Happy (almost) 40th to me, family have bought me a Hero 8 😎 Am hoping to try my hand at some gravel v-blogging, trying to share new routes etc.
It came with an adhesive helmet mount although I'm not sure I want to use it, have already ordered a discreet wee mount to go beneath my Garmin, also thinking of a little rear facing saddle rail mount, and eventually a chesty mount.
Not sure if some sort of selfie stick is worth it for 'talking to the camera' shots?
Can you do some sort of forward facing seatpost mount or do you just get a screen full of thigh? 😆
If you end up buying a chest harness I can really recommend the Stuntman harnesses. Excellent quality and good stability.
The chest harness takes, I think, better POV shots of biking. When you have it mounted on a helmet, it moves around a lot and the perspective seems a bit off, but the chest mount has arms visible and looks a bit better.
Hero 8 will have Hypersmooth, that will take a lot of the small annoying movement out of footage. The difference it makes is easy to see when I compare footage from my Hero4 and the Hero11.
I use, almost exclusively, the chesty mount from GoPro.
Very comfy and also very stable.
Also looking at a couple of other options to mix up the footage.
Chest would also be my first choice. Having the bars in shot gives a lot more perspective to the shots. I used a universal round clamp a lot. Good for bars, fork legs, seatpost etc. eBay generic tripod mount and gorilla pod clone mini tripod for wrapping round branches, fences, gates etc as well as a tripod.
The chest harness takes, I think, better POV shots of biking.
I'd agree with this, it gives a much better perspective of riding a bike.
Not sure if some sort of selfie stick is worth it for ‘talking to the camera’ shots?
Selfie sticks are actually really handy for a multitude of things in my experience. For example if you want shots close to the ground. Some also double up as a tripod. Easy to carry around too.
Thanks folks. For gravel purposes, is the on-board stabilisation enough to cope with vibration through the handlebars? Am sure I've seen footage from handlebar mounts.
Only slight reservation about chest mount was carrying it/wearing it for long days out, am hoping it can be reasonably easily stashed between shots?
Only slight reservation about chest mount was carrying it/wearing it for long days out, am hoping it can be reasonably easily stashed between shots?
Fits in a backpack easily enough, but would be an issue if using bar/frame bags. Straps tidy up ok, but solid chest plate won’t squash down. TBH it’s pretty comfy and not very noticeable once you’re used to it. One issue with taking it on and off all the time is getting the camera back at the correct angle when riding. Probably easier with newer ones where you can check footage on your phone.
Regarding getting the camera back in the right position - it becomes pretty easy to do it by sight after a while.
Otherwise just use something to mark the mount at the right position.
Another user on the chesty mount. Can get some really good footage riding trails on the Mtb.
Also have a joby tripod. Brilliant for getting action shots of me instead of the chest mount.
I use the GoPro shorty quite a lot and one of those retracting ski pass holders to clip it to a bumbag.
Don't know if the 8 is waterproof, but one of these is handy for in the sea.
I've got something like this cheapo one that came in a kit, but nicer ones are available
Just bought one of these chin mounts, but not used it yet
I printed a simple ground spike/handle mount from thingiverse you can use it to hold the camera and to strap in the dirt to catch those rad moves* from a low angle...
(* They never look rad when you play them back)
The other one I keep meaning to try is a "mouth mount" Like this, essentially a gum shield that adds the leverage of your go-pro to actually increase the odds of you needing dentistry... Genius eh? But also probably handy for quickly capturing rider's perspective footage (seems to be popular with some Gravel vloggers actually)...
Lol, thanks, but chin mounts and low angle shots of radness will NOT be required for any videos I produce, I think the best gravel action shots are likely to be chest cam footage of twisty singletrack, or forward/rear cam footage of riding buddies on fast/loose gravel.
Slower stuff like climbs etc. probably best as talking to the camera style selfie shots taking in scenery etc.
I'm trying to strike a balance of varied footage but minimum faff as if I want to offer something unique compared to the gravel content already on YouTube then I think it needs to be either new routes or longer routes. The market for well shot/well produced videos of shorter routes is already well sewn up!
