What video camera?

I've looked at gopro videos, but they seem designed for mounting on the person or very close. I would like to mount a camera to my wakeboard tower (2009 21V) and get video of us as we wakesurf, wakeboard and ski/tube whatever.

Is the gopro camera system good for this too? It seems too wide angle for that.

Any other recommendations?

(our goal is to get home and laugh at ourselves and then later make a family video of the fun we've had. We're beginners).

Oh - and if you use a gopro and mount it to the boat, what mounting attachment and where?

I see alot of people using to gopro. It does a great job. I just went with the kodak play sport. I dont mount it though. We just sit on the engine box and hold it. I like it because you can watch on the tv at 1/32 slow mo. It produces good laughs after the day at the lake. I also use it to print pictures of us at the maxium height of the jump or trick. I am going to get a gopro to have them both.

GoPro is too wide to mount on the tower. I only use mine when it's mounted very close or for POV shots.

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Originally Posted by wotan2525

GoPro is too wide to mount on the tower. I only use mine when it's mounted very close or for POV shots.

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What do you mean by "too wide"? You mean wide angle lens to see the person well (they become tiny)? Too fish eye?

Also dont you want wide angle to get the full view of a pass accross a wake? Outside the wake landing?

If not GoPro what else is out there that will attach to a roll bar?

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Originally Posted by supramariah#1

What do you mean by "too wide"? You mean wide angle lens to see the person well (they become tiny)? Too fish eye?

Also dont you want wide angle to get the full view of a pass accross a wake? Outside the wake landing?

If not GoPro what else is out there that will attach to a roll bar?

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Yes, the wide angle lens will make the person look tiny. I just tried to find a youtube example and can't find 1-video that was taken with a gopro from the boat. They are all from helmet, board or rope mounted vantage points.

This is a good idea of what the rider will look like. Notice how small the boat appears in this shot. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_5xuAOO2xo

Will it work? Yes. Will it look good? No.

The easiest solution is to use a regular HD camcorder on a tower mount that tracks the rider. Air Trakker used to make these (not sure if they're still around.) Here's a good sample video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vr9th31L9Ys

The best solution, though is to have someone film from a tube just in front of the rider. Don't drop the camera!

that's what I thought - the gopro is designed for up close filming and will be too wide for boat mounted (esp tower) use.

I'd rather not take my normal camcorder - would really like to install something on the tower digital.

Guess I'll keep looking.

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Originally Posted by Harabe1907

very successful,thank you...

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Huh?

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Originally Posted by pap

Huh?

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He's just trying to spam the link in his signature. Bastages!!

Pap,
Here goes some capture shots of a video from this weekend. I am up loading some videos to my vimeo, but here is the link to ones already on there. http://www.vimeo.com/13192354
These are from my kodak play sport. Just a cheap high quality camera

Here you go. This is awesome! I am gonna get a tower and a pylon mount. I have something to ask for for xmas this year!

http://wakevideo.com/Trakker/

That trakker thing does look pretty cool, but a bit pricey. I'd pay for it if I got both the lower and upper mount for that price, but man...

The lower mount also says won't work with supra - not sure if that is all supra or not.

Well I orded a trakker and a samsung HMX-w200 waterproof camera. The camera is not shipping, but hopefully soon. I'll report back.

I currently use a PlaySport, which I am pleased with the quality of. 720 60 FPS is great for pulling stills and reviewing video in slow motion. 1080 seems like asking a lot from the little camera in this but the quality is good. Battery life is poor at maybe 2 hours, but you can get batteries cheap online. For $150 I can't complain.

It just sucks that people aren't into taking vids all the time, it's more fun to sit and relax and be in the moment than enjoy it later on video. I prefer to get every run everyone makes (shotgun theory, great shots through pure volume) and sift through the video, because you never know what you'll get. Trakker is one option, Wakejac also looked similar and pretty decent. Both are pricey, and all cam mounts seem similarly priced.

I'm actually thinking about making one of these tracking mounts myself. Doesn't seem too difficult. I could probably make one for $20-$30 or so if I went real cheap. I run an expended pylon with a swiveling bushing the rope goes over... Thinking one of two ways to do it, one would be get a thin clamp and clamp it right to the swiveling part, attach the clamp to some all thread with a 90* bend up, put a nut on it and attach camera on top.

The other way, would be a copy of the Trakker. Clamp goes to pylon with some flat stock bent to a U shape having a plate above the pylon. Have a swiveling part on top which could b done one of two ways. Cheapest would be a piece of flat plate with a greased bushing (either metal or nylon) between the plates, lightly preloaded, and have a wire coming out the front to hold the rope. Alternatively the swivel could be mounted on some small bearings. I could probably make some from an old bike tripple tree I have, so it would ride on roller bearings. Alternatively I could use a straight ball bearing pressed/welded to the U plate and a rod pressed/welded to a shaft coming off the bottom of the top plate.

So I think there are some cheap home made options that wouldn't be too difficult to make. If I ever get bored and find some creativity I might try to make one.

