February 15, 2021 4 min read
In our last blog Best motorcycle action camera we discussed the different Action Camera options on the market such as the GoPro Hero 9 Black.
Now you have the best motorcycle action camera for you, how do you find the best mounting position and mounting solution?
POINT OF VIEW
Point-of-view (POV) is where the camera perspective originates from the human eyeline. It usually involves attaching your action camera to your helmet so that it gives a clear, wide angle view of the road ahead.
This is the most common form of action cam shot, whether it be video footage of riding along a nice mountain pass or a photo of your commute to work! There are a number of ways to mount your action camera to your motorcycle helmet, but these often depend on the type and style you are using.
Sticky tabs are a common solution but are not ideal solution for a few reasons, foremost of which is the possibility of detachment. Another important detractor with fixed sticky mounts is the increased possibility of head injury in a crash situation which has led some motorcycle teams to go as far as outright banning fixed helmet mounts.
MOUNTING TO HELMET
Looking at these issues with adhesive helmet mounts, Dango Design have designed an alternative clamp-based mount. With powerful spring-loaded jaws it can grip the chin area of your helmet adhesive free. We love this mount and are proud to stock it as it has a great compromise of safety and quality of life features. Another bonus is that this helmet mount can be taken off and clamped elsewhere to get some different perspective shots.
Whatever mount you go for, its important to make sure you angle your action camera correctly with a good balance of the bike and the road in the shot, you can see here a couple examples of good and bad framing:
GOOD – Well balanced shot with the horizon close to the centre of the image.
BAD – Too much of the road in the image.
If you find that you are struggling to create the right angles for your shots, you may need to experiment with extenders to bring out the mounting location and allow for some more flexibility. We include some extenders with the optional adapter pack for our helmet gripper mount.
ON BIKE MOUNTING
As well as POV footage from your eyeline perspective, it can also be useful to capture footage from on the bike. There are 2 main reasons you might want to do this which are:
In these circumstances you have far more options on where you can mount as you have the advantage of having the entire bike to utilise.
VBLOGGING
Vblogging is becoming increasingly common due to the low price of action cameras and the popularity of YouTube and podcasting. If you are thinking about Vblogging its important to capture some more human footage of the rider to cut in with your chatting. For this you have a few options, but usually it will be most useful to mount onto your handlebar, mirrors or accessory bar with the camera facing backwards.
We supply a few different mounts for this purpose, the easiest thing for handlebar will usually be our U-bolt mount and for mirror and accessory bar our mirror clamp mount. Both are very rugged and great for all weather shooting.
CAPTURING RACE FOOTAGE
Getting footage from on the bike can be an exciting and visceral perspective if you are going at high speed on the track and leaning your bike. For this perspective it can be appropriate to use an adhesive mount at a favourable position on the bike or to mount to your handlebar area using a fork stem mount.
The fork stem mount fits into the open hole of the fork stem found on sports bikes. This allows for awesome forward shots of the clocks and windscreen for those mad dashes down the back straight or you can spin the camera around to get the best shots of getting your knee down in the Hairpin.
CONCLUSION
If you want to get the best shots it is best to utilize a variety of perspectives and mounting techniques to allow you to create varied and interesting videos or your travels. Experiment with mounting in both POV and backwards facing perspectives and mix and match your footage to create excitement. Remember to prioritise safety when mounting and to ensure you are not compromising your vision or the integrity of any of your equipment.
We hope this guide will help you get the best point-of-view photos on your motorcycle rides!
Should you upload your photos to Instagram of Facebook please remember to either tag @Ultimateaddons or use #Ultimaeaddons so we can reshare your great shots!
Click here if you would like to know more about the Ultimateaddons Chin Mount for Action Cameras
Should you upload your photos to Instagram of Facebook please remember to either tag @Ultimateaddons or use #Ultimaeaddons so we can reshare your great shots!
Click here if you would like to know more about the Ultimateaddons Chin Mount for Action Cameras
Click here if you would like to know more about our Action Camera attachments for GoPro
Click here if you would like to know more about our Action Camera attachments for Insta360
Click here if you would like to know more about our Action Camera attachments for DJI Osmo Action
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