What’s the best camera setup for go-karting?
I’ve recently started filming my go kart races and was confronted with the problem: What camera should I use? And perhaps the bigger question: How should I mount it?
To dig a bit deeper on this I posed the question to the Missed Apex F1 Podcast Patreon’s Slack group… It caused quite a stir.
GoPro’s on helmets: Not recommended
The general thinking is that attaching a GoPro to your helmet comes with some risk. Indeed, at Club100, your camera must be attached to the kart, and not the helmet. The risk is that should the driver’s helmet-cam become snagged on something during a crash, the camera may increase the torque placed on the driver’s neck, resulting in injury.
Attaching a camera to a Club100 kart
GoPro, on the front panel!
You can see in the photo that the GoPro (in this case a GoPro Max) is attached to the front panel beneath the number plate. Club100 offers a small string to ensure that the driver has a chance to save the GoPro, should it become unclipped. In the US, LO206, KA100, and similar leagues, also require kart-mounted cameras and have outright banned helmet mounted for safety reasons.
Front panel camera fixture for karting:
Pros:
Not attaching the camera to the helmet is good for safety
The front panel position can be quite good for seeing driver’s feet: For accelerating and braking
Cons:
Unless you have a 360 camera, the footage captured in this way can be quite boring
Can be shaky if the camera doesn’t have good stabilisation
Attaching a camera to a Rotax or other water cooled kart
Mounting a GoPro on the radiator of a Rotax kart
As you can see in this Whilton Mill International Track Guide from Brad Philpot, the camera has been mounted on the radiator. I too have done this using the classic “double sided tape and cable ties” method. (In my experience, this approach needs lots of cable ties for peace of mind.)
What’s really nice about the radiator approach is the opportunity to Front and Rear-facing views, if you have 360 camera.
360 cam (GoPro Max) offers both front and rear view. The 360 cam is favoured by Racing Dean.
Radiator camera fixture for karting:
Pros:
Not attaching the camera to the helmet is good for safety
360 camera lets you see both front and back views!
Cons:
Can be shaky if the camera doesn’t have good stabilisation
Putting a camera inside your helmet: Cambox V4 Pro.
For that Formula 1, in-helmet feel, it’s possible to mount a camera inside the helmet. Jon McClintock, one of the Missed Apex Podcast members uses the Cambox camera which velcros to the helmet padding.
Jon says,
“Many karting tracks are banning helmet mounted cameras, since they fall or break off and become a track hazard. Nobody will even know you're using one of these unless they look closely. The video quality is pretty decent, battery life is reasonable, and the controls are pretty intuitive.”
Here’s how Jon used the camera for a two camera view while rallying!
Watch the video here.
In-helmet camera mount for motorsport:
Pros:
Total safety
Cons:
The housing is obviously 3D printed, so it looks and feels cheap.
The Cambox management software and phone app are ok, but not great.
You have to be careful removing the camera or you pull off the velcro and helmet padding
Long videos are divided into chunks with a small gap
Something to keep in mind is that if you're running with a tinted visor, it will also tint the video. It's easy enough to correct in your video editing software, but it's more work for you at the end of the day. I imagine this camera would also struggle with helmet stickers that cover whether the camera is mounted.
Adhesive camera mounts for helmets.
In my mind, the pro for this method is also the con - it can fall off!
When you buy a GoPro, it’ll come with some mounts and double-sided tape. When I got my helmet, I explored using these, but concluded that my helmet was too curvy for the adhesive to work. Perhaps my helmet is especially curvy?
I then explored this contraption—an arm that allows you to stick the camera to a different part of the helmet. To my mind, the leverage that this mount would create would place the adhesive under even more strain. So I aborted.
Hmmm… I reckon this arm would last about 1 lap!
One Missed Apex listener does attach their camera to the top of his lid. The consensus in the Missed Apex group is that your neck is likely safe, so long as the adhesive will essentially “break off” during a crash. However, if the camera falls off during karting, you could break your camera and potentially cause an issue for the driver behind.
Putting a GoPro on top of your lid.
Mounting a camera to the top of your helmet
Disclaimer: This is not an approach recommended by Karting Track Guides.
Pros:
Great field of view
Ideal for 360 footage if the camera is placed on top
Ok for your neck, so long as the camera will break off fairly easily
Cons:
If your camera breaks off, it could be lost or be damaged
If the camera breaks off, it could injure another driver… However, the speeds reached during indoor karting are likely too slow to cause injury
The “strap on” helmet camera mount!
GoPro Max attached by chin mount. Watch the Brighton Karting track guide.
I have this mount. However, having researched this blog, I’m certainly not recommending it for safety reasons. Disclaimer: Buy at your own risk.
I got this mount because it feels really secure. The mount goes around the chin part of the helmet and places the camera just beneath your field of vision. It feels like it wouldn’t fall off… Even during a crash, which is the con.
Chin strap… Risky for your neck?
Strap on karting camera mount
Pros:
Great driver point of view footage
Camera feels secure
Cons:
Should you have a crash, this method could be dangerous
If the camera gets caught on something, it could increase the torque on your neck, causing a greater injury
Discussion on camera mounts for go karting:
In researching this article, I can recommend the in-helmet approach as “safest.” However, the particular camera doesn’t appear to have some of the same horizon levelling features as you might get on a GoPro Max, and the quality doesn’t seem as good.
Next safest would be “on-kart” mounts, whether that’s radiator, front panel or other. Now, these aren’t completely safe, if for example the camera falls off on the track, it could cause damage to other karts or drivers. However, as the camera is closer to the ground than on a helmet, risk is reduced. 360 cameras, such as the footage captured here, can really help to bring this footage to life.
Helmet mounts are best for quality camera footage. However, if they break off, they can be dangerous for other drivers. If they do not break off, they could place extra strain on the driver’s neck during a crash.
