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Stand Up Paddle => Fish Tales, Stand Up style => Topic started by: Ichabod Spoonbill on January 31, 2017, 01:17:18 PM

Title: Underwater Board-mounted GoPro
Post by: Ichabod Spoonbill on January 31, 2017, 01:17:18 PM
I have a new GoPro Session, and I've been thinking of some innovative ways to use it. One idea I had was to mount it on the underside of my board and create a moving fishcam. I could imagine some really fun video with that. You could take it to the beach and check out what's really underneath you. I remember last time I was at Jacksonville Beach, I saw some big schools of small fish swarming just beyond the surf line. Wouldn't it be cool to put a camera in those and see what's going on?

I could also imagine some gorgeous video of underwater vistas. You could do fish counts with it as well, which might count as scientific research. It might be even cooler to pair it with a SmartFin (http://smartfin.org/project/) and combine the fish count data with water conditions.

I'm just dreaming at this point, but I'm thinking of trying it. I'm going to replace all of my all-around/surf SUPs with a Pau Hana Ricochet board, which has underwater SeaMounts. I know there will be an issue with collisions, so I'll need to be extra careful and tether the GoPro to the board.

Anybody ever try something like this?
Title: Re: Underwater Board-mounted GoPro
Post by: SUP Sports ® on January 31, 2017, 02:28:13 PM
I did this fin cam vid 2 years ago using the triple suction mount...it created quite a bit of drag...and, you can see my kite line tether in the vid...

https://youtu.be/vphdnGDdW0k

A few months back I also put together a rig using the center fin slot with my foil board...both times was in the surf and there was too much turbidity...etc...for it to be of much use...but, I'm not done experimenting...;-)
Title: Re: Underwater Board-mounted GoPro
Post by: TallDude on January 31, 2017, 02:30:28 PM
Here's another one. Lots of sea creatures near the end of the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOThERd36-U
Title: Re: Underwater Board-mounted GoPro
Post by: SUP Sports ® on January 31, 2017, 02:40:43 PM
Speaking of sea creatures...
I had a cephalopod hitch hiker on the bottom of my board at 7:41...woulda been cool to have captured vid of it holding onto my board as I rode a number of waves...

https://youtu.be/tgPZJA8rXt4
Title: Re: Underwater Board-mounted GoPro
Post by: lucabrasi on January 31, 2017, 03:07:02 PM
Saw these over the last little while. Neither really did anything for me tho it could be fun to play with the Powerray.
Simply amazing what you can buy for a fish finder anymore with bottom charting and pictures and all sorts of stuff. For a while there have been guys who jig or ice fish who drop cameras down. Check out Basspro or Cabelas and see all the crap they have for us suckers. None is really handy for a board tho. Maybe the camera but I can't remember how big they are. Probably pretty small by now.
Got a rc boat toy I keep in the trailer. I have always meant to hook up a bit of line and bait and send it out using it as a bobber. Still haven't done it.
You should give it a shot and see what you end up with. Could be painful going back through much video tho.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsxkU16dUsg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoPRKw0uxHI
Title: Re: Underwater Board-mounted GoPro
Post by: SUP Sports ® on January 31, 2017, 03:30:02 PM
Woulda been really cool on this day...so clear...we saw a gazillion fish that paddle...

https://youtu.be/5ACvsPN2GII

Bulky captures lots of sea life on his morning paddles here in SB...he has some cool whale footage on his Facebook...

Title: Re: Underwater Board-mounted GoPro
Post by: PonoBill on January 31, 2017, 03:45:57 PM
I did an underwater Lipstick cam for my paddle experiments. I wanted to be able to aim it, so I did a through the board mount using a lamp nipple coated with epoxy then screwed on the nuts over epoxy coated washers. Probably not what you want to do, but I could aim the camera where I wanted by pushing the control arm with my paddle.

It had the added advantage of being pretty low drag
Title: Re: Underwater Board-mounted GoPro
Post by: blueplanetsurf on January 31, 2017, 04:04:11 PM
Filming paddles underwater and watching what happens in slow motion gave me some good insights and ideas for paddle design.

https://youtu.be/sngGx7i4DJk
Title: Re: Underwater Board-mounted GoPro
Post by: SUP Sports ® on January 31, 2017, 04:29:13 PM
Living legend, George Greenough, had filming from underwater, while surfing with dolphins, mastered some time ago...
We had several epic parties at my home where he projected his raw 35mm films that became the epic movie "Dolphin Glide" on one of my walls...mind blowing to watch their dorsal fins skim along the air/water interface from underneath as they ride inside the barrels...all slowed down in ultra slow motion...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oG3ickavDu4

http://www.georgegreenough.com/mediafiles.html
Title: Re: Underwater Board-mounted GoPro
Post by: Ichabod Spoonbill on February 01, 2017, 02:53:40 AM
I'm glad I'm in good company with this idea. I'll have this going when the weather gets warmer.
Title: Re: Underwater Board-mounted GoPro
Post by: 808sup on February 01, 2017, 08:53:36 AM
I thought of mounting a camera to the underside of my bullet a few years ago. At first I thought of all the cool reef shots I would get. Then I realized I may get shots of things that are tracking me. Downwinders are are thrilling enough without actually seeing what's below you as your gliding a mile offshore. As it is now when I fall I resemble a cat. Practically bouncing off the water and back on the board. :o
Title: Re: Underwater Board-mounted GoPro
Post by: clay on February 01, 2017, 11:59:58 AM
Great ideas!  Glad to see this is in good company also. 

Seems like foil surfing will be a good application for this, at least that's want I want to see and record.
Title: Re: Underwater Board-mounted GoPro
Post by: ninja tuna on February 07, 2017, 09:33:40 PM
you could either buy or make a trollpro that the fisherman use to see what has been following their baits.  You could either rig it off the tail of the board or create a harness to trail it off the nose even.  If you made your own you could mess around with the angle you are filming.

These should give you some ideas.

http://www.trollpro.com/

http://www.thehulltruth.com/boating-forum/401688-gopro-trolling-camera-housing.html

http://2coolfishing.com/ttmbforum/showthread.php?t=450799

and also if you google "gopro trolling camera housing"
Title: Re: Underwater Board-mounted GoPro
Post by: stoneaxe on September 19, 2018, 07:12:21 AM
Ian...not sure you did this but I'm going to try building a camera mount into a fin. Bill is sending me a box of cameras, mounts and such. I want to start capturing some of the sea life around me. I'm glad I looked at this old thread...hadn't seen it before and love the vids.
Title: Re: Underwater Board-mounted GoPro
Post by: Ichabod Spoonbill on September 19, 2018, 07:04:30 PM
I've got a new location which might work well. I recently holed my Pau Hana though, so I have to repair the board  before I get her back in the water.

I can't wait to see what you get! Lots of cool fishies.
Title: Re: Underwater Board-mounted GoPro
Post by: stoneaxe on September 20, 2018, 05:49:50 AM
The fin mount I think will work well and I can switch between boards easily but I'm also going to mod some of my boards with camera mounts. I'm ordering all the stuff I need to fix my currently dinged/broken boards. I have a lot of work to do on some of them. I'm going to try and do a worthy job to my 12-6 cruiser but also add some more mounting points for gear.
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