Best Camera Setup

[Madeye]

I’m thinking about buying an action camera to capture myself foiling and get some followcam footage of my buddies. Looking for recommendations for camera and mounts. Some help on efficiently editing footage would be great too.

[dcj]

I have an insta360 x3 camera that I use with a short selfie stick jammed in the strut (the famous wingman method). You can edit on your phone which is quick and easy. Editing the 360 footage on a computer is kind of a pain. Here are some of my videos: https://youtube.com/@dcjtv?si=hR9yJWXre6HsBMGJ

[Wingman]

I’m thinking about buying an action camera to capture myself foiling and get some followcam footage of my buddies. Looking for recommendations for camera and mounts. Some help on efficiently editing footage would be great too.

I would probably be looking heavily at the insta 360 X4 if I were starting fresh. It’s got the 360 but from what I understand also outputs 4K on flat images. That’s a pretty amazing dual function camera. However any 360 camera is going to be added workflow. One reason I can edit so quick is that I use a regular GoPro without 360 editing. My only concern with the insta cameras is that they are long which could put more leverage on the mount if you are doing freestyle. Regular riding I wouldn’t worry about it.

I mount my camera mount on a PVC pole with epoxy then seal the other end with epoxy and sand it round. I then insert the pvc into the strut before inflating. This seems super sketchy but works well and I rarely have any issues except the occasional sand pinhole which is easily patched. However I wouldn’t do this on an expensive wing or one with really high recommended PSI. The new North wings have a GoPro mount option which is awesome and I expect we will see more in the future.

[Madeye]

Thanks for the info. DCJ and wingman your videos look great. Do either of you have some pictures or videos your setup? I would like to checkout the details.

[Wingman]

Thanks for the info. DCJ and wingman your videos look great. Do either of you have some pictures or videos your setup? I would like to checkout the details.

I’ll post one up next time I rig it up.

[RichieFoiling]

I set mine up the same way as @Wingman but I use a gopro 360. Like Rob said it adds extra time editing in terms of follow cam and filming other people its a little nicer cause you dont need to be precise. Just get as close as you can and keep the wing out of the way and you can find them during the editing phase.

[Wingman]

@Madeye

Took a few pictures of my camera setup today. You can see. I epoxy a GoPro mount to one end and then epoxy closed the other end and sand it smooth and roundish. Then I use an aluminum arm to extend my GoPro out from the pvc some since I don’t use a 360 camera. Then I have a paracord tether I put around the camera attachment and then tie it to my back wing handle as a safety. I also use the floaty to keep the camera from getting banged up and hopefully float it if it comes detached. Before you inflate your wing you just stick the pvc into your strut (or even better clamp the strut off, inflate your leading edge, then unclamp and allow the strut to fill with air as you hold the pvc. I’ll add a picture of the final product when I inflate my wing in the parking lot and not down the beach.

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[Wingman]

Here are the pics of my rig mounted on the wing. This is a 3.5 so it sticks out a lot to get a better shot. On a bigger wing it doesn’t need to stick out as much.

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[Madeye]

Thanks for all the pictures and detailed info. Very useful and much appreciated.