I tried using a GoPro Hero on foot to assist in mapping foot routes, with mixed results. For foot route recording, you need to keep the “blind circle” as small as possible, because you want to record the surface, kerbs and the usually small poles carrying the signs. If you mount the camera say on a stick in a backpack, the forward view always is largely your own head. Second requirement: you want to capture the usually small signs, often with even smaller lettering, and the text under regular signs, which give hikers details about access and rules, e.g. dog access and breeding season closure.

1. Fixing the camera high enough for acceptable images is not easy, and carrying the gear for hours at a time is no pleasure. I ended up using a bicycle helmet with a vented helmet strap, and on top of that a 20 cm gooseneck, then the camera on top of that. I had to use tiewraps to fix the strap, to hold it in position and because it kept getting loose. I had to ask others to get the camera position (tilt) good. I had to wear a cap inside the helmet, and then strap the helmet uncomfortably tight to keep the helmet from falling to a side all the time. With some practice, the end result was ok for say 2 hours recording. I can’t see myself walking a long hiking trail with bushes and low trees, let alone scrambles, windy crests and muddy hills. Without any company, because a. noone wants to bee seen with you wearing this contraption, and b. no-one wants to be on every picture, and c. company blocks the view!

2. You really need some guidance to learn how to operate the camera. I used the Quik app to do the settings, check if it works, and to start the recording on the road. After that, you don’t need the app. To stop recording, I could reach the camera and push the button. Practice in front of the mirror!

3. After several trials, I settled on 5 seconds interval images, walking fast on straight sections and slow where more turns and details were needed. Of course, the sections where I had to take the gear off because I had to climb, duck or crawl, yield some ‘interesting’ pictures. I never edited the series, though.

4. One battery gives you about an hour of recording (1200 images), for longer sessions you need the extra batteries and probably an extra memory card.

5. The 360 images are fine for general geometry and objects, also surface, lit or not, and traffic signs. The image series are really nice to watch, it’s great to look around on mapillary. But the resolution is not great, in particular you can’t read or effectively zoom into texts under traffic signs, let alone walking symbols with numbers (for the walking node networks) or texts (names of long distance trails).

Conclusion:

It’s fine for say mapping a nature area where you can walk the entire area in a limited amount of time. This will give you good results to map the details of the area.

A roundtrip trail for one day, yes, possible, but you’ll need extra batteries and memory cards.

Longer hiking trails and walking node networks, no, not suitable. Especially because you want details of symbols, small shields and stickers, and the resolution just is not good enough to capture that. For trails, I had better results simply with the Mapillary app (set to Manual), then taking pictures of turns, markings and details I wanted to record.