GoPro HD hero - do i need anything extra

[Daniel1]

unsure of the section, sorry mods.

Im going to purcahse a HD hero for xmas, and see plenty of additional mounts and accessories for sale - does anyone know if i need to buy anything else or is everything included in the main package.

Thanks in advance

[K17LER]

They have several different packs available so it depends which one you're buying. The basic HD Hero pack just comes with the camera leads and one battery. The "motorsport" pack comes with a couple of cheap mounts.

I would suggest you buy at least one spare battery(£20) and as i don't rate the Go Pro mounts I would recommend getting yourself a tripod adapter like this
http://www.fastfilms.co.uk/gopro-tripod-thread-ada...

That gives you a screw thread on the bottom instead of the weird Go Pro mount and allows you to use more professional mounts like those made by manfrotto.
I use it with the "super clamp with camera spigot" shown on this page on my roll bar.
http://www.fastfilms.co.uk/fixed-camera-mounts.php

For suction mounting on the car I found the best device on the market was the Manfrotto suction mount but I don't like the way it gradually loses suction and you have to keep pumping it up so I made my own. I took one of these
http://www.screwfix.com/prods/18817/Hand-Tools/Kni...
then put the go pro roll bar mount around the handle(trimming the screw threads down first so they can't touch the bodywork. I shot all my Pistonheads/petrolhead Nirvana Viking tour footage using this set up and it stuck fast to the bootlid of an M3 cab all day long....even with PHer Verysideways driving!
footage here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuEWbFsoxY8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyBD4NyYQuQ

The only drawback is you need a relatively flat area to mount it. On tour I used it on the M3, 360 Spyder and 575 with no problem but couldn't find a flat enough area to mount it on the Elise.

The onboard camera footage from the Wilton video uses just the super clamp mount, on my roll car and on the cage of the radical.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGD-gdEAi-g

NB: I rejected the Go Pro roll bar mount as I needed to be relocating the camera quickly at track days and the go pro mount is fiddly. I now leave it permanently on the suction lifter and just use the super clamp on roll bars. I also have various ball heads an extension arm for the super clamp for mounting in different positions on different cars.

Hope that helps

Edited by K17LER on Friday 26th November 18:09