Author Topic: Paddling at Night with a GoPro?  (Read 1885 times)

Off-Shore

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Paddling at Night with a GoPro?
« on: March 29, 2015, 05:08:00 AM »
I have been testing out a GoPro Hero 4 Silver paddling at night with a GoPro accessory light in preparation for trying a night downwinder... What I found though is that a board mounted light, lights up the board real well, but absolutely nothing else. The water was just one black shape, with the outline of the board in front of me. I then moved it to the waist belt, and could see a bit more, but either the light was not strong enough (300 lumens) and/or that it was not in the right position.

I have done quite a bit of night paddling, and am comfortable paddling without lights to see with (just navigation lights), so wonder if anyone else has successfully used a GoPro at night on a SUP and what lights they used.

The vid below, shows paddling just before darkness, in darkness with shore lights, and then using the light at the waist in darkness with shore lights in the distance.

https://youtu.be/KBSm-AJsRUY
Headmount + GoPro 4 Silver

Why do I want to do this? Just to see what a night downwinder looks like on film..
« Last Edit: March 29, 2015, 05:29:15 AM by Off-Shore »
SB 9' x 33' x 4.1" - RPC 9'8" iSUP - SB All-Star 12'6" - Blue Planet Bump Rider 14 - SB Ace 14 x 27 - RedAir 14' Elite Race - SIC Bullet 14v1 TWC - SICMaui F16v3 Custom

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stoneaxe

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Re: Paddling at Night with a GoPro?
« Reply #1 on: March 29, 2015, 06:18:19 AM »
Be tough to find the right combination that lights up enough to make it work without killing your night vision. Enough lights will ruin the feel of a night paddle too.
« Last Edit: March 29, 2015, 06:21:57 AM by stoneaxe »
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supthecreek

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Re: Paddling at Night with a GoPro?
« Reply #2 on: March 29, 2015, 07:28:55 AM »
Cool video... something serene about a calm night paddle! I'd stay further from "fin breakers" though.... you could go down hard.

When I was running my boat at night, I could never see with any light. I only flashed a light long enough to pick up the reflectors on a buoy, otherwise, no lights, they made it worse.

For rock avoidence, you might try a bow mounted underwater LED for SUPs.... might work really well.

Off-Shore

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Re: Paddling at Night with a GoPro?
« Reply #3 on: March 30, 2015, 05:19:23 AM »
I'd stay further from "fin breakers" though.... you could go down hard.

When I was running my boat at night, I could never see with any light. I only flashed a light long enough to pick up the reflectors on a buoy, otherwise, no lights, they made it worse.

For rock avoidence, you might try a bow mounted underwater LED for SUPs.... might work really well.

Thanks Creek. Good advice. I am lucky I know this coast well, but as you know, tides change everything, and so I had a couple of near misses, so one of those underwater LED for SUPs would be a good idea.

In my night paddles, I generally don't use any light, and am comfortable with that, but on a downwind, I think it would be good to be able to see further ahead. In a 20+ knot wind there will be a lot of whitewater, and so the thinking is to have a light that can highlight the waves for me to see, and enough to be able to be caught on "film" on the GoPro.. Maybe this is just impossible, or I need to use night-vision (now there's a thought)....
SB 9' x 33' x 4.1" - RPC 9'8" iSUP - SB All-Star 12'6" - Blue Planet Bump Rider 14 - SB Ace 14 x 27 - RedAir 14' Elite Race - SIC Bullet 14v1 TWC - SICMaui F16v3 Custom

YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/HksupaHk_SUP_and_Downwinding

 


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