Can I stick a GoPro on the outside of my balcony?

[jarz85]

Hey again! A few weeks ago I asked a question and wearing my GoPro on my head while boarding the ship.

 

This week I want to know... Can I use the Car mount to stick it on the outside of my balcony? So it sticks to the glass. That way I can get a great angle for a timelapse video. For safety I will tie rope around it and tie that to the balcony so it can't fall off!

[tmitchell82]

Hey again! A few weeks ago I asked a question and wearing my GoPro on my head while boarding the ship.

 

This week I want to know... Can I use the Car mount to stick it on the outside of my balcony? So it sticks to the glass. That way I can get a great angle for a timelapse video. For safety I will tie rope around it and tie that to the balcony so it can't fall off!

 

I assume you are talking about the suction cup mount. I have one of those for my Contour that I brought along on my last cruise. Could you stick it on the outside of the balcony, yes. Did not try it, but have stuck it on the balcony door and had no issues. The big concern I can think of is the surface needing to be clean and free of saltwater residue and then the exposure additional water. Have never exposed my suction cup mount to water. Would definitely secure it with some type of lanyard/rope. Also, if you leave it while you are not in the room, I would tell your cabin steward so he/she does not mess with it.

 

Tim

[MonaCK]

Hey again! A few weeks ago I asked a question and wearing my GoPro on my head while boarding the ship.

 

This week I want to know... Can I use the Car mount to stick it on the outside of my balcony? So it sticks to the glass. That way I can get a great angle for a timelapse video. For safety I will tie rope around it and tie that to the balcony so it can't fall off!

 

No, but I think you can use it to save your deck chair up by the pool. ;)

[awboater]

I have used my Nikon P7000 (point & shoot) for time-lapse videos of my last two cruises from my balcony. I used a standard tripod on the first cruise (Benro Travel Flat), and a DSLR sized Gorillapod on the second cruise. I found a drain-pipe on the balcony to attach the Gorillapod to.

 

While you might be able to get away with sticking a GoPro to the glass during a sea-day, I would avoid doing so in port as those scaffold things that run along the sides of the ship are often in motion from maintenance and cleaning operations. Your camera could either get soapy wet or knocked off the glass if the scaffold hits it. So I think you might want to keep the camera on the inside half of your balcony.

 

On our last cruise, I was time-lapsing the entry into NYC at Bayonne, NJ, and even before the ship made it to the berth, the scaffold was out spraying cleaning water and I had to take the camera off the balcony so my non-waterproof camera would not get wet. Of course you would not have that problem with a Go Pro - except it possibly getting knocked off the glass by the scaffold.

 

And I am not sure if the cruise line would be agreeable to attaching anything to the outside of the ship, even if you use a safety lanyard. Not saying they will say anything or not, but I would at least acknowledge the possibility.

 

For my next cruise, I custom made a mount that should work on any balcony, especially with light weight cameras.

 

 

 

 

 

Although I tested this setup with a D90 DSLR and fairly heavy 18-200mm (about 3~4lbs total), the flexible arm is a bit flimsy for such weight and tended to vibrate a bit. But the magnet was hefty enough to hold (100lb lifting power). At any rate, this setup should work great for a smaller point & shoot like my P7000, or a Go-Pro Hero with a tripod adapter.

 

Here are the materials I purchased for this project:

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008M23DW0/ref=oh_details_o06_s00_i00

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000I1TFCK/ref=oh_details_o06_s00_i01

 

You just need to substitute the arm for the eye bolt that comes with the magnet. You can also buy a slightly longer arm if this one is too short (the short arm is about 7" fully extended, the long arm about 11").

 

http://www.amazon.com/Fotodiox-Variable-Friction-Adjustable-Hot-Shoe/dp/B0054EIGW6/ref=sr_1_20?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1353039685&sr=1-20&keywords=magic+arm

 

The total cost of this setup is about $25, not bad for such a solution.

 

And the advantage is you can place the magnet just about anywhere on your balcony, so as to keep it away from the scaffolding equipment, etc.

 

Note that the hole in the magnet side is an alternate mounting location for the included screw eye. If you have an extra 1/4-20 nut, you could add the screw eye to the magnet side and a safety lanyard to that.