Testing my new GoPro Hero 5 Session mounted uder visor

Let me say first that I wanted to test this on my Husky...but she's being temperamental. Apparently there's no spark between us.

So I'm on my 250r and did some runs testing the mount under the visor. This isn't a special mount but the session is small enough to fit under there without anything special. I like the view basically at my eye level. I did some tests with stabilization on then off. With it on it, seems like you're riding on smooth pavement and doesn't seem like you're going that fast either.

With it off, you feel the sense on speed and the hardness of the trail...but it makes you nauseous after watching it for a bit.


I'm just an average trail rider so nothing special in the riding department.

I have the Hero 5 Session also. Its really become a staple of my equipment and every download is an awesome part of my riding now.

I have a few different configurations on my helmets set up as right side mounts. I just got a new "Just 1", J-12 Carbon helmet' although the side of this helmet isn't really flat or as smooth as I would like. My curved base plate is applied right behind, and just over the helmets recessed side fastener rivet through the helmet that holds the chin strap behind the GoPros applied base plate mounts upper corner.

The actual "buckle" mount as they call them, I'm using now is a low profile set-up, where the slot mount is on the rear surface of the camera frame. The other standard camera frames slot mount is on the underside. Either works well on the side of the helmet.

I should note, I use a "Quick Strap" set up for my goggles and have for about 30 years. So the stick on base plate mount has to be below the goggle straps level just below and behind the helmets goggle opening.

The type buckle mounts I use are GoPro brand, I already had a cheaper "off brand" mounts clevis snap off at home luckily one day. Had this happened out on the trail. I may have lost the camera itself. Both of the GoPro buckle mounts I have. Have the 360 degree metal swivel base post attached to a short arm. So the camera can be tipped up enough to be leveled. Since the helmets low side curvature would have it filming everything at an angle. With the left side being high in the image. This mount just catches in the view the edge of the helmets chin guard and bottom corner of the visor. The Just 1 J-12 helmet has a large long visor too but its not in the way of filming at all.

I thought about installing a mount plate under the visor on this helmet but with the camera facing up I didn't think I could access the cameras "on-off" button easily. I never really held it up in under the visor though to check it out. I'll have to take a look at that location.

Image stabilization of these tiny ice cube size cameras is absolutely incredible. It does make the trail look smooth until you jump across a few holes and some eroded deep ruts or hit some rock faces in the trails. I haven't tried mine without the Image stabilization turned off.

My Dad who is 83 years old and has never really cared for my dirt bikes, quads or drag race cars, actually sat and watched a couple of hours of this GoPro footage of us riding out on the trails when I downloaded some of it on his home computer. He sat with me and made several comments while watching so I guess he even thought it was pretty cool himself. I can hardly keep his attention more than a few minutes normally.

On one ride alone, I've recorded up to 25 or more riding sections in a 110 mile ride totaling about 2 1/2 to 3 hours total time recorded. I use a 64 GB SD disc and hadn't even used more than 45 % of its memory and still had plenty of battery time left. I don't really know how long it will last recording.

It has been cool looking at some of these rides that we go on and I have seen trails off to the side of the main trails that I have driven right by in the past. These have shown up on the camera's recorded view making me go out and find them later. These are even smaller game trail single tracks we had ridden several times right by, as I guess our concentration has always been looking forward directly ahead of the bike on these trails.

So interestingly enough the GoPro has actually led to me finding a few trails by its capability to scout out new single tracks that I can go back and ride later, that I would have possibly never known existed.

Nice write up Big Timmy!

I actually have my camera upside down in the mount so the button is on the bottom...the camera automatically realizes and makes the videos right side up with no correcting having to be done by me. Also, the 5 session has voice activation so you don't even need to
use the button if you want to put the camera in with the button behind the frame. Just say "Gopro, start recording" and you will here an audible beep letting you know it heard you and is recording.

Cheers!

Great to know that. The manual is about the size of a receipt. I've looked at the manual and instructions page by page online a few times and its about ten miles long.

From what I had thought I read and what my buddy told me. He has the full size larger "GoPro Hero 5" camera. I thought I would have to buy a remote wrist band or something for the "Hero 5 session's" voice activation to work.

I'm going to have to mess with that tonight and try it. Does the Hero 5 session camera's "voice activation feature" require any set-up on the camera itself to get it to do this ?

I'll take another look at the under visor mount too. I have several curved adhesive base plates and a low profile forward offset camera mount "Buckle" that has just a single clevis that I could use under the visor.

I didn't know the Hero 5 Session camera would automatically flip the image right side up either, if mounted on its side or upside down.

I guess I should go back and continue to read the GoPro manual for it I have on my computer. Which is a bit boring shuffling through all the other things I don't really need to know about.

I have to admit its so easy to use that a 5 year old child could figure it out easier than I could. Which nearly means they could handily operate it out of the box with out having to ever see a manual.

So much for my getting old and still thinking I should be second guessing stuff like this camera and playing with anything that is new modern technology.

Couple of things Timmy:

Voice activation is turned off in the settings by default...you just have to turn it on. I use the Capture app on my phone and the settings are easier to use there than on that tiny screen. The "auto rotation" is turned on already by default so if you mount the camera upside down...that setting is ready to go already.

I wasted my money on a "Low Profile Swivel Mount" for the session. When I got it...it was higher profile than the one that comes stock with the session. I just use the stock flat mounting plate and stuck it under my visor. The curved one is curving the wrong way for mounting on the underside of the visor.

Any other questions...give me a shout

Is the microphone setup any better than the old session? It's just wind noise the whole time.