the garth helmet look

Nice turn at 1:10, assuming you're goofy?

my only hesitation with the kook hat is how it would fare in a big stack or nose drop

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benjl said..
my only hesitation with the kook hat is how it would fare in a big stack or nose drop

I use my Da Kine Kook Hat in all conditions, the brim is very stiff.
Had it in some pretty serious waves, never had a problem with it in heavy wipeouts.

I have found it to be the easiest, most effective way to get useful GoPro videos of SUP surfing.

Only thing that has happened is the screw has scratched my nose when the brim smacked me on a full lip hit.

This vid shows 4 solid hits, that are good tests the mount.

Cheers Rick, can't belive the turtle footage! Did you and the dude on the gulliver type board have a run-in early on?

my gf has got me the new gopro 7 black, so the bigger unit and not the little box type in your vid. Would that still work?
Does the hat straps choke on your throat when under water?

When it's on ya scone ..it's easier to switch on and off...

if you are worried about losing it ,put a line on it and connect it to your wetsuit ,there has a built in rope connecting point ...

i used a hero 3 for this film ...I have a kook hat for summer and I use the helmet in winter ..

had heaps of heavy days, never lost it .i use a session now ,it's lighter than my hero 3 ,which had a case .

can't wait to see your film

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benjl said..
Cheers Rick, can't belive the turtle footage! Did you and the dude on the gulliver type board have a run-in early on?

my gf has got me the new gopro 7 black, so the bigger unit and not the little box type in your vid. Would that still work?
Does the hat straps choke on your throat when under water?

My prototype Kook Hat was for a Hero3+ (including housing) so the 7 will be fine.

All the folks in the video are friends of mine.
We goof around all the time.
Blue squared boy and I spend a lot of time buzzing each other for fun.
He was the object of the down field tackle and high 5 guy at the end.

I never notice the chin strap... it's super comfortable and keeps my ears from getting infected as well!

Go with the Da Kine hat... much stronger brim than most.

I have tried heaps of mounts.

#1 The sad fact is that the GoPro makes the waves look much smaller.

On the nose of the board you just have to leave it turned on (too hard to switch on and off) so you need the battery pack. I like the nose view 'cause you see the wave coming, you see your foot work, you get to learn what the wave was really like (factoring in the GoPro distortion), and you can just set and forget. But the vids are not as popular for friends/forum to watch.

I tried the mouth mount; I liked the video, but you look a bit goofy, and there were times during longer holddowns that I feared I would spit it out.

I have a session attached to a helmet that I think works best, but I don't always wear the helmet.

STC's hat brim mount works best, but it is certainly there for everyone to see - if that bothers you. I have tried it in a bunch of situations and it hasn't come off - however - I have had my hats ripped off in bigger waves without the GP sitting on the brim. But the use of a tether will solve that. But again, you are still buzzing after a great surf and the GP footage makes it look ordinary...

Cheers guys, I did a 2min luge video yesterday that looked great on a helmet so at least the camera does what it should do.
Sounds like i will need to invest in a kook hat. Haha I can only imagine the. Looks I will get from already estranged surfers at me supping proper waves.

what video options or modes do you guys use?
ive just read through the 120pg manual and there's soo many!

SuperView is often considered the best field-of-view setting. 60 fps is good.

Resolution is tricky. The new cameras will give you 4K and other super-high-resolution options, but they chew up memory. You need to decide what you will do with the video and whether the 'cost' of high resolution can be justified. If you will start and stop the camera before each wave then memory/battery life won't be much of a limitation.

I will be curious to see how the new stabilization works when surfing. If it is attached to your head then you don't get as much vibration as you would on the nose, and you naturally tilt your head during turns, etc., but my guess is that it will make it look pretty cool.

One other tip to try; lick the lens to reduce the # of droplets of water, but if you haven't gone under water for a while, get it wet because the saliva can dry (on a hotter day) and cloud the view. There are commercial products to reduce droplets but I have not found one that works all that well.

Double that on the lick method for keeping the lens clear. And the mouth mount on a short neck or wetsuit leash does keep the camera nearby and ready to go. Have also had many a wipeout including faceplants with camera between the chompers without problems.