iPhone as in-car camera

[danzman1991]

Hi guys,

Off to the Nurburgring next month for a few laps, including the GP circuit.

I was considering buying a Go Pro to film laps with, then selling when I get home but really can't be bothered with the ball ache of selling on eBay - too many bad experiences!

It has occurred to me that the phone I carry around in my pocket could probably do a pretty good job of filming anyway! It's just a case of finding the right way of mounting it solidly...

I suspect this would be too shaky?



Any ideas chaps?

Many thanks,
Daniel

[nickfrog]

Not sure Daniel it looks OK but on a track day you'll need the device to be tethered too but you might be doing TF.

[Dont like rolls]

Crap....wrong type of lens, blur, flairs, poor night images etc etc

Get a GoPro or similar.

[Fore Left]

Surely any suction mount phone holder will work providing it doesn't cover the lens.

[mmm-five]

Before I got my GoPro, I used an iPhone and a collection of RAM mounts to stick the phone to the windscreen/side-window/rear wing/bonnet.

Was never tethered, but realised it was getting VERY hot and I was risking losing or damaging an expensive phone.

I'd just buy a cheap GoPro copy (or an older generation GoPro) to try. The only issues I found with the older GoPro gens (I had a Hero 3 Black) was that it would sometimes auto-focus on a dead fly/rain drop on the windscreen instead of auto-focusing on the road ahead, and the change to USB-attached mics meant there was interference on the audio as they acted as antennas for the wifi/bluetooth signal of the device.

Mine is an older model that doesn't have the tether option, but looks something like this.

Edited by mmm-five on Sunday 19th July 13:34

[alicrozier]

Assume it's a closed trackday at the 'Ring? You're not allowed to film on Touristfahrten sessions.

[danzman1991]

alicrozier said:

Assume it's a closed trackday at the 'Ring? You're not allowed to film on Touristfahrten sessions.

Yeah of course




Thanks for all suggestions guys, I have tried a fake Go Pro before and although the video quality was excellent, the sound was dreadful!

[Dont like rolls]

danzman1991 said:

Yeah of course




Thanks for all suggestions guys, I have tried a fake Go Pro before and although the video quality was excellent, the sound was dreadful!

The impedance on a GoPro needs a specific microphone to work correctly as I understand/read

https://community.gopro.com/t5/en/External-Microph...

[mmm-five]

Dont like rolls said:

The impedance on a GoPro needs a specific microphone to work correctly as I understand/read

https://community.gopro.com/t5/en/External-Microph...

...and a nice yeti/wookie cover to stop wind noise.

[wioifoiee]

that mount looks crap and doesn't look like it would be tight enough against the mirror.

All you need is a large diamter suction mount. I bought this and it was perfect.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00TXC5JCK/ref...

To then attach it to the phone you want this

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B06Y5C4DRV/ref...

Or look out for refurbished gopros for £150 from amazon/gopro ebay.

Cheaper gopros are fine but there is a big problem with that - a lack of high dynamic range. This is important specifically incar, because of the contrast of the dark onboard vs light outside. You then have a problem of having shots which are too dark inside or too dark outside.
I bought a cheaper gopro - an Akaso V50X, which is one of the better 'cheap' gopro's - and it had this problem.

After a ton of research, only gopro have nailed the dynamic range issue, so believe me, for the sake of £70 or something just get a refurbished gopro 5 or higher.

You can see the results of the gopro footage in my controversial threads on this forum LOL.

Edited by wioifoiee on Monday 20th July 16:16