What's the best camera mounting system

[TravisNW]

Just wanted to hear from others regarding experience with different camera mounting systems. All feedback is appreciated ex. how smooth is the system, does it pan with the skier effectively, how much does slack line effect the footage, does it need to be removed in order to shorten the rope, does it work with jump and trick etc..

[Waternut]

Wakeye is probably the leading pylon mount right now but it's got the price to match. Trakker is very similar and just as good but doesn't have all the bells and whistles. The Trakker is just as expensive but you're more likely to find one of these used and they're made of metal so it's not going to degrade. Both track the skier well and neither have to be removed to change the rope length. The ski-doc is a simpler solution and considerably cheaper. I'd probably own the ski-doc if it was around when I bought mine. The downside to the ski-doc is you have to remove the piece to change the rope. However, when you aren't using the camera, the camera mount comes off and it's out of the way too. The Wakeye comes off fairly easy as well but you aren't going to throw it in the glovebox because it's too big. The Trakker requires tools to remove but the plate the camera mounts to is easily removable.

 

In my opinion, if you typically have a passenger, the ski-doc is fine. If it's typically only a driver in the boat, pulling the camera off does make the drivers life a bit more difficult.

 

All of them have issues with slack hits and handle pops because they're mounted to the pylon which moves. Camera choice is the critical point there.

[skier2788]

Skidoc just came out with a new mount. They call it the obit mount. It is a pretty nice design. I just got mine this week and have used it once. Doesn't require removal to change the rope. Will report back later on how it does with video.

[Horton]

Wakeye wakeye wakeye

[oldjeep]

Depends whick version of Trakker, mine has Plastic knobs that you install and remove by hand.

[Johnbrannan]

My Wakeeye with the GoPro and the IPhone mount works great

[Chef23]

@skier2788 I am interested to hear your thoughts on the new Skidoc mount.

[Wish]

I find it odd they SkiDoc off set the camera like that. Why not just have it behind the pylon and elevated a little higher then the pylon. Still well out of the way to change loops. To me off set would film one side well and perhaps miss some of the other. I've built a few and one was off set like that and it was not all that great. Maybe they figured it out. To bad they don't have some example videos.

[lpskier]

I have a Wakeye and have seen the new Ski Doc product. My first thought after seeing the Ski Doc was "Gee, I wish I had seen this before I got the Wakeye." It really is a slick product and at $135 retail, it is a fraction of the Wakeye cost. Then I considered the fact that I bought the Wakeye so I could use my IPhone, and at least for now, the Ski Doc only is set up for a GoPro, so the savings I would see on the mounting device would be more than offset by the purchase of another camera. Secondly, I considered that I could use the Wakeye camera clamp on the Ski Doc product, but then I would also use the Wake Eye app, and I figure the cost of developing and maintaining the app is part of the Wakeye product expense, so If I used the clamp and the app on the SkiDoc, in a sense I'd be ripping off Wakeye, and since the Wakeye now works fine for me after the recent app update, I decided I was very happy with my purchase. If I had a GoPro and was intending to use it, though, I think I would go with the Ski Doc. Matt makes a very nice set of products. If you don't have the Ski Doc work bench, you should get one.

 

I purchased my Wakeye through H2OProShop.com. Very good service and prompt delivery. #iskiconnelly

[Bill22]

I just bought the standard Ski doc. I wish that I knew they were about to come out with the Orbit! :neutral:

[Waternut]

The ski-doc orbit does look cool and I like that it's out of the way. The offset is negligible. because you're talking 6 inches at 38 feet which comes out to be less than 1 degree of difference. You'll get a lot more than that in just slop between the rope and the mount in most systems. Now the bimini top may be more in the way on one side than the other but you'd have to be running pretty shortline for that.

 

However, I don't see that thing fitting any pylon I currently ski behind because all of mine have tapered tops.

[oldjeep]

That new skidoc looks cool. As for the comments about it only being for gopro- take a closer look at the video. The go pro mount is an adapter on a standard camera mount stud.

[skier2788]

The new skidoc uses a a screw to mount much like a tripod. It comes with a universal adaptor to hold your cell phone. I will say the adaptor is very cheap and will easily break. You can order heavier duty ones for selfie sticks and use them. I will be doing that or making a mount. For now the one it comes with works fine. I used my Samsung S5 and the wakeye app to shoot this.

[lpskier]

@oldjeep. That is correct. I pointed out that you could use Wakeye's camera clamp on the Ski Doc product, but Ski Doc (the last I knew) does not make or sell its own IPhone or Android camera clamp. The Wakeye app for IPhone or Android is also extremely handy, but as far as I know there is no similar product for GoPro. There is nothing wrong at all with the Ski Doc; as I said I would buy it if I already owned a GoPro. But there are differences between the Ski Doc and the Wakeye products. #iskiconnelly

[rayn]

Like I do every time this topic comes up I look to see what Soloshot is doing and it looks like the guys over there are getting closer to something we can use. The FAQ for the new one says it can do 80 degrees a second in either direction. I still have a number of questions such as:. Is that fast enough ball to ball? What is the delay before going back in the other direction? Will slalom skiing literally wear this mount out after 100 sets.

