Good Wakeboarding Camera?
 

There are quite a few waterproof video cameras made for wakeboarding. They all have their pros and cons. But which which one is best?

The GoPro HD Hero Surf Edition for $229.99.

The GoPro HD Hero Surf Edition 2 for $299.99.

The Contour Roam for $199.99.

The Contour Plus for $499.99.

And wakevideo.com has:

The Trakker TopMount Mini for $249
The Trakker P4 for $259
The AirTrakker for $269
The AirTrakker TopMount for $279
The AirTrakker Pro for $359
The Trakker TopMount Pro for $379

Has anyone had any of these cameras or any other wakeboarding camera that they like? Pros, cons, features, unique qualities? Anyone know of any good cheap cameras? Thanks everyone.

Kyle: Here is a chart we did for our business early this year showing information on various mini camcorders. https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B-w...thkey=COPOtdwB. One thing you might want to consider that is not on the chart is that in February, GoPro is coming out with a wireless backpack remote that will live stream to an iPad if you have a mobile hotspot (see other topics on this forum). Theoretically, you could put the camera on your tower and the IPad on your dash in front of you, and have a really cool system - although it will be interesting to see if that really works on a mobile hotspot. In the past, GoPro's haven't been very good for shooting wakeboarding video from the boat because of their wide angle lens and lack of zoom. However, I think the GoPro Hero2 now offers a narrow 90degree lens setting, which might make it workable for shooting from a boat. Let you know if and when I can get my hands on the new setup.

The GoProHero2 will offer a wide 170º FOV, medium 127º FOV, and narrow 90º FOV at 1080p and and 720p as an exclusive feature with the next firmware update.

You said 90º lens setting might make it workable for shooting from a boat. Why "might it work"? Is it still possibly too wide with no zoom?

The Camera I have used most on a tracking mount is the Kodak Playsport. It is waterproof, has 4x zoom, has a remote and offers slow motion playback - all good features for filming from the boat. The disadvantage is you have to get up behind it to align it on the mount the first time (only), and it does not offer live streaming (wired or wireless). The GoPro with this new package will apparently overcome the two disadvantages that the Playsport has, will have a remote, and likely will allow some sort of slow motion playback on the iPad (guessing). The only downside appears to be that it will not have a zoom. I usually zoom the Playsport in about 1/3 of the way when filming wakeboarding from the boat, but even without zooming, it still produces a good enough video for teaching/learning and posting online. I suspect the new GoPro packages advantages will outweigh its lack of zoom, but I don't know yet, so that's why the "it might be workable."

Where do you mount it on your boat? I was thinking the top of the tower would be a nice high point of view to mount a camera.

Are the boats shaky enough where you would really need something to diminish camera shaking? The actual WakeJak tracking camera mount is $59 but you need to mount it to the WakeJak base which is another $199 so that's out of the question unless you can mount it without the WakeJak base.

The Air Trakker mounts you mentioned in your OP cost as much if not more than the Wakejak?