Basically the x3000 has a better quality and it's also possible to do recordings in a higher resolution (which I personaly don't use). Nevertheless the AZ1 is very good with half the weight and only a fourth of the price, when still available.

It's just a simple head strap from pangshi. I have not tried the original Sony ones but I would also doubt, if it's suitable without the top strap. Problem of the side mount is that you cannot tilt the camera to the front. Nevertheless the straps are very flexible and you can actually trim the camera up and down by positioning the top strap forward or backward.

Thanks for the info! Yeah, the Sony mount does allow for tilt, but then doesn't have the extra strap. I noticed they also have a helmet mount that you stick on with an adhesive, but I'm not sure if I would trust that. Seems like most people end up having to DIY their own version. Does the Pangshi allow you to attach the camera with the underwater case on?

The underwater case uses the same screw and fits on the mount too. But it suffers from sound quality and increments the total size and weight. The camera should resist light rain and if it's getting worse, it's removed in an instant. If it's raining, you also have the problem of raindrops on the lens, which you typically detect when your at home again. But okay, if your holiday ride is not repeatable, you could probably think about it.

I also don't like the adhesive mounts, as I also use the strap on the ski helmet and we also swap cameras during the rides. The camera also got stuck in the trees twice already and am glad, that it just fell off and was not fixed. Nothing happend and we could just pull it on again and continue recording.

That's a good point about switching helmets and also why I'm leaning towards a strap mount. That's good to hear that the camera survived two falls without the casing being on!