I bought a bunch of stuff for my GoPro HD Hero 2 from an Australian website, sportscamera.com.au. As you may have guessed they specialise in supplying a whole range of action cameras and accessories, including an interesting selection of their own-brand bodyboard mounts and pole mounts for GoPro cameras. Despite my initial hesitation at buying anything due to the gear looking too expensive, I decided to take the plunge to try it out and see if it worth the money spent.
Here’s some of my initial thoughts. All prices shown are in Australian dollars (AUD) and include tax (10% GST):
Aluminium extended bodyboard mount (large – 60cm version) $129
Sportscamera.com.au – Aluminium Extended Bodyboard Mount 60cm
Thoughts: Seems sturdy and well thought out. Ball joint on the head allows a variety of angles and positions and is easy to tighten. I’m a little wary about having something large and solid attached to my board while surfing the heavy close out waves around Perth, even if the pole is thickly padded with foam. Comes with three mounting bolts to attach the stainless steel base plate to the board. Wouldn’t want to use this on a expensive, new board unless I was sponsored and getting boards for free every few weeks. Not sure how long the tube foam will last, but they do provide a spare one at least and it would be easy to find at your local hardware store. A bit expensive for what it is really. Wouldn’t be too difficult to make your own ghetto version if you had some decent tools on hand (metalwork project at highschool anyone?).
SIngle Pin BB camera mount $39
Single Pin BB Camera Mount
Thoughts: Honestly this is just a standard GoPro tripod mount ($13-15) with an extra plastic thread section attached onto it and a suitable bolt with a large head and a bit of rubber to act as a seal. It’s simple and effective, but extremely overpriced for what it is. These guys must be paying themselves $30 an hour for labour while making these. Had I known it was this basic I would have just ghetto modded a cheaper (but still overpriced piece of plastic) standard GoPro tripod mount myself using a long bolt and a large rubber coated washer.
Trigger Handle for GoPro $79
Trigger Handle for GoPro – Yellow handle
Thoughts: Very basic design, but also seems pretty effective while using the camera in ‘one button’ mode. You have to bolt the GoPro onto the handle which requires an allen key and a small spanner to get it tight enough to not move when the trigger is pressed. Not sure how well it will work in practice and if it will be tight enough. Bright yellow handle to stand out in the water and comes with an adjustable, tubing coated wrist leash for extra safety and comfort. Again I have to question the price of this as it is obviously hand made. If you had the tools and access to a CNC machine you could easily make one of these yourself. Of course this isn’t the reality for most people, including myself so you don’t have much choice other than to pay up or buy elsewhere. It’s a good bit of kit don’t get me wrong, but at $79 a pop it’s a bit rich for most people.
I also bought a spare tripod mount, a polarisation filter and a chest harness for my GoPro from this store, as they were selling at a pretty decent price including shipping. But there’s plenty of chatter on this gear already and I figure there’s no need to discuss further. I’ll be hooking the bodyboard mounts up to my old spare Nomad board and take them for a test run in the next week or so. So I’ll provide an update once I have field tested everything further with my thoughts.
Peace!
Karl
