That's actually something I wanted to discuss for a while.
I use a chest belt GoPro bought on the official website. I never sneak my camera onto the ride and always make it obvious to the ride ops. I usually, if not always, ask the park for permission beforehand. In my mail or Facebook message, I make sure to point out several things:
- I have a secured GoPro
- If necessary, I am ready to get my recording material checked by competent upper level staff
- I am flexible and am willing to get a little before opening/after closure to film the ride if the park doesn't want me to use my GoPro onride with the public around
- Showing some positive attitude and desire to make some free advertising/word-of-mouth for the park. Show sincere appreciation for the park in general and good faith. You must be a responsible enthusiast, not a naïve one that does not care about the park's rules or public safety!
Now, this doesn't always go my way and some park told me no. But I deal with it and try my best with the off-ride footage - which is much more burdenous to record in my limited experience. Energylandia was such a case, no cameras allowed on-ride at all, but the super-quick ride ops and quality of the park still made me enjoy my day. In any event, I respect the park's decision and want to act in good faith no matter what.
I know some openly wonder why bother filming "shaky" on-ride POV that put other people in danger. I want to share my opinion on that recurring statement. I've been legally recording on-rides with my chest GoPro for about a year now, and I can tell the stability of the videos are really decent if you do it right. It might not look like the camera is attached to the train, but there are actually little uncontrolled shaky movements. I might post some of my Lech Coaster footage here to put my point to the test.
Onto the serious and sometimes sadly overlooked issue of security. Tbh, I strongly disapprove the use of loose cameras/phones/objects on any coaster. Hitting flying solid object at 100km/h (62 mph) is not just scary, but frankly life-threatening. Having said that, does a chest GoPro still classify as a "loose camera"? I have not heard of a chest GoPro belt failing and coming loose on a coaster yet, and big park chains such as SeaWorld/Busch allowed such GoPro belts on their coasters after extensive testing. Still though, I believe that while the technology hasn't failed yet (to my best knowledge), the most potent risk lies in the human failings and misuse of said technology. The chest GoPro might be designed to handle forces greater than Skyrush and I305 combined, but it is worryingly easy for an excited rider to forget to properly lock the belt or the GoPro protection case. That's especially true when operations are quick and you feel obliged to rush. While I trust the chest belt, I will honestly admit reckless use of the material can end up very badly.
Now, many wonder why some people want to film on-ride POVs while so many others, including excellent ones filmed by experienced goons or professionals are already out there. One reason is video rights. Coaster Youtubers want to use on-ride stuff to illustrate their point or commentary and using other people's footage is a hazardous path (and understandably so) given Youtube's copyright policy. Many "opponents" of amateur on-ride POVs argue that people can still film off-ride footage, and while this is true, I realized over a year how far more time-consuming this can be. You have to be crafty and patient to get all the good spots to catch all the elements of a coaster, or at least the main features of it. Sometimes some parts of the coaster aren't in sight at all, it depends from time to time. Recording off-ride can even get longer because operations are very slow while you have to mix several laps of the coaster to show the layout in its entirety. Off-rides are generally doable and I find them underrated and quite valuable indeed, but for all the reasons above, I understand why many people would just like to film on-ride.
Of course security concerns are entirely legitimate, and I frankly think people filming on-ride, especially newcomers, should be careful and consider very seriously the consequences of misused on-ride cameras. I just want to give my insight as why I do the GoPro stuff, and my short experience based on it.
