GoPros are everywhere. Just this afternoon I saw a generously proportioned and very red-faced cyclist with one stuck to his bike helmet. You have to admire his ambition – or laugh. I couldn’t make my mind up which.
It’s not just GoPros though. There are plenty of other action cams and home video cameras being used to record our moments of triumph, that epic stunt, fastest lap, or embarrassing fail.
For in-car footage there’s very little variety. Usually it revolves around a GoPro suckered to the drivers window, giving that over-the-shoulder shot that’s dominated by the A-pillar. It’s OK at capturing some of the action but never quite feels ‘right’.
Of course, a sucker is versatile so you can mount your camera in various places. On the windscreen or passenger window, hanging from the sunroof, or if you’re brave on the outside of the car. That offers some great views but always with the risk that when you stop the car your camera and mount will have mysteriously disappeared. Finding a GoPro in a hedge can be surprisingly difficult.
There’s another problem with using a sucker mount. If you’re at a track day and a marshall happens to spot the contraption attached to your glass you’re likely to find yourself banned from the track until you remove it. Why? Because it’s not classed as a fixed mount and in the event of a shunt it could pop free and propel itself towards your head. At speed. Not something I’d like to experience.
Headrest Mount
Step forward ‘Headrest Mount’. This is a remarkably simple device that aims to answer these problems. An aluminium bar clamps to the uprights on your seat’s headrest. A camera mount can then be clamped into place, allowing you to load up any camera you want. The viewpoint is over-the-shoulder but works much better than suckered window mounts thanks to the central position.
Designed by professional sports car racer and driver coach Chris Dymond, the Headrest Mount uses a 1/4″ mount that’s common to most cameras. It will hold up to 5kgs of camera, from GoPros to DSLRs and camcorders, and won’t upset track day marshalls, thanks to it being firmly attached to the seat.
It’s priced from £120, is available in a variety of colours to match your car, and offers a range of mounting posts and bars. Head on over to headrestmount.co.uk for more information, or watch the video below to get an idea of the sort of footage you can record.
