Gopro cameras

[Greg Davis]

I am thinking of purchasing a Gopro camera for my Vee and was looking for input on the different choices. I'm considering the SD Hero 170 versus the HD Hero 960. The 170 is $80 cheaper, is standard def. and uses aaa batteries, while the HD Hero 960 offers high def and a cartridge style lithium battery. Also, are there any other cameras that might be recommended by fellow Vee drivers? I am looking for something simple to operate,with good video quality and relatively inexpensive. Thanks for any help with this.

[SR Racing]

I would go with the HD, but either work well. If you have seen all of the Rob Clark vids on Apex Speed they were done with the GoPro HD. BTW, Give us a call we will match or beat all other prices.

Jim
SR

[tiagosantos]

I'd go with the lithium battery HD one too.. AAA's are getting expensive! From what I heard, the HD cameras are better in many ways, not just resolution wise..

[MCRacer]

Anybody tried the Contour HD? Small and less than $300.
http://contour.com/camera

Mike

[Mystique Racing]

I had very poor performance with my first Gopro Hero camera. It was very unreliable and frustrating to use.

I reluctantly purchased the new HD version and have had excellent results with no failures or problems. The HD picture quality is awesome and the battery will last all weekend on a single charge.

Two thumbs up.

[jpetillo]

The GoPro HD has a so much better picture than the SD that easily makes up for the $80 difference. You can watch it full screen on your monitor with a sharp picture (may even be higher resolution than your monitor) and looks great on the TV. Also the sounds is much improved.

[Hal]

I have been using the standard GoPro that I got from SR a few years ago, after I got the proper mount for it it has always worked find as long as I remember to turn it on, and put a card in it... I think the sound is great when set on low, and I use recharchargeable AAA's to keep costs down. Haven't tried any of the newer versions of the GoPro but if they are better than this one they should be terrific. They are also absolutely water proof for racing in the rain fun.

Will see if this video will go through, being on Utube takes away some of the quality, so realize the original will be better. Racing at the Fall Sprints in Oct. at BFR, something in the front master cylinder suddenly snapped and I got to see the fall foliage close up off turn 7, quickly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ao4a5SGWess

[FV80]

This
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/6 ... amera.html
is the one I use now. It is on of the VERY few that have an internal LCD display so you can actually SEE what you are recording .. or at least the direction that the camera is pointed. This kit was not available when I bought it tho' - I paid twice that price and still had to buy (rechargeable) batteries and a charger. It works quite well and lasts at least 2 sessions on 2 NmHD AA batteries - possibly more, but I don't push it - I'd rather just charge it than take a chance on losing video.

I especially like the remote Rec feature - I velcro'd it to the dash and it works well. Only thing is that it is VERY hard to hear the 'beep' that signals recording mode since I can't SEE it from the seat. I TRY to remember to ask my crew if it's in record mode or not (LED on the side where I cannot see it). It's a little larger than the others, but it's water "resistant" and works OK in the rain. Like ALL cameras, if you can mount it where you can REACH it to wipe the lens every few laps, you'll be a LOT better off. It's amazing how quickly the lens gets occluded with CRAP. Oh - it uses a mini-SD card rather than the more common SD, but the 16GB card in this kit will probably cover several weekends.

Steve, FV80
edit - it also has a slight fish-eye lens for wider field of view.

[Ed Womer]

For many years I had a lipstick camera that recorded to a Sony digital tape recorder but the Sony unit developed an issue so I bought the Go Pro HD from SR Racing before the runoffs. I had some glitches with a stable mount and then getting it to record since I had it set in still mode but once it was solidly mounted the picture is awsome. When I got home I played it directly to my 47" flat screen and it was like watching racing on Speed from an in car. I still need to copy the video to a disc and haven't spent the time to figure that out but I am very happy with it and would recomend it to you. Give Jim a call and he will give you a better price than retail. I did order the 32G memory card from Go Pro since I couldn't find it locally but that lets you record in HD for 4HRS.

The weird thing is that durring the race at the runoffs while behind the pace car the lens started to fog over which I guess was due to the cold morning and humidity and dam if it didn't condense right behind the lense. I noticed it when I got out of the car and it went away on its own so I think I will put anti fog on the inside of the lense next time.

Ed

[Greg Davis]

Thanks to all who have responded to my inquiry. It's great to have so much experience to draw on. I'm leaning towards the HD Hero , but will explore the other recommended cameras also. Once again, I appreciate the input.

[fv195]

I have the standard, wide angle go pro. works great on the vee, I take it scuba diving too, good to 100' it eats batteries, I use lith. batteries, but only good for 1 session. the HD was not out when I got mine, would have went that way, the wide angle is great mounted on roll bar, diving not so great, have to be really close to see what you are shooting, sharks don't let you get that close.
THOR
FV70
the brazos

[tiagosantos]

Nice video Hal That was pretty funny, hope the car didn't need much more than a good vacuuming hehe.

[fv195]

for Ed, and others I got a tip from some scuba pros, put one of those "silica gel" packs in the houseing, to absorb any morsture, they seem to come in everything you buy, I have been saving mine so I have replacements.
tip gor the gopro, put the sound on low. in the housing it sounds about right, on hi it is too distorted, my thoughts
THOR
fv70
The Brazos

[Hal]

Just had one little dent in the exhaust collector and have some dirt and chipmunks in the brake drums, other than that just dirty. Haven't worked on the master cylinder yet but the floor under it was wet with brake fluid, something let loose all at once for sure. I agree with Thor, if the sound is not set on low it is awful. On low you hear really good motor sounds and yet no wind.

This is from the Midwestern Council 100 mile Looong Race, started 2nd overall and was having a good race in the D-13 this time and leading, of course, until the fuel pump went away, of course. It's always something... The vid loaded funny onto youtube so looks a little almost hazy for some reason but on the puter is is much better quality.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsPlNScM ... 572nMXpujE

Hal
D-13 88
Citation 88

[tiagosantos]

aaaah, so that's why you guys don't like SRF's! We don't have any of those up here so it took me a while to figure out why the hell that "sports racer" was so slow.

[jhenn4716]

What size SD card do you generally use?

[Mystique Racing]

I use a 4GB in my GoPro HD. An 8 or 16GB would be even better.

[Ed Womer]

I have some 8G cards but also the 32G that you need to get from Go Pro direct. Make sure you get the fast cards and the label should say its recording speed. I think Go Pro recomends 4H or faster or whatever that rating is.

Ed

[jpetillo]

I used the Patriot 32 GB Class 4 memory last season and it has worked great. I've seen it for $52 from Newegg or Amazon and free shipping!