Testimonial...
I actually reckon a bite mount is a better option for less gnarr stuff than a chest mount, personally I don't like wearing a "Go-pro Bra" on my chest and not being totally sure if the camera is pointing quite where I think. That thing can fold up and go in a jersey/cargo pocket/bar bag with minimal faff...
Eldest_oab has had problems with his GoPro Hero10 - the stabilisation is so good it is useless at anything other than mounted on a moving rider.
He's got to carry a phone or camera to do panorama's, trailside slowmo etc.
Oh and a 1/4 turn Garmin mount adapter is also useful as you can put the Garmin mount on all sorts of tube shaped things (like walhat bikes is made from) and then mount the camera facing in either direction (e.g. forward or backwards) and easily take it off with a quick tool-free twist as you're rolling along...
For the bars, get something like this:
But don't mount is straight up/down. Mout it at about 4 o'clock and then mount the camera folded back on it so the body of the camera is as close to the handlebars as possible. This will massively reduce the vibration compared to anything that mounts the camera away from the bar.
The bars still vibrate, but it's a lot less than the extra wobble induced by a long mounting arm.
the stabilisation is so good it is useless at anything other than mounted on a moving rider.
Am confused, how can stabilisation be *too* good?
Also, the bite mount actually makes a lot more sense now I think about it! Interesting...
I've tried handlebar and helmet mounts - they're both "off" in terms of perspective - either too high a viewpoint or it doesn't look like a bike ride at all. Also both a bit weird to watch back re wandering off to the side when either you steer or find something interesting to look at. A chest mount seems to resolve all of these issues. Re angle - if your camera has a live view to the phone option you can use this to get angle set up.
I've also experimented with a seatpost mount, pointing backwards to capture people following which seems to have some promise, but nothing worth sharing yet.
This is (mostly) using a chest mount and a DJI Action 3. Seems to capture the view I had when riding fairly well. It's show in 1080, but uploaded to YouTube in 4K because that makes YouTube default to the "good" compression algorithm and avoids the video looking pretty rubbish.
So, which chest mount? Is it worth paying for the GoPro or are any of the cheaper copies just as good?
I originally had a cheapo chest mount off eBay. Worked well but now have the GoPro official one and it is comfier to wear but really nothing in it
I think chest mount is my favourite view for on bike recording. You can see your arms and bars and that gives some context to what you’re doing on the bike. I tried on top of my helmet but I’m not fast enough to make that view seem exciting / look fast. It’s almost too stable - even with a GoPro hero session 4. I’ve had a 7 for a few rides but it was a bit faulty so I sent it back - but it was a huge leap on from the 4 in terms of getting smooth footage on black DH type runs. Got an 8 now which I understand is broadly the same hardware as the 7 but with better hyper smooth software.
I’ve also tried chin mounting on a full suss helmet - that’s not a bad view tbh - better than top of helmet but not quite as much context as the chest mount so far. Need to tweak the angles a bit - it is nicer to wear than a chest mount if you have a full face helmet though.
I’ve just got a cheapie eBay chest mount that was about a fiver and seems much the same as the more expensive GoPro branded one tbh.
Am confused, how can stabilisation be *too* good?
You need something to give a sense of speed, and the camera naturally flattens everything on the trail anyway. So if you bar mount the camera and stabilize the image the result ends up looking like you've just flown a drone down the trail. Whereas the chest/bite/chin mount has the same clear stabilized image, but with the handlebars, top tube, hands, arms etc in shot which gives it some context (and makes it look gnarr).
Depend what you want to do with it. If the intention is to look gnarr, then go for tighter shots which emphasize movement more, combined with angles that give that sense of movement (either on the bike, or shots of you passing close to vegetation etc) . If the intention is to narrate over it, talk about the trail etc. then you might actually want a super wide shot taken from on top of your helmet to maximize the view and minimize distracting movement, that's where 360 cameras are great as you can force them to 'look' forward (or sideways, or wherever) irrespective of where your head is pointing, which works best in big open spaces.