 

Maybe we can convince them once they are in full production to give @Horton or someone on BOS a test unit for the year to answer these questions. A ski school or a couple of weekend tournaments would be faster to find the duty cycle though.

 

This concept solves a lot of our video issues with vibration, rolling shutter and hits after the turn causing distortion and of course since it is not attached to the pylon it will be easy to use when shorting ropes.

 

Lets hope they got it right or are successful so they continue development

 

 

 

 

[TravisNW]

Good feedback, Thanks!

[sgregg]

Shock Tube - In Tow

Camera - Hero Session (sunscreen on lens/can't figure out how to zoom)

Mounting System - PVC from the backyard

 

:wink:

 

link

 

 

[Horton]

@rayn I asked them and no it is not fast enough.

[UWSkier]

Question for the Malibu guys... Since the whole pylon head rotates with the rope, has anyone ever tried using a clamp on the portion of the pylon that rotates but is just below the recess for the rope? Seems it'd be easy with the right mount and clamp.

[Chef23]

@sgregg what a great looking site. Is it ever blown out?

[Monte99]

Yes @UWSkier made a mount out of a Velcro wrist mount and tied it around the pylon head. Planning on making a clamp which will work better. The Mount tracked quite well and I didn't have any problems.

[dchristman]

@wish It looks to me like it might be possible to relocate the rope tracking pins on the Ski Doc Orbit by drilling a couple more holes to position the camera inline behind the pylon.

 

@skier2788 How are those pins attached? Are they attached with screws or pressed in?

[jpwhit]

Among the members of our ski club, we have both wakeye and the original skidoc camera mounts. Nobody has the new skidoc orbit mount, but it's probably just a matter of time...

 

Without going into a detailed review, I would say the Wakeye does a better job of tracking and keeping the skier in the frame. Especially if you're using a camera with zoom so you aren't using at a wide angle view like you get from a phone camera. Wakeye has a feature, that quite frankly they haven't promoted well enough, and I think I lot of folk are unaware and do not set it up. It's called Zoom Plus and helps compensate for the slack at the rope at the ball and helps keep the skier in frame.

 

Wakeye Zoom Plus News Post

 

Almost all cell phone cameras are sensitive to vibration. Apple cameras a little more than other phone manufacturers. The skidoc mount has a foam block between the part of the mount that slips over the pylon and the actual camera mount. This cut downs on vibration and results in better quality of video from cell phones.

 

Summary: Wakeye tracks better, skidoc results in better phone video quality.

 

As an aside, I have tried putting foam around the cell phone on the wakeye and it did result in a very noticeable improvement in video quality, especially for iphones, but I gave up using phones to record ski videos because the default zoom is much too wide, the wakeye app is pretty slick but missing features to make it really useful, and I got tired of dealing with the vibration issues and having to stick foam around my phone.

 

So I went over the top geek, bought a used camcorder off ebay for $35, built my own GPS based control box that not only starts and stops the video automatically, but only records from the entry pre-gate to the exit skier gate, doesn't record video when someone falls in the course for the run back to the drop, and controls pre-set zooms on the camcorder for different rope lengths. I also fully automated the process of getting the videos off a wifi enable SD card in the camcorder to a shared google drive folder organized into folders by date.

 

Not too bad for a couple weekends work. Now we just ski, and then watch the videos later off the google drive web page when we have a few minutes to be depressed about how we felt like we 100% fixed out stack, but the video tells the real story......

 

[bbirlew]

@jpwhit,

Now there is a project I'd love to hear more about!

[disland]

I have a wakeye, No problem with video quality, I had a iPhone 4 that didnt work well , but I now use an old 4S and its great. The app is super easy to use and I no longer have to give the passenger a tutorrial on how to run my camera, I just tell them not to touch it. I like using the old 4S so if it gets wet or hit by a flying rope or dropped in the lake its no big deal. My real phone stays on the dock

[skier2788]

@dchristman it appears to me that they screw in. You would first need to remove the screws that hold the stationary bottom half to the top. At that point I think you could move them.

[DmaxJC_ski]

@UWSkier I had a mount that came with my go pro, was a base with a string tie on each side, mounted it on top my ski pole, ( Malibu ) and then the ski rope doubles the clamping motion, took awesome video when free skiing, I will see if I can find a video to post.

[jpwhit]

@bbirlew,

 

On a business trip at the moment, but will start a new thread when I have some time rather than hijack this thread.