GoPro recommendations

[georgere]

Looking for feedback/recommendation on what model to get. I plan on mounting the camera inside/outside my car as well as on my motorcycle.
Thanks in advance

[teazr1]

Get the Hero 4 Silver with the built in LCD display and pick up a few extra batteries.

[TheFlyingMouse]

Do not get a Hero 3+ of any kind for automotive capture. I tried my folks' and the focus is set for less than 4 feet on those. Image quality for driving videos suffers very badly, to the point where I only used the camera a couple of times on ED. The Hero 4 models seem to have returned to infinity focus, so they should work great.

Absolutely do invest in a decent microphone and fuzzy wrapping for it. The wind noise sucks for external mountings with the built-in microphone. I tried the tricks with the skeleton case, waterproof case with the skeleton door, etc. Don't waste your time trying to make the default mic work. I spent 30 bucks on a cheap external mic and it was infinitely better for recording engine/exhaust sound. Still gets overwhelmed by wind above 40-50 mph, so you'll have to stick it somewhere out of the wind if you want the best sound.

[kkakonn]

I went with the go pro hero 4 silver which I am very happy with it. I considered the black, but I don't ever plan on watching playback in 4k, not to mention the amount of memory it takes up and it would take me a week to upload in that quality.

[ciaranob]

Weird - I have a Hero 3+ and used it extensively on ED with awesome results - have a couple of vids on Vimeo if interested - not sure exactly how you had these issues but maybe a setup config problem - am I reading your post wrong?

Cheers,C.

Originally Posted by TheFlyingMouse

Do not get a Hero 3+ of any kind for automotive capture. I tried my folks' and the focus is set for less than 4 feet on those. Image quality for driving videos suffers very badly, to the point where I only used the camera a couple of times on ED. The Hero 4 models seem to have returned to infinity focus, so they should work great.

Absolutely do invest in a decent microphone and fuzzy wrapping for it. The wind noise sucks for external mountings with the built-in microphone. I tried the tricks with the skeleton case, waterproof case with the skeleton door, etc. Don't waste your time trying to make the default mic work. I spent 30 bucks on a cheap external mic and it was infinitely better for recording engine/exhaust sound. Still gets overwhelmed by wind above 40-50 mph, so you'll have to stick it somewhere out of the wind if you want the best sound.

[Niko ZV]

Originally Posted by TheFlyingMouse

Do not get a Hero 3+ of any kind for automotive capture. I tried my folks' and the focus is set for less than 4 feet on those. Image quality for driving videos suffers very badly, to the point where I only used the camera a couple of times on ED. The Hero 4 models seem to have returned to infinity focus, so they should work great.

Absolutely do invest in a decent microphone and fuzzy wrapping for it. The wind noise sucks for external mountings with the built-in microphone. I tried the tricks with the skeleton case, waterproof case with the skeleton door, etc. Don't waste your time trying to make the default mic work. I spent 30 bucks on a cheap external mic and it was infinitely better for recording engine/exhaust sound. Still gets overwhelmed by wind above 40-50 mph, so you'll have to stick it somewhere out of the wind if you want the best sound.

Are there YouTube videos that show proper setups? And what to buy additionally? I have GoPro hero 3+. For amount of money spent the quality is ass

[Shizzel720]

Hero 4 Silver and extra batteries.

[ciaranob]

Man maybe I am setting my bar too low but this is an example of a raw totally unedited vid (of things to avoid on ED!! ) that to me seems perfectly decent 1080 when you consider it has been compressed to lower res for web viewing - are you looking for way better frame rates (realize the 4 has this)?



Cheers, C.

PS: now that I look at it - it really is compressed - the raw footage is super sharp compared to this.

Originally Posted by Nikolai Roskov

Are there YouTube videos that show proper setups? And what to buy additionally? I have GoPro hero 3+. For amount of money spent the quality is ass

[TheFlyingMouse]

My understanding is that later revisions of the 3+ corrected the focus issue.