I have a cheapo copy and it is good enough. To be honest, most of the third party mounts are "good enough", but _some_ of the proper GoPro mounts are much better than the copies, the stand out for me being the suction mount.
On the question of stabilisation, I have used both stabilised (GP11 Mini) and unstabilised (GP4Black) for skydiving, filming formation teams with both and the stabilised is so, SO much easier to watch and see what people are doing. No, I don't get the same level of vibration as a bike going over ruts, but there is a surprising amount of vibration when the camera is out in 200km/h wind.
FWIW, I use both a chin mount and a true helmet mount for that filming (depending on what helmet I am wearing), but I know a lot of instructors that use a chest mount because it moves the camera out of the way. The perspective is slightly odd, but you do get to see a surprising amount.
OK, think I'll get a chest mount, a shortie and a rear facing saddle mount in the near future. First ride on Thursday so if I have time I'll hopefully at least get to experiment with a handlebar mount.
Just a couple more queries
1) Do you need a wee remote mic? I've seen what looks like a little lapel mic, is that necessary if holding the go-pro at arms length? (I guess I'll be able to figure that one out quite quickly by myself)
2) How big an SD card for a long ride's worth of footage? I'm guessing several GB minimum?
3) Are spare batteries necessary?
Might try and stock up today/tomorrow if there's any decent stockists in Edinburgh or St Andrew town centres...
—— 1) Do you need a wee remote mic? I’ve seen what looks like a little lapel mic, is that necessary if holding the go-pro at arms length? (I guess I’ll be able to figure that one out quite quickly by myself)——
If you want to remove wind noise, then yes, you’ll need a better mic solution. The Media Mod is very useful, but means the GoPro is not waterproof.
—— 2) How big an SD card for a long ride’s worth of footage? I’m guessing several GB minimum?——
Cards are cheap enough, just get the biggest you can.
—— 3) Are spare batteries necessary?——
Yes, they never last as long as you’d hope. Also, if you have spares, you can choose when to shoot/change batteries. (Not afraid of running out etc) I have about 5 spares, so I don’t need to bring chargers away on trips etc.
GoPro have 15% discount online so you might be able to get batteries and chest mount etc a bit cheaper but Amazon have probably price matched
Yeah, buy from the GoPro main site. You get discount with a year's GoPro thing and also insurance.
Memory cards... Buy something good quality and fast. I can't remember what I fed my 11Mini, but I think it was a 64Gb something something class10. Look for what GP recommend and get that. GoPro.com often do bundles that make the decision a lot easier.
1) Do you need a wee remote mic? I’ve seen what looks like a little lapel mic, is that necessary if holding the go-pro at arms length? (I guess I’ll be able to figure that one out quite quickly by myself)
Sound recording is an entire art form unto itself. But fundamentally yes, you want the mic as close as possible to your mouth.
Sound levels decay by a cube law of distance. So a lavalier mic on your lapel 6" from your mouth is getting 64x (18db) more of your voice than one on a 2ft stick (assumed omnidirectional). But both are getting the same background (and the one on the stick probably more wind). So when it comes to mixing it, one is going to be a LOT clearer than the other. You can be clever through and cut between B-roll/GV's with a voiceover you record at your desk, and interview style footage shot in your shed. That way you get the narration, non-verbal communication and personal feeling aspects, without it feeling like a voiceover.
Which neatly brings in the question of what video editing software?
How in-depth do you want to go? iMovie is fine for simple cutting and editing, I use that for quick and dirty stuff. For more complete/advanced editing, I use DaVinci Resolve by Black Magic Design. They do a free version and, whilst it is quite a steep learning curve, it's an industry standard tool.
I _think_ I have looked at Openshot as an open source alternative for Linux, but I use a Windows machine for rendering and a Mac for when I am out.
I've used the GoPro editing software with no issues but know a lot of people don't like it.
If you have apple products, the iMovie app is good.
