Autosport7

I will be attending the Reach Out To Roll Out race event and wanted to pick up a GoPro for the occasion. Any advice is helpful.

alexmtl

I have both the Silver and Black Edition. Black Edition will get you better quality, more saturation out of the box but it's also more expensive. It's a little less useless in the dark. It uses MUCH more battery though. You get the remote control which is pretty cool, but you can do the same with a smartphone. With the remote you can connect several cameras (black or silver) and start them all at once, which you can't do with your smartphone. In both the silver and black you will get very bad sound, but you can fix that with an external mic.


As for the settings, if go for full HD, but 720p looks plenty good already. For racing, I found out that using the wide camera angle gives less impression of speed, but that may be subjective.

Hope that helps!

zibby43

I have the GoPro Hero3+ Silver Edition.

It's virtually the same as the Black, but it does not come with the remote (which saves some money).

But here's the nice part: You can download a GoPro Application on your phone that gives you the ability to use your phone as a remote.

I just use the 720p recording function and the picture quality is fantastic. Very clear. Sound is great too. Depending on how fast you will be traveling, you can change out the case so you get less rattle noise when the car isn't under full load/WOT.

Make sure you buy the automobile mount (sold separately). It will give you a lot more versatility in terms of mounting options. Not to mention the camera will stay attached to the car.

Autosport7

Thanks for all the information guys, this is a great help!
What is the difference from white to silver?

Jons95c36amg

I'm looking into this too.

Autosport7

I don't know.
I feel like unless you invest a grand and buy 2 or 3 and mount them in a few different directions it could be pointless. Unless you mount them on your helmet to allow 360 degrees worth of action.

zibby43

White: Video resolutions up to 1080p30, 5MP photos up to 3 frames per second, an ultra wide angle lens and built-in Wi-Fi. Waterproof to 131’/40m.

Silver: Waterproof to 131’/40m. Professional quality video of 1080p60 and 10MP photos at up to 10 frames per second. 4x faster Wi-Fi, enhanced low-light performance, 30% longer battery life.

I'd definitely spend the extra $100 on the Silver.

bbb_fatboy

In a lot of video clips posted where the GoPro is externally mounted, it looks like it is held using the suction cup attachment.
Is the GoPro suction cup the way to go, or is there a better aftermarket one available?

zibby43

The GoPro mounting platform is extremely sturdy. It's an entire adjustable mounting system. The suction cup virtually locks into place.

That's the one I use. I can take some pics of my camera rig setup (seems weird taking pictures of a camera but oh well) if people are curious.

Autosport7

I would def be interested in peaking this if it isn't too much of a hassle. TIA

zibby43

Ask and ye shall receive.







Let me know if you want to see a particular angle.

Autosport7

Can a camcorder set up be badass!!!? That thing just looks cool. Lol
Thanks.
You know anything about the sj4000? I hear it is awesome for the $.

zibby43

Haha thanks! I agree. And no problem!

It has served me very well thus far.

Things that can't be conveyed via the photos: 1) Very easy/straightforward to use; 2) Extremely lightweight (even w/ the car mount); 3) The mounting platform feels very sturdy and adjustments can be made with a few twists of the various locking pins.

Unfortunately, I don't know nearly as much about the SJ4000. One thing I've heard is that the microphone isn't as good as the one on the GoPro models.

I've recorded some videos of my C63's exhaust at highway speeds in cold, windy weather and I was shocked (in a good way) by the absolute lack of wind noise. It picked up only the sound I wanted and was very sharp for a built-in microphone.

alexmtl

Really? That's strange because that's not at all my experience.. I had to buy an external mic to fit with my gopros because of the wind noise and rattle (sounds like the gopro moves slightly in the box or something). Maybe you only mount your gopro in the back? Mine was always facing forward taking full wind.


That said with the GoPro and the external mic, you get very impressive picture quality and sound.

Mode Carbon

iTrader: (-1)

^

zibby43

Have you played around with the different covers?

The majority of the time I have it mounted on the trunk or rear bumper. But I've experimented with just about every worthwhile position.

Cyclistposer

Thoughts on the best pace to mount the GoPro? I wanted to capture the speed & RPM's in the video. I wonder if mounting it to the inside left go the sunroof would be able to capture this...

Testudo

That might work. A chest mount might work for that as well.

Cyclistposer

Yea thought of that. Could also use the shoulder harness and have it mounted to the right shoulder. Just wanted to mount it to the car somehow so it won't move too much when I am flying around the turns at the track. .

Clark Kent

I have a GP 3 Black and I used 1080 @ 60 fps. I used the external suction cup and hit 148 mph on the back straight away at CoTA. Prior to mounting, I made sure both the car and the suction cup were very clean - and I put into the casing, behind the camera, a piece of paper with my name and phone number on it in case it came off and a track worker MIGHT be kind enough to contact me to get my camera back.

Of course the audio sucks with this set up but I enjoyed the fun perspective.

Bigtickets

I use the 4Silver and use the back that has the membrane and my sound is pretty good. GoPro Studio sucks though. Anybody use any other software?

zibby43

Some exhaust sound:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbxLcY6Z8SU

Starts at around 30 seconds in. Available in 720P.