4 GoPro Mounts for Your Next Adventure
- Top GoPro Accessories for Traveling
- How To Pack Light for a Photography Trip
- Compact photographic Items Useful for Traveling
photo by Imgorthand via iStock
Have you been using your GoPro camera a lot this last year? Even under the safety precautions of 2020 and 2021, many photographers, videographers, and action enthusiasts have found ways to enjoy the great outdoors.
The best GoPro mounts will help us capture more fun times as we bike, jog, rollerskate, 4-wheel, surf, and just enjoy outdoor activities in general.
I’ve found 4 of the most useful GoPro mounts which include a GoPro helmet mount, a multi-purpose GoPro tripod alternative, a GoPro gimbal, and a relatively basic GoPro grip. Any one of them might be the one you need or you might find a use for multiple GoPro mounts.
Octopad - A Tripod Alternative for Your GoPro
OctoPad is one of the most useful camera accessories I’ve come across in years. I use several of them at a time for some of my on location videography and I almost always have one either in my gear bag or in the car trunk or bike pannier.
Let me describe this tripod alternative and why I like it so much. I’ll start with what it’s not. It’s not a tripod, not a suction cup, not a clamp, and not a screw-on mount. It is a weighted semi-rigid disk of heavy duty canvas like material that has a flat non-slip pad on the bottom and a ¼-20 screw on top.
The screw thread on top is usually topped with a ball head but since you can unscrew it, you can mount other things to it such as a microphone holder, a light stand adapter, an articulated arm, or a tall extension.
The way the OctoPad is made lets you place it on many different types of surfaces from very smooth to uneven or irregular even if the surface is tilted at up to a 45 degree angle. Places I’ve put mine include a couch arm, a ‘71 Barracuda hood, a tree stump, a crumbling brick wall, and a pile of raw ore.
The versatility of this tripod alternative makes it a good choice for use as GoPro mounts. The only thing I wouldn’t try to use it on is a rapidly moving subject. But that’s why we have 4 GoPro mounts to look at.
GoPro The Handler
GoPro The Handler is a floating handgrip for GoPro and other action cams that provides a comfortable way to handhold your GoPro as you’re walking, running, snowboarding, ziplining, or hiking to a remote waterfall in Costa Rica.
As a GoPro grip, The Handler is easy to use, it simply fits under the camera. It is a padded grip so it’s comfortable for extended use. It floats, even with a camera attached, so you have a little extra peace of mind using your GoPro in the water. There’s also a wrist strap for extra security and a built in bottle opener for enjoying a tasty beverage after the action.
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GoPro Helmet Front and Side Mount
GoPro Helmet Front and Side Mount will mount to a bike helmet, motorcycle helmet, skiing or snowboarding helmet, hard hat, or spacesuit (look out, Space-X!). Well, I haven’t tried a space suit yet, but I hope to write a very long article about that one day.
Back down to Earth, I’ve been using this GoPro helmet mount as I bike around while engaged in Photo Trekking, biking to the beautiful scenes to photograph. Read the instructions and mount it carefully to avoid any added injury risk. It uses a sticky pad to attach to the helmet and requires about 24 hours for the glue to set.
It is lightweight, so you may not not notice it too much if you found the right spot for balance on your helmet and it fits all GoPro cameras.
GoPro Karma Gimbal
GoPro Karma Gimbal is a treat to use. If you’ve never tried a powered gimbal before, you owe it to yourself to pick one up and use it for any GoPro footage you would have captured with a basic handgrip. Since it’s powered, it weighs and costs more than a standard handgrip, but the results are worth it.
A powered gimbal is used to stabilize motion as you record video while walking, skateboarding, following parkour traceurs around an urban jungle, or just chasing your kids or dog through the backyard. The smoothness of the action footage is much easier to watch on playback when captured with a gimbal.
Be sure to check the specs, as this gimbal only fits directly to the newest GoPro cameras and requires an adapter to fit to a few of the older models. It also requires that you recharge the battery but the charge will last a long time, about 1 ½ hours.
Which of These GoPro Mounts Is for You?
photo by piola666 via iStock
The prices of all of these GoPro mounts are quite reasonable, so it’s possible you’ll be like me and several of my action cam friends and end up getting all of them. Each one has its own unique capabilities and will enhance your enjoyment as you get out to film yourself and other people doing things.
