Call out to all GoPro users.
Where is the best place to mount it on the boom ?

I've tried a couple of options quickly, but none have worked out.
Can someone post a quick pic of where they put it, remembering that I am very likely to crash with it in place. Very likely !!

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KenHo said...

Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but there have been a number of beers consumed after a fine days sailing, and it's been asserted that people on forums just talk sh1t !!!

www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=54658

www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=64044

Thanks MOby.

Hey, I didn't say I agreed with that.

Forums are great, just not everyone thinks so.
I got the roll-bar mount, but I'm thinking the handlebar mount would work better on the boom. I was in a hurry, need to go back and take more time.

Hey Kenho,
I reckon the main thing is to think about what you want to see and put the camera about 2 feet from that point. eg if you want to emphasise action get your camera as low and close to the water as you can. The wide angle takes in so much that if you are too far away it doesn't look that great.
cheers.
mick

TYhanks for that tip.. I was thinking more about what would survive a crash, as I was doing alooping lesson today.
I ended up wearing it on my head today for a bunch of runs, then swapped to my helmet for teh looping.
I might try it on teh boom tomorrow, on the windward side, as that does not really smash into anything during a loop, I don't think. I'll be downloading that in a minute, after a coffee, and I'll see how it came out. I wanted to get Mt Haleakala in the background, as it's quite dramatic to see as we sail.

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drift said...

Hey Kenho,
I reckon the main thing is to think about what you want to see and put the camera about 2 feet from that point. eg if you want to emphasise action get your camera as low and close to the water as you can. The wide angle takes in so much that if you are too far away it doesn't look that great.
cheers.
mick

mountitonyadoodle

Funny man. I put it on my noggin today for a few runs back and forth, but it gets a bit repetitive. Back of boom tomorrow.
The clarity was very good though and I was pleased with that.
Anti-fog strips seemed to work a treat.
Haleakala is a bit far away to see really clearly, but it had a great plume of cloud around it and it looked like Orodruin.
I'm doing a dawn bike ride from Haleakala on Sat, and I'll wear the GoPro then. Really looking forward to that. None of the other guys are coming though, which I think is a bit slack. They all think I'm a tourist.

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Haircut said...


mount it on yer doodle

I followed someone elses design and i've made a mast mount that attaches anywhere up the mast, and making a bracket that hangs off the back of the board looking forward and about shin height. hopefully will give them it a go next sesh

I'm going to finish building a 4 motor RC - UFO to mount the camera to so we can fly it overhead while sailing. I'm just waiting to get some cheap bits. The small 450 sized heli flies fine with gopro attached but i don't want to stack that in the water

Yeah, I got a roll-bar mount, which will attach to the mast tip well, but will require a small hole in the sail, as there is no mast protruding. I'll do that to my sails, but not to a hire rig.
Obviously lots of room for creative positioning. I'm such a Luddite and when I'm rigging and pumped my brain stops working even more.

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Haircut said...




I followed someone elses design and i've made a mast mount that attaches anywhere up the mast, and making a bracket that hangs off the back of the board looking forward and about shin height. hopefully will give them it a go next sesh

I'm going to finish building a 4 motor RC - UFO to mount the camera to so we can fly it overhead while sailing. I'm just waiting to get some cheap bits. The small 450 sized heli flies fine with gopro attached but i don't want to stack that in the water

Great

I'll show u the link to the mast mount, no holes required. So far it seems to hold well.

U must have read my mind. I actually just sent you another email asking about the rollbar mount, if you didn't mind being courier for that too.

I've read feedback from a few folk saying to avoid the handlebar mount as it has snapped on them while sailing. Rollbar one looks a bit better

videojibe.com/featured/mast-mount-for-gopro-digital-hero-video-camera/

mines a bit different as it allows u to see both sides of the sail, but it still uses the conduit T piece idea

this is the perspex dome replacement

oh hey ken if your gonna bring stuff back can you get me some anti-fog inserts, cheers

Yeah, OK. Sounds like I'm bring home a bag of them. Getting some stuff for Haircut too.

Is no-one going to tell me I'm a hero for learning to loop at my age ?
I'll be taxing you for Vulcan lessons too.

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swoosh said...

oh hey ken if your gonna bring stuff back can you get me some anti-fog inserts, cheers

Try some water crystalls,i,ve been using them in gps cases and the GoPro with good results. There also very cheep and available everywhere

cheers, how much did you put in your case?

i've tried the silica gel packs broken up, but it still ended up with some small fogging patches, but definitely better. just my 2 bobs worth but i think it needs a large flat surface area of silica to work really well.

pre-heating the cam and then sealing the case, or opening the case after 20mins of sailing seems to be the only successful method for me so far

Hey Haircut, Just checked that link you posted, and it mentioned Rainex for the lens cover. We were talking about that earlier for a water spot I got today, but it occurred to me that it would be an effective fix for the fine scratches you have too.

i had problems with rainex turning milky and have never used it since, i thought it was the salt reacting with it in some way. others seem to be doing well using it. not sure what was causing the problem for me. but i agree with u. i'm going to buy a new bottle of it

OK. Actually, a bit ordinary car polish will also buff out minor scratches as well as leaving a waxy coat that will repel water. Not sure if that will react with salt water or go milky though. Have to test it out and see.

