Camera Mast Mount - R21 Classic

T

tlkenyon

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 30, 2010
Messages
670
Fluid Motion Model
R-25 SC
Non-Fluid Motion Model
3 kayaks, 1 canoe; R-21 (Nellie May I)
Vessel Name
Nellie May
MMSI Number
338219131
I want to mount my GoPro to the mast. As proof of concept, I temp mounted it this weekend, at the top of the aluminum section just below the fiberglass tip. The shot was OK but will be really great in tougher weather.

I am looking for some sort of mount that is quite robust, but does not protrude so that it turns into a bird perch or snags anything. Fore and aft on the mast is desired.

GoPro makes curved adhesive mounts, but the curve is too flat to fully engage the mast. There are various cheek block mounts for curved surfaces, but they are quite large and kinda spendy ($30-$40 each) and probably strength overkill.

Anybody seen a solution or got any ideas?

THANKS

TK
 
I mounted one of the standard flat go pro mounts to the flat stainless steel mast base. Just right of dead center. The first time I had some of the searchlight in the upper right corner of the shot. I solved that by taking the arms of the unit that the camera attaches to and cantilevering it out towards the front edge more. Worked great. What I need are mounts in about four places (port side, starboard side, stern) so that I can move the camera to different spots and vary the shot. Or just a whole bunch 'o GoPros!

I'll try to take a snapshot off the footage and post tonight.
 
Thanks.....they are indeed cool little cameras. The mast on the R21 Classic is more like a sailboat mast in that it is perfectly round and stepped on the floor of the cockpit....forestay and shrouds and everything. Gonna maybe drill holes and insert a 1/4 20 bolt.

Also, does anybody know how the fiberglass mast extension is attached to the aluminum? I might need to remove it to access the interior of the mast.
 
Just an observation from someone who operates different boats regularly, including one with a fairly tall fly bridge (and who spent most of my adult life as a professional photographer): putting the camera on top of the mast makes for more movement (consider a metronome) than the folks IN the boat are experiencing. If you are going for that movement as an effect, the top of the mast is the place. If you want to show people what those in the boat are seeing/feeling, mounting on the brow would be another good selection. Just putting out some options.

I know my ride on that fly bridge is worse than the passengers below me are getting on a rough day.

Best wishes,
Jim B.
 
Hi Jim,
Have you thought of mounting your GoPro to the search light, that will give you aiming control and at night it would illuminate your subject. I am not sure how hot the fixture gets gets, but a simple mount attached to the light with a large ss duct clamp should keep your camera away from any fixture heat. If you use a large hose clamp or duct clamp make sure you do not over-tighten and crush the fixture.

Good Luck,
 
Yes, I am looking for the effect. I have a bunch of other mounts also, eyebrow, aft roof, bow pulpit facing both astern and down at the stem, stern rail facing both forward and down at the prop-wash, inside between forward windows, aft end of the boom, etc.etc.

The effect will be pronounced in nasty weather, especially taken head-on. The aft mast mount might be used to show the big fish (yeah,right) I catch.

I am posting a youtube of the view from the demo mount, and will post the link here when finished. Posting a link like that is OK, isn't it?
 
you may want to mount it with some sort of gimble to keep the camera from always being off level. Maybe adapt one of those gimbaled cup holders or oil lamp gimbles.... the camera would be hung under the gymal, or maybe a counterweight on the bottom may be needed

kind of how one of those "steadycam" mounts (minus the gyros).
 
I am working on a stabilized mount for the cabin top, both forward and aft. Some sort of dampened swivel arrangement, with enough mass to stay steady yet "dampenable" (gotta make up works once in a while). The view from aloft is pretty nice, the camera allows for a preview, so what the camera sees is available to view on my iPad while at the wheel. When pointed aft, makes a nice rear-view mirror, albeit with a 2-sceond lag. The GoPro's are really something.
 
Scotty makes a great rail mount cam holder.. It swivels all directions, It works great...
Cheers, Ron
 
Thanks, Ron. I have several rail mounts directly from GoPro and they are really good. The challenge is affixing a flat plate to a round mast.....

Gonna try epoxy this weekend on a PVC pipe of similar diameter as a test.
 
Mounting on top of the search light and using the swivel function seems like a great idea to me. GoPro makes some curved mounts. I doubt they are curved enough to match the search light, but I have some extra 3M mounting tape of the same kind that GoPro uses. A few extra pieces of tape, cut in the right way, and kind of layered out towards the edges, might fill the space and better match the curvature, and make for a secure hold. Just thinkin' out loud here . . . sure like the basic idea.

Gini

(by the way, I thought I posted this, but evidently I didn't. I did put a few still shots in my album that I clipped from GoPro video I took from the top deck. Some of the Portland bridges. They look pretty cool with that fisheye effect the GoPro creates).
 
Gin":365mrujq said:
(by the way, I thought I posted this, but evidently I didn't. I did put a few still shots in my album that I clipped from GoPro video I took from the top deck. Some of the Portland bridges. They look pretty cool with that fisheye effect the GoPro creates).
Click to expand...

Nice.
 
Gina,

Those are very nice. I have considered the spotlight mount and will probably do that. Unfortunately, the light needs to be on in order for the mount to articulate with the joystick, but that could make for some really nice night shots. Thanks for the idea.

I am mounting tripod mounts to the mast today, for and aft, by thru-bolting a 1/4 x 20 threaded rod that will protrude enough from each side of the mast to thread onto it a GoPro tripod mount. I will post some pic of the finished product....if it is worthy of sharing. (Some of my project outcomes I would rather kinda hide....)
 
The shots I posted weren't taken with the GoPro mounted to the searchlight. They were just to the side of it, as close to middle as I could get it. I used on of the std flat GoPro mounts. The idea of putting it on the searchlight is intriguing. Haven't done it yet, but I'm considering it. I also want to use a clam type of clomp to mount it on some side rails. The possibilities are almost endless!

Gini
 
As promised, I posted photos of the mast mountings as well as photos from the mast mounts....in the Nellie May album. Also included are photos from the two wheelhouse mounts, the eyebrow mount, aft cabin roof mount, and from a boat hook extended forward past the bow. The stills come from videos which I will be editing and posting to YouTube.
 
I was looking and marveling at the GoPro at REI today. I like the fact one can control it via Wi-Fi, and if I read it correctly one can also have a small device for viewing what the camera is seeing. Do I have that correct ?
 
baz":57g237nx said:
I was looking and marveling at the GoPro at REI today. I like the fact one can control it via Wi-Fi, and if I read it correctly one can also have a small device for viewing what the camera is seeing. Do I have that correct ?
Click to expand...

You can view it on your smart phone or tablet with the Hero 3 models and a free app. You can also spend the bucks to put an LCD Touch BacPac (a viewer) on the back of the camera, but it will really cream the battery life.
 
The Black edition of the camera has a built-in WiFi. With my iPhone and iPad, I can fully control the camera remotely. With the optional "Battery Backpac" I get about 2 hours of continuous operation. A 64 GB chip will hold hours of video or about 8,000 photos. I have not found a case where I need the touch screen. I would rather have the extra battery life (you get to attach either the touchscreen or the extra battery, but not both).

I would encourage you to go to the "GoProFanatics" forum website for a lot of details and assistance. Caution - there were a lot of problems early on with the Hero 3 and a lot of the forum is dedicated to resolution of those problems. From my perspective, all the problems have been fixed. My camera has performed flawlessly since the latest firmware update.

The camera takes amazing video - really Nat Geo quality stuff. You can also do cool time-lapse stuff. You are only limited by your imagination.
 
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