GoPro 1080p Motorsport camera (think 'all-in-one-bullet')
Discussion
Just got one, thought I'd share some thoughts (and a vid).
This is it, if you don't know it:
http://www.dogcamsport.co.uk/gopro-hd-motorsports-...
I bought the Motorsport pack with all the gubbins for £269 from fleabay.
Good points:
Easy to set up... easy instructions... All the bits to connect to a car in a meccano/lego pack kind of way to play with. Came semi charged, so only 1 hour to top up, quality of 1080p is great considering cost... at 720p in 60fps (my vid) it's VERY smooth. Sound at low speed v good. On a 42" HD TV it looks good - not perfect... but impressive. Well built. Tiny!
Bad:
PC not liking 1080p vid until I uploaded the latest Movie Maker HD. Mac however delt with it straight away. Noisy (grainy) in low light. Sound at high speed crap (there's a surprise).
BIG FILES needing a big card at high res. Looks like a lego brick.
Overall I'm very impressed. 10 years ago I would have been apoplectic - unbelievable quality from such a tiny camera. Over 2 hours of HD on an SD card. Things have moved on.
15 sec test 720p @ 60 fps - www.stevecarter.com/goprotest.wmv (looks really good on an HDTV). Sorry about sound... had wrong back on. Will give a better one when I can...
Actually, I'll get back once I've played with it more and attached it to the bike! (waiting for handlebar mount from fleebay... I KNEW it would end up costing more!)
This is it, if you don't know it:
http://www.dogcamsport.co.uk/gopro-hd-motorsports-...
I bought the Motorsport pack with all the gubbins for £269 from fleabay.
Good points:
Easy to set up... easy instructions... All the bits to connect to a car in a meccano/lego pack kind of way to play with. Came semi charged, so only 1 hour to top up, quality of 1080p is great considering cost... at 720p in 60fps (my vid) it's VERY smooth. Sound at low speed v good. On a 42" HD TV it looks good - not perfect... but impressive. Well built. Tiny!
Bad:
PC not liking 1080p vid until I uploaded the latest Movie Maker HD. Mac however delt with it straight away. Noisy (grainy) in low light. Sound at high speed crap (there's a surprise).
BIG FILES needing a big card at high res. Looks like a lego brick.
Overall I'm very impressed. 10 years ago I would have been apoplectic - unbelievable quality from such a tiny camera. Over 2 hours of HD on an SD card. Things have moved on.
15 sec test 720p @ 60 fps - www.stevecarter.com/goprotest.wmv (looks really good on an HDTV). Sorry about sound... had wrong back on. Will give a better one when I can...
Actually, I'll get back once I've played with it more and attached it to the bike! (waiting for handlebar mount from fleebay... I KNEW it would end up costing more!)
Edited by GetCarter on Tuesday 16th March 18:39
I bought this the otherday
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&am...
Almost full HD but for £12ish you can't really argue. The youtube videos look quite good so cant wait for this to turn up and have some fun with it
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&am...
Almost full HD but for £12ish you can't really argue. The youtube videos look quite good so cant wait for this to turn up and have some fun with it
DamianBPhoto said:
I bought this the otherday
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&am...
Almost full HD but for £12ish you can't really argue. The youtube videos look quite good so cant wait for this to turn up and have some fun with it
Ive just got one of those and tried it out up on the Peak District on Monday. for the money its a bargain and comes with load of clips and mounts, I just need to find a way of fitting it to the passenger head rest.http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&am...
Almost full HD but for £12ish you can't really argue. The youtube videos look quite good so cant wait for this to turn up and have some fun with it
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xcmk9g_peak-distr...
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xcm871_cat-and-fi...
Music added due to a really annoying rattle my car started making on the trip
JDMFanYo said:
Every time you switch it on, it defaults to photo mode meaning you need to press the button 4-5 times to get back to video mode (annoying if mounted to your helmet, as you need to remove each time).
Mine doesn't... and you can set the default mode to vid if for some reason it's been reset. Check the 'manual'After seeing this I ran out and bought one (and roll-bar mount)....so far very pleased. A wee sample I took while out testing the car's electrics is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LuQsz9v26w
Can't seem to get the quality to translate onto youtube though - the original 720p edited video (from Windows live movie maker) looks good enough, on youtube it looks terrible.
Apart from that there's some "wobble" in the picture which I assume is down to vibration through the roll bar, so will look at putting some padding on to try and reduce that - but I like the field of view and it'll make for some interesting track day videos.