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Haircut said...


i had problems with rainex turning milky and have never used it since, i thought it was the salt reacting with it in some way. others seem to be doing well using it. not sure what was causing it

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KenHo said...

Yeah, OK. Sounds like I'm bring home a bag of them. Getting some stuff for Haircut too.

Is no-one going to tell me I'm a hero for learning to loop at my age ?
I'll be taxing you for Vulcan lessons too.

swoosh said...

oh hey ken if your gonna bring stuff back can you get me some anti-fog inserts, cheers

Haha, grats on the looping dude :) Your not that old thou are you?

yeah i tried the car polish and toothpaste trick in the past without much success, and actually made the perspex even more scratched

did u learn to loop

Yes, I completed a couple of loops landing in the water-start position. One had one foot in the straps, the last attempt of the lesson had 2 feet in straps, ready to water-start. I was really stoked and the teacher was pleased as he's only had one other guy manage that. He said he had one guy for a 2 hr lesson and not have the guts to one rotation. It was a very exhilarating feeling. I was pretty beat afterwards though, after more than 20 goes in a hour. Still remains to be seen if I can move when I awake in the morning.
I'm 46 swoosh, so old enough that most people think I'm too old for this foolishness, but after seeing the El Toro youtube, where a 60 year old guy learnt to loop, I was pretty determined to get into it.

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Haircut said...

yeah i tried the car polish and toothpaste trick in the past without much success, and actually made the perspex even more scratched

did u learn to loop

Toothpaste is pretty abrasive. You don't want a cutting cpd, just a cream polish.

congrats!

i gave them both a go on different occasions on perspex. I must be doin it wrong

Got all the gear this morning guys. Couple of sets of foggy strips each and stuff for Haircut.

thanks much appreciated

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Haircut said...

cheers, how much did you put in your case?

i've tried the silica gel packs broken up, but it still ended up with some small fogging patches, but definitely better. just my 2 bobs worth but i think it needs a large flat surface area of silica to work really well.

pre-heating the cam and then sealing the case, or opening the case after 20mins of sailing seems to be the only successful method for me so far

Drift has had some success with using the aircon to dry the case and then seal.
I use about 1/2 a tea spoon of the water crystalls sprinkled in,works well

Hi Ken,
You're probably sorted by now re boom mount options but I mount it up as close to the mast as possible. Its out of the way for jibing etc. I have the earlier model X9 boom, the later model is shaped different at the front and close to the mast doesn't work without extra connectors etc.. to get the cam facing backwards.

The R4 setting gives you the largest field of view.

I use the handle bar mount or the rollbar mount. I now put a couple of spare dome heads on the protruding threaded ends on the roll bar mount after cutting my hand.

For mast mounting i use the handle bar mount and a 600mm piece of 25mm dia dowel, fitted inside the mast sleeve at the top and duct taped in. crude but effective-see pic

You can sort out the view you get in your editing software by rotating etc.
You obviously found the Gopro shop by the sound of it.

one other useful tip. I was going to get the replacement lens kit in Maui which was $US21. I then noticed that a full replacement housing for the HD was only US$41 which seemed like good value. ie spare housing, spare lens and spare fastener clip which people have been breaking regularly

Cool shots, thanks for those ideas.
Today I used the short section of the roll-bar mount, which I think is basically the handlebar mount to put it on the boom at the back facing forward and got some good stuff. I caught a couple of loops and a big stack. I found it easier to look at the vision I shot in that position, as the boom and myself are pretty stable, while the distant horizon swings around a bit. Because it's background, it is not a nauseating to look at compared to a helmet mount.
I have looked at the stuff I shot today, and I can really see what I am doing as I go around the rotation, which will be great for improving things. Freezing the screen gives a crystal clear image. Overall I am really impressed with the image quality, as is everyone that has seen it.
I found the thread ends did not protrude, and I was a bit worried they might, and be a problem.
Dome nuts are a good fix.
The anti-fog strips work so well, I cannot see a reason to try any other method and they are readily available on line from the shop here.

been dying to try the Gopro HD up at the skifield and it is superb compared to the SD version. Very cold temps but still got two hours of video on one battery.

Perfect for ski-ing.
I have booked a couple of weeks at Whistler in Feb and hope to get heaps of stuff on the GoPro, esp when I do the Steep Ski-ing Clinic, which goes to some gnarly country.
I ski with my wife all teh time, so we will be able to use it like you did to film each other. Really good to see what the snow conditions are really like too. I'd like to see teh resorts post clips each day instead of lying snow reports.
It's sch an easy thing to use.
The only issue is that you can't see what you are filming until you get home, so there is a bit of a learning curve working out what positions produce what results. It's an intrinsic limitation of the design though, so I accept that.