Which to Purchase, EZ Cam or Ski Doc Pylon Mount?

[slalom frog]

Hola- Considering the purchase of either a Ski Doc or EZ Cam pylon camera mount. Watched the videos, read a lot online but still not sure which one would be the better choice. There is a cost difference but that will not be my determining factor. I really want the product that will produce the best video in that type of application. Anyone have experience with either? Both? Thanks in advance!

 

Mike

[Oldutskier]

Give me about five days and I will tell you what the difference is between a ski doc mount and a trakker mount. My ski doc arrived today.

[BraceMaker]

Ez cam seems to work well, nesd to try a cam w/ optical zoom

 

[musclefixer]

ski doc works great for the price. Even bought a cheap Iphone holder to sit on top and works real well.

[SkiJay]

I just popped my handle hard enough to completely scramble my GoPro on a pylon mount. I'm not so sure I'd want to set my smartphone up for this kind of abuse.

[crashman]

Ski doc is great for the price. Rugged product and great customer service too. Good point about using the iPhone.

[aswinter05]

EZ cam is nice because you can attach any video camera device to it. It has a "screw mount" on the top which will obviously hold any camera device with threads in the bottom.

 

We never use the "screw mount" part of the EZ cam because GoPro's don't screw-in and our Kodak Playsport sits too high on that mount which causes LOTS of vibration.

 

The other part of the EZ cam mount which we use for our GoPro is the "clamp" part. This will fit most devices. There is a flaw with this part of the mount, though. The clamp is fixed to an arm socket which allows the clamp to move in all different directions. It's nearly impossible to keep the clamp section in place during a set. We are constantly adjusting the position of the clamp. Also, because it's a hanging component of the mount, you get plenty of unwanted vibrations.

 

I think I'm just going to strip all the components of the EZ cam mount and attach a GoPro mounting plate to the top of the EZ cam unit.

 

Mike, feel free to give me a buzz if you want to know more about the EZ cam. We use it every time we ski.

[aswinter05]

The last two passes of this video are taken with the EZ Cam (the only two passes that are clearly not at Coble Ski School).

 

The video was shot with a GoPro Hero 3 Black Edition. Once again we attach the GoPro to the "clamp/arm" of the EZ Cam Mount. We also keep the GoPro in the waterproof housing while it's clamped in.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5HKdT5fiHc

[SkiJay]

@aswinter05 I may not have understood your post correctly, but the Ski-Doc also uses a screw mount that will work for most any camera. And while the GoPro doesn't thread straight onto these screw mounts, they offer the following inexpensive mount that does:

 

http://www.cruisercustomizing.com/images/HERO-GTRA30.jpg

[aswinter05]

@SkiJay the EZ cam has that same screw mount. The EZ cam however adds an additional front mount that will hold pretty much any device that is not screw mount compatible (like cell phones). You can see from the picture below that this additional front mount is flexible in movement which has advantages and disadvantages.

 

Advantages of flexible front mount: 1. it's perfect for cell phones and smaller devices without screw mounts (threads). 2. You can position the camera however you want so that you know the skier stays in the desired frame

 

Disadvantages of front mount: 1. If the device you are using has a screen for viewing purposes, you cannot see the screen while it's mounted to the clamp (Thus it becomes difficult to see if the skier is in the frame.) 2. You constantly have to reposition the front mount as it gets easily knocked out of position from shortening the rope or removing the mount between uses.

 

I'm getting ready to run out to the shop to modify this device as we speak for our GoPro.

[aswinter05]

Obviously I'm hard at work today....

 

About 10 minutes of modification and I believe I've got a solid platform for the GoPro. Should be able to post some video of Lake Norris this weekend to see if it reduces vibrations and frustration.

[aswinter05]

@SkiJay , I did not know they made those GoPro mounts. I like it. It made me think of an idea for mounting GoPro's to your ski. Check my image below....

 

I'm pretty sure the circled thread holes are for specific bindings but do you think they would be compatible with that GoPro mount if I found the proper threaded bolt? Seems like a fairly secure way to bolt your GoPro to a ski.

[SkiJay]

@aswinter05 The standard double sided tape GoPro mounts work great, plus have the added advantage of being able to be mounted anywhere you like on the ski. When the mounts fail, it's not the tape, it's the mount itself that snaps off leaving the base of the mount taped to the ski.

[SkiJay]

@bananaron The standard flat two sided tape mount that comes with the camera or at any store that sells GoPro. Make sure you also get the orange foam floaty back for it so it will float if the mount the breaks, which they do occasionally.

 

http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRIwAXkKeX5IE2mRaeCscxGvUekdux_z33byUvdWxDN07Z197fuPmJZBighlA

 

http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQvN0GeN0IC-rLQh713XLwLbk70CRbijRZ_XSoeki56v_c53675fGW5Ebn_