For audio, Google videos on "gopro car external microphone" and the like. Ultimately you'll want a decent mic, some kind of fur or foam wind blocker (fuzzy thing), the gopro 3.5mm adapter, and a good quality audio cable. (Minimum 6 feet, more like 10 or 15). Use blue 3M painters tape to secure the microphone. On the trunk lip is nice but still prone to wind noise; I was going to try inside the battery bay next.

@ciaranob

The trees in my uncompressed 3+ video look like the ones in your compressed one, minus jaggy artifacts. Thee leaves blob together because they're out of focus. I played with settings and went to 1080p@60 and locked out the ISO settings etc. to extract the best daylight video and it helps, but still poor quality.

[ZPinhead]

Originally Posted by teazr1

Get the Hero 4 Silver with the built in LCD display and pick up a few extra batteries.

+1

(GoPro Hero4 Silver, GoPoint BT1 OBD2, Dual XGPS150A, Harry's Laptimer and rendered with Dashware. I created the gauges myself based on photos of my dashboard.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbxGEKX0Hl4

[s0ul]

Originally Posted by ciaranob

Man maybe I am setting my bar too low but this is an example of a raw totally unedited vid (of things to avoid on ED!! ) that to me seems perfectly decent 1080 when you consider it has been compressed to lower res for web viewing - are you looking for way better frame rates (realize the 4 has this)?



Cheers, C.

PS: now that I look at it - it really is compressed - the raw footage is super sharp compared to this.

A wild wheel appears!

[TheFlyingMouse]

Here is a screen capture of some of the video I shot on ED with the best settings I could come up with on the Hero 3+ (cropped down a bit and JPEGized but not scaled). The car was stationary at the time. Note the trees.

[stranger]

I use the hero 4 black and my iPhone as a viewing screen

[georgere]

I m the OP. Do I need any mounts or the camera comes with them?

[TheFlyingMouse]

You need mounts. Either suction cup or stick on 3M tape. I've been very happy with the RAM mount single suction cup setup. It's very stable, sturdy, and easy to adjust.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003ASPH48..._dsaewb4JDY8EP

Also works for your SLR (wouldn't mount that one outside though!) You'll need the gopro tripod adapter too.

[m4pewpew]

I like the view from a head strap or helmet mount. This is GoPro 3+:

[forza1976]

Silver 4 for sure... Best value.

[PLCZ4MC]

I have a 4 silver with three sets of battery. Best one for its value in my opinion.
Planning in getting one more soon.

[SpeedChamp]

Originally Posted by georgere

Looking for feedback/recommendation on what model to get. I plan on mounting the camera inside/outside my car as well as on my motorcycle.
Thanks in advance

I'd get the Hero4 Black

[wuufer001]

I just got the Hero4 silver not long ago, and being the first action cam i own.
came down to silver instead of black because i'm still not used to that small lcd screen with the setting and only 3 buttons to do everything, framing shots also helped with the screen and i definitely won't be doing 4K, hell i don't even have any 4k display at home to watch it on lol

[crbalch]

I have had most every model of GoPro except for the Session (not good enough yet), and I ended up with the Hero 4 Black. I love the LCD of the Silver, but the Black basically futureproofs my investment by being able to shoot much higher quality video, as well as being able to shoot much slower/higher quality slo-mo footage.

Its my understanding that GoPro and BMW have teamed up to allow Connected Drive and the GoPro app on the phone to speak to one another. This basically negates my need for and LCD in the car, and I will use my iPhone as a viewfinder for other times. The field of view on these things is so wide that its hard to miss the action.

Here is a good little comparison: http://www.gizmag.com/gopro-hero-4-s...lus-lcd/38423/

[patb23]

I have the hero 3+ black and love it. no issues with mine. I also recently got this (Battery Eliminator USB) so wont have to worry about changing out batteries.