I spent an hour or so trying to think about a way to DIY one of these. I ended up with two concerns: first getting a smooth pan on the camera and second with the money I've spent on my boat, I don't want something ghetto up there looking like crap and especially no chance of any rust issues into the carpet below.

So I figured I'd just bite the bullet and spend the money. I'd love to see a nice DIY come together however.

good points. I do worry about getting a smooth pan, that's the big unknown! Rust no problem though, if I do it I'll have it powder coated after I test it.

I know this thread is kind of dead but I feel I must lend my 2 cents. I have never used a better camera than my GoPro for this type of stuff. I have mounted to my roommates boat, my board, a pole shooting out behind the boat, a pole going under the water, etc.

I agree with the above. I've mounted the GoPro on my rope about 5 feet in front of me, upside down. There are so many mounting options and you can get really creative. Even better? Have a friend that has one too for multiple angles!

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Originally Posted by ruby23m

I agree with the above. I've mounted the GoPro on my rope about 5 feet in front of me, upside down. There are so many mounting options and you can get really creative. Even better? Have a friend that has one too for multiple angles!

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Or for 3D! ;)

The GOPRO is fun. Get the HD one with the highest resolution. We also use the Kodak Playsport camera. Takes excellent 720P that kicks my gopro footage. Has excellent image stabilization and is waterproof to 3' ( at least in a boat its splash resistant). You can handhold and walk around the boat and image is smooth. Cam.

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Originally Posted by pap

I've looked at gopro videos, but they seem designed for mounting on the person or very close. I would like to mount a camera to my wakeboard tower (2009 21V) and get video of us as we wakesurf, wakeboard and ski/tube whatever.

Is the gopro camera system good for this too? It seems too wide angle for that.

Any other recommendations?

(our goal is to get home and laugh at ourselves and then later make a family video of the fun we've had. We're beginners).

Oh - and if you use a gopro and mount it to the boat, what mounting attachment and where?

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I have the newer GoPro Black Edition... as far as the wide angle it can be set to wide/med/or narrow.... And you can record at insane resolutions and edit in close-ups. I have a video of my son tubing in this section but note this wasn't near the highest resolution I am still learning all the tricks

John

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Originally Posted by cadunkle

good points. I do worry about getting a smooth pan, that's the big unknown! Rust no problem though, if I do it I'll have it powder coated after I test it.

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I am working on a mount for the GoPro that will sit on top of the tower mount or on the skipole mount and as the rope turns the nylon piece it will turn the mount... auto pan style!

Go with the GP3 black edition. Its ability to have higher frame rates and built in wifi is worth the cost.

I'm not a fan of tower mounts unless your trying to capture stuff for instruction. For entertainment you loose to much detail even with the narrow settings. I prefer it attached to a monopod.

The link is with a gp2 on monopod. Since it was taken I have added wifi with remote and smartphone link. This decreases video clipping and camera setting changing time dramatically. I would highly recommend wifi and remote.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFWQ...e_gdata_player

The higher frame rates allow for ultra smooth slow motion editing which trust me you will start to mess with. Keep in mind that you will need a capable computer to deal with anything beyond watching the videos (if you have a smart tv).

I use Adobe Premier league Elements 11. You can download it for free with a limited time use. I bought my version for 70 bucks.

Hope that helps.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v...type=2&theater

Here is a newer vid 1080p 30 frames a sec. you can see in the second set when I zoom in and follow the rider it is pretty cool how you can change it... the raw version looks way better then the face book version!

BTW the go pro is suction cup mounted to the rear view mirror! if I move it back it would be a better vid and I wasn't talking about frame rates it the higher resolutions that allow you to zoom in and loose less detail not the higher frame rates.

While I have a lot of friends that use GoPro's, I am a big fan of the Contour cams... www.contour.com they make some models that are inherently waterproof, mine I had to buy a waterproof case for about $30.

I have the Contour GPS, and that actually tracks speed and elevation. Not as important in water sports, but I use it on my sportbike, my M3, and mounted to my helmet while snowboarding. The profile of the contour makes it WAY better as a helmet cam. I see people with gopro's attatched to their helmet and I can't help but think of that "whack-a-mole" game. If I had a cam sticking up off my helmet like that, it'd be gone with my first close call with a tree branch or crash on the slopes.

Now, gopro's are great for being waterproof as well as they have an amazing ability to filter wind noise. However, while Contours aren't as good at filtering wind noise they do have better overall sound quality to their videos. They also don't have that wide angle fish eye look that the go-pro's have. they don't have a viewfinder, but have lasers that are used for aiming. Mine also has an app where you can use your smartphone as a viewfinder to see what it's going to look like when you record as well as the ability to change settings.

Most my videos are car/motorcycle/snowboard, so I don't really have anything boating to contribute yet.

I am trying to offer a better vantage point for the GoPro since l agree with most that the tower mount is good but there could be better. You can see some of the footage from tests here. It came a long way and will get tuned up some more. If your interested on being an early adopter message me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqlPo90pfnE