Roadtrip - Dashboard Camera Q's

[Crimefighter]

Hello all,

Not sure if this is the correct forum foe this topic, but I see lots of roadtrip footage in here so Im hoping for some educated responses :-).

I'd like to film an upcoming road trip, and Im exploring camera options.

I recently acquired a dashboard mount for my Samsung Galaxy S3 - I figured since it can take HD quality video, why not give it a try.

Ive taken some test footage on my commute, and while the video quality is good, Ive got terrible problems with vibrations through the dashboard, and video comes out very shaky.

I understand "Go Pro" is "Go-to" camera for this type of application, but Im wondering if there is a cheaper way to get good quality vibration free footage.

Im very keen to hear other peoples experiences either with GoPro or some other solution, be it different mounting (something to absorb vibrations?) or different camera.

Thanks in advance,

Matt

[Craikeybaby]

I got a GoPro at Xmas (lucky me) and have been experimenting with time lapse movies, with it suckered to the inside of the windscreen.

The reason I've been using time lapse is that I don't want to sit through hours of video, either editing it or watching it, at 2 images a second each hour of driving is 1 minute of video, for a longer road trip I'd probably want each hour of driving to be even less video. The other alternative is to only film certain parts of the trip.

[Trefy5]

Prior to my GoPro I used my galaxy S2 for some footage
The quality was good and not particularly shakey
The former makes it look like you're travelling faster and further from the car in front whereas the S2 does it the other way about
I think the GoPro is better altho I have read recently about problems with them - on here, i think

[SmilerFTM]

Craikeybaby said:

I got a GoPro at Xmas (lucky me) and have been experimenting with time lapse movies, with it suckered to the inside of the windscreen.

The reason I've been using time lapse is that I don't want to sit through hours of video, either editing it or watching it, at 2 images a second each hour of driving is 1 minute of video, for a longer road trip I'd probably want each hour of driving to be even less video. The other alternative is to only film certain parts of the trip.

But if you video it as normal and then on playback increase the speed by whatever you want you'll get a much smoother picture playing back than doing it by timelapse. If it's a longtrip just take 1 or 2 extra batteries and a large (32 or 64GB) SD card.
Having said that I'd be interested to see how well the timelapse works over a long drive and the frames per second rate you use on it.

[stefan740]

GoPro is great. High quality and very versatile in positioning. If u want to do a roadtrip and just take a video from one spot for several hours it isn't the videocamera I would go for though. There are cameras that automatically start taping when u start your car, can be connected to your battery and have more GB storage.

[Crimefighter]

Thanks for the replies. The camera would be used for relaitvely short (but picturesque!) stretches of road and time and edited at a later date into a video.

Im not looking for a long duration "get in and drive" solution for long journeys or insurance purposes - more of a fun thing.

Sounds like the Go Pro is the way forward.

[Big E 118]

I bought a GoPro for a trip I did to the US and must say the quality is fantastic, good enough that when people watch the videos they usually comment on the quality. For a lot of the trip the camera was mounted on the windscreen or on the boot with the roof down and there was no vibration evident.

Even mounted low on the car for some periods of enthusiastic driving the vibration was minimal.

I've had a Roadhawk on my daily driver which is really aimed at different market but is nowhere near the quality of the Go Pro.

Well worth the money in my opinion. I went for the motorsport edition so got the mounts etc with it then bought a spare battery and in car charger.

[CardShark]

Another vote for a GoPro, loved using mine during a Scotish road trip last year. Great quality and very little vibration, if any, when mounted on the suction pad. I had my lap top with me for most of the trip so I could download what I'd recorded during coffee stops, I could then wipe the card and start again afresh with no chance of clogging up the memory.

[Zed 44]

I'd be interested to know if the cameras referred to above can pick up number plates or wording on signs when stopped on playback.

[stefan740]

I would say up to 5 meters in front of the camera you can read plates perfectly, up to 10 depending on conditions and your own sight haha. With signs being bigger those you can read most of them.

[SmilerFTM]

Zed 44 said:

I'd be interested to know if the cameras referred to above can pick up number plates or wording on signs when stopped on playback.

The GoPro cams definitely can yes