Helmet or Bike? Best video cam mount option

I picked up a Contour Roam for a steal last winter, looking forward to capturing some video of the ride to Colorado, the SumSumx2 and the epic post ride home. I'm quite familiar with editing and such.
The unit came with 2 mounts (one fixed & one 180 degr rotating) and I can order more in the future.

For now, with less than 3 weeks to the trip, I'm looking for comments on the best place for mounting, on my helmet or on the bike?

The Roam has an instant on/off switch easily used with gloves on. This is where I thought mounting on the left side of my helmet would be good for capturing the best moments both straight ahead and those incredible vistas you ride by & think 'I'd like a shot of that'. What I'm concerned about is, if there will be more vibration or shake on the helmet vs being on the bike?

I'd say from the ones I've done, the helmet is the smoothist, and depending on the wind/mic/etc. it's noisier unfortunately(but there are ways to fix that, which I haven't done yet).

I've done some searches on wind noise, short of using a better quality editing program to separate the audio/video tracks. Seems for the contour a small piece of sticky felt over the mic does a great job. One sample I viewed cut the wind drastically but you could still hear the engine.
Helmet you say. Thanks.

I mounted my GoPro on my mirror stem. It worked all right and depending on the road the vibration was not bad. Other spots include the front of the bike.

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Nice. I'll pick a spot on the bike for the low profile mount.

Helmet mount: top or left side?

I prefer the "Oil Derek" mount approach.
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I always find bike mounts that show suspension movement in relation to a stationary part of the motorcycle enjoyable to watch.

I fabbed up a mount that ties in with my Zumo mount - and it is mounted to the two gas tank bolts at the front of the tank. Output from that location on a really smooth road is pretty good - but if the road is at all a bit rough - the output is garbage. (HD Gopro). I need to find a better mount location for filming up here in the land of potholes and asphalt that is flaking apart...

I love the rig that TImmy setup from the tripod mounted to his bike - output is nice and smooth. I will also try the helmet mount - and it'll be on top - "aiming high" as per Killboy via TImmy....

I have several of these:
http://www.amazon.co...n contour mount

I also have a few of these:
http://www.amazon.co...n contour mount
You will need the waterproof case or the contour universal mount.

I have some of these for the VFRs without the condom mirrors:
http://www.amazon.co...r contour mount

I have had good luck with all of them.
They all make the camera look better than any GoPro mount.
GoPro needs to make a camera which doesn't look like crap mounted on anything.

I picked up a Contour Roam for a steal last winter, looking forward to capturing some video of the ride to Colorado, the SumSumx2 and the epic post ride home. I'm quite familiar with editing and such.
The unit came with 2 mounts (one fixed & one 180 degr rotating) and I can order more in the future.

For now, with less than 3 weeks to the trip, I'm looking for comments on the best place for mounting, on my helmet or on the bike?

The Roam has an instant on/off switch easily used with gloves on. This is where I thought mounting on the left side of my helmet would be good for capturing the best moments both straight ahead and those incredible vistas you ride by & think 'I'd like a shot of that'. What I'm concerned about is, if there will be more vibration or shake on the helmet vs being on the bike?

didit, a Contour mounted to the lower left side of the helmet recorded most of these VFR ride vids... http://www.youtube.c...os?query=vfr800

I have mounted cams for years at all sorts of places on the bike and self. BTW, will note a couple of bike mounted vids at the link above as well.

While I do tinker with other mounting locations, mostly just for change, increasingly I stick with the helmet mount (but not on top of helmet -- too extreme!)...

- Gives the p-o-v of the rider
- Minimizes vibrations or shake, especially if riding off road. Smoother than mounting to a bike, on or off road
- Can optionally look around for the viewer... like going over a bridge, passing a lake, seeing something interesting, etc.
- One helmet mount, any bike
- Can dip the head towards the mirror to see if the recording light is on
- Once the orientation is set, don't need to fiddle with it again, thus, some kind of battery soaking viewfinder not needed
- EZ on/off with the left hand while underway
- etc.

To be sure, I'll record off fairings, through the windscreen, backwards, etc., but for a vid that counts, to re-live what it was like to ride that road as from the saddle, the helmet mount.

Be sure to practice and get the orientation (left/right, up/down) right in BC before coming south and recording special roads/rides. There is trial and error to get it initially set-up. And FWIW, I've made every recording mistake one can make, and I continue to repeat them! [image: Posted Image]

I love the rig that TImmy setup from the tripod mounted to his bike - output is nice and smooth.

camera is smooth. Too bad the rider isnt:
[video: http://youtube.com/v/FUBl5XmTjmI?version=3]

You can always put a countour mount under the headlight then watch the video of the camera dangling from from the safety cord after it fell off on the first hard bump! ie Coeur d'Alene lake last summer!

You can always put a countour mount under the headlight then watch the video of the camera dangling from from the safety cord after it fell off on the first hard bump! ie Coeur d'Alene lake last summer!

:tongue: I remember that. Not the feeling I'm looking for (the dangle shiver).
I went with a left helmet mount, stuck the rotating clip on and will test it out this weekend.
Initial garage test, I may have a little too much helmet in the frame, but it's got plenty of wide angle so lots of road.
The new Roam has a level aiming laser (line, not just points) that really helped line it up.

Thanks for all the input. Tick Tock - 16 days till I leave!!! :tour:

On the helmet will always get you the smoothest video. Your body will always be the best shock absorber on the bike. But, the video from up there can be kinda boring with lots of wind noise.

I'm far too lazy to try out more ingenious mounts, but I've watched guys mount their GoPros in some interesting places on the bike with pretty spectacular results. General rule: the 'sense of speed' is directly related to how low the camera is mounted. For good sound, a suction cup mount on the tank works well.

Mike

Nice. I'll pick a spot on the bike for the low profile mount.

Helmet mount: top or left side?

I was told by one of pro's on this site, when mounting on the helmet is to place it as close to eye level as you can get it, and put it on the left side of the helmet(USA) so the camera will be closer to the middle of the road. He also said for sound the way he did it was to run a remote mic to the inside of the tank bag.

I've started playing with my GoPro!

I like the passenger peg mount for turns and sound quality.

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BUT, I like the Helmet mount for general use because I can speak into it at slower speeds and it still gives a good all round POV and sound.

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-Drew

I mounted mine just to the rear of the front left signal.

[video: http://youtube.com/v/Bk14vra8gpA?version=3]

I tried shooting some yesterday with the camera mounted under the nose, but there's some flex in the fairing there so the video was blurry. My netbook can't run the footage in 720, it pauses every other second, so I'll check it out when I get back home to see how bad it is.

It's a driftHD camera, one of the other guys has his mounted under the nose of his sprint and his video is much more in focus. I'm gonna see if I can brace the fairing with some foam or such and firm up the mount.

handlebar RAM mount or passenger peg

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