UKC

Just been given a GoPro, which I'll mainly use for mountain biking with the kids. Need to figure out how to mount it and thinking a chest strap is the best option for keeping it out of harms way. I'd also like a monopod/selfie stick for skiing.

There's loads of accessory kits available on Amazon for about £20 which include a chest strap plus loads more, great in theory but I'm concerned about the quality. Any experience of them? And any other recommendations for useful accessories and where to buy them from?

In reply to Sam W:

I have had one of the box set of go pro mounts from amazon, quality is okay, for value they are a good buy if you were really abusing them then there may be a few items in the box you might not use but for general family use shouldn't be a problem.

In reply to Sam W:
The only mount I ever used for my gopro, when I had one, was a tripod mount. I would have loved to have a windscreen mount because I had to use an awful lot of duct tape to keep the camera in position when filming stuff.

I did have an electronic 3 axis gimbal. This was the most expensive device/thing however I used it the most, and it gave me the most viewing pleasure of the footage I captured. Who wants to watch shaky footage?

In reply to Sam W:

I've got a Hero Session on my desk right now; I'm trying to figure out how to use it. I gave it to my son for his birthday and once we had seen the disappointingly shaky footage from a couple of bike rides it got put in a corner and not used so I'm wondering whether to persevere with it or Ebay it. Any thoughts on the subject?

In reply to Sam W:

You are right to be suspicious of the cheap mount sets, although most are fine. - I bought a set, and whilst the saddle rail mount broke very easily (plastic too brittle) all the other things in the set (Chest strap, Helmet mount, tripod mount etc are sound)

In reply to Rigid Raider:

Having a fixed point in the field of view helps give the illusion of smooth motion. So the edge of a helmet if mounted on the head, or your arm or similar if using it handheld in 'selfie' orientation.

If it's just mounted on the bars or headpost then it's just going to be a blurry mess - mounting it on your body somehow absorbs some of the vibration and gives the viewer a constant reference point in space:

youtube.com/watch?v=2ywRajQ8BHo&

In reply to Sam W:

The cheap ones are fine - check the reviews before buying. I have a box of the mounts, but mostly use chest, head and tripod mounts. If it's for mounting on a vehicle or somewhere where the mount failing would mean the loss of the camera then I just tie it on with some cord as a backup.

In reply to Sam W:

Thanks, I've ordered one of the bundle packages will see how it goes

Mounting on the body rather than bars makes sense to remove shake, have tried bar mounts with many different video cameras over the years and the results are always dreadful.

In reply to Sam W:

Helmet mount for when it's muddy, chesty when not. GoPro chesty is worth paying for.