25 July 20212:33689 views on YouTubeWatch on YouTube
Drone footage is what makes an eFoil ride look like flight, and it is also the reason most riders never film their sessions properly. Someone has to stay on shore, someone has to be good at flying, and the drone has to survive the water. A camera you wear removes all three problems at once, assuming the footage holds up.
The trade you make
The rig tested here is a harness mounted 360 camera, and the honest pitch made for it is that the wearer looks like a complete doofus for the entire session. That is the cost. The hoped for return is footage that, once reframed in editing, competes with an expertly flown drone, because a 360 capture lets you choose the camera angle afterwards instead of committing to it while you are trying to ride.
Two riders, taking turns
Rather than one long solo test, the session alternates between two riders so both the wearing and the being filmed side get covered. That is the useful way to try a rig like this: the shot that matters is the one of the other person, and you only find out whether the harness is pointing anywhere useful once someone else is riding past it.
Worth trying before you buy a drone
If you are weighing up how to film your own riding, this is the cheaper end of the decision. A harness and an action camera cost a fraction of a capable drone, they go in the water with you, and nothing has to be landed at the end. Whether the results genuinely rival a drone is the question the episode sets out to answer.
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