Best Scuba mounts for GoPro - Monopod vs. Headstrap vs. Mask mount vs. other?

[FTD 83]

I used the extended pole and found the footage far too shaky, even when only using half the pole and holding it tight into my body. I spoke to someone about this and they said the pole amplifies any wrist movements. So what is small jerks of the wrist (oo-er), it's moving quite a lot at the camera end of the pole.

Switched to an Ikelite tray and seems to be much better. Expensive, but I plan to get some lights shortly and I'm not that great in the tool room. There are some fantastic homemade alternatives on here though if you are.

I can't imagine anyone getting good results from a mounting a GP on a mask.

 

[Pearlman]

How bad is it really? Can you post some typical footage? I don't want a tray and lights at this point and want to understand what to expect.

Thanks
P

 

[FTD 83]

How bad is it really? Can you post some typical footage?

Sure, give me a day or two and I'll post up some raw footage. I'm just using a tray at he moment, no lights and found it better. At the same time I'm now shooting on Narrow setting which is still picking up a bit of shaking.

 

[hellhole]

I used the extended pole and found the footage far too shaky, even when only using half the pole and holding it tight into my body. I spoke to someone about this and they said the pole amplifies any wrist movements. So what is small jerks of the wrist (oo-er), it's moving quite a lot at the camera end of the pole.

Switched to an Ikelite tray and seems to be much better. Expensive, but I plan to get some lights shortly and I'm not that great in the tool room. There are some fantastic homemade alternatives on here though if you are.

I can't imagine anyone getting good results from a mounting a GP on a mask.

you can try using 2 hands to hold the pole if possible. but u already gotten a tray

 

[Pearlman]

This guy doesn't seem to have too much of a problem with video shake. In many of his videos he is seen balancing the pole with just thumb and forefinger.

Freediving Yonaguni Pyramid - Aliens or Lost Civilization: http://youtu.be/_ep9P6uX9BM

Seaplane Wreck - Freediving Palau (Jake Seaplane): http://youtu.be/8TISr6i5KNkI

Granted there are more moments with shake, than no shake, but with scuba we have the luxury of not finning and perhaps time to steady ourselves. I think the trick is to not attempt too lengthy video clips but stitch many edited clips of 7 sec duration together. If you manage to keep it steady for up to 7 secs @60fps you might even get 14secs worth of slow motion video played at 30fps.

Hopefully I will make my first attempt at videography later in the year.

P

Sent from MiPad

 

[Z Gear]

So does a gopole reach require fiddling when rotating the gopro 180°?

Anyone figured a lighting attachment for a stick mount?
P

Sent from MiPad

The answer is yes. The Z Gear light mount for your camera pole works great! It is a light mount that is fully adjustable and is off set from the camera about 4 1/2 inches. Take a look and tell us what you think.

http://www.zgear.org/Dive-Lights.html

 

[Pearlman]

That looks useful. Now how to secure a pole and its extra attachments securely when deploying an SMB?
Any tips fron experienced members will be appreciated.

Sent from MiPad

 

[Scuba dive sd]

You know what I purchased a few months a go was a mount that goes on your BC from a company called Z Gear. I was using the head strap and then moved to the octomask. Neither of which I liked. Bubbles always get in the shot, the octomask is heavy and makes water get in and the head strap moves around. I have made some pretty good videos using both but the BCD mount has given me some super good footage when paired with the camera I carry in my hands.

---------- Post added October 17th, 2014 at 02:48 PM ----------

I get a lot of real good footage with my mono pole. I use the light mount that Z Gear makes for the pole. Works perfect!

 

[toddville393]

I use the Frameless Octomask and a hand mount when I dive and they both work great. Here's a video I shot a few weeks ago just using the Octomask.

Diving Athens Scuba Park - YouTube

 

[Scuba dive sd]

It looks like you had a lot of the same problems that I had with the Octomask. There is a lot of head movement and bubbles that get in the way, I'm sure there was a lot of Un-useful footage from it, I used to have to edit a bunch of footage out of the videos when I used the mask mount. This is a video I took with the BCD mount, I even unhooked it and took some video of myself so it's a plus if you need to do that. The only shake you get in the video is when you kick too hard
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEh0Pd5fL54