Can't seem to get the quality to translate onto youtube though - the original 720p edited video (from Windows live movie maker) looks good enough, on youtube it looks terrible.
Apart from that there's some "wobble" in the picture which I assume is down to vibration through the roll bar, so will look at putting some padding on to try and reduce that - but I like the field of view and it'll make for some interesting track day videos.
Well I was swayed and went for the ContourHD 1080p. I just liked it's looks as opposed to the camera in a case look of the GoPro and I also like the sucker mount that it came with.
Thought I'd give it a good test of both picture quality and the sucker to see if it'll stay on.
Good points
Quality is excellent.
Compact.
Sucker mount is impressive and will get you into any angle you want.
Camera lens being adjustable 90deg / 180 deg / 270deg. Allowing you to shoot at almost any angle.
Sucker mount will stay on the screen even after 2000Km of crossing dunes in the Empty Quarter of the UAE.
Sucker mount will stay on the screen even after you've nose dived into the dunes at 30Mph, turned the car on the roof and then rolled on it's side. (no video sorry).
Microphone is pretty average but then again I bought this for the video quality.
Bad Points
When mounted in bright sunlight it's hard to see if the LED's are on and when you're wearing a helmet you can't here the beep unless it's on your head.
Will take a 16Gb card but in top quality mode will only record 8Gb (the crash would probably have happened at about the 9Gb mark).
Microphone is pretty average but then again I bought this for the video quality although it does pick up the sound of the car ok.
Since uploading it to youtube didn't really do any justice to it thought I'ld try Vimeo.
So here's my quick edit. We ran it for all five days we were racing - one day internal to get some people shots and then edited it together to see how it looked.
I make a guest appearance - I'm on top of the Renault truck 28 seconds in on the first dune.
InCar with Team Saluki
Thought I'd give it a good test of both picture quality and the sucker to see if it'll stay on.
Good points
Quality is excellent.
Compact.
Sucker mount is impressive and will get you into any angle you want.
Camera lens being adjustable 90deg / 180 deg / 270deg. Allowing you to shoot at almost any angle.
Sucker mount will stay on the screen even after 2000Km of crossing dunes in the Empty Quarter of the UAE.
Sucker mount will stay on the screen even after you've nose dived into the dunes at 30Mph, turned the car on the roof and then rolled on it's side. (no video sorry).
Microphone is pretty average but then again I bought this for the video quality.
Bad Points
When mounted in bright sunlight it's hard to see if the LED's are on and when you're wearing a helmet you can't here the beep unless it's on your head.
Will take a 16Gb card but in top quality mode will only record 8Gb (the crash would probably have happened at about the 9Gb mark).
Microphone is pretty average but then again I bought this for the video quality although it does pick up the sound of the car ok.
Since uploading it to youtube didn't really do any justice to it thought I'ld try Vimeo.
So here's my quick edit. We ran it for all five days we were racing - one day internal to get some people shots and then edited it together to see how it looked.
I make a guest appearance - I'm on top of the Renault truck 28 seconds in on the first dune.
InCar with Team Saluki
Edited by crmcatee on Tuesday 6th April 17:30
Well I viewed the source on the telly last night. Mightily impressive.
I go on a busmans holiday each year to the middle of nowhere, drive 1000's of Miles chasing a car, setup, take photo's, write a daily report for sponsors / supporters / press and I'm part of the support crew for the buggy. Trust me, it's nice to be back doing my normal job for a break
I've yet to sort out all the photo's but this is what it looks like from the outside.
matty_doh said:
crmcatee said:
stuff
Nice vid, good quality... but more importantly what do you do? If that's anything to do with your job I am extremely jealous!I've yet to sort out all the photo's but this is what it looks like from the outside.
Well I've had a chance this weekend to try the Contour HD camera on my car.
Works well in the different positions I tried it on, although being outside the windnoise makes the audio kind of unbearable.
Again - on a HD screen looks lovely.
HD version available if you click the right buttons.
Youtube unedited audio
Whilst I'm not as talented as Steve on the music side, I've added a nice ZZ Top track which makes it slightly more watchable (233Mb).
Here
Works well in the different positions I tried it on, although being outside the windnoise makes the audio kind of unbearable.
Again - on a HD screen looks lovely.
HD version available if you click the right buttons.
Youtube unedited audio
Whilst I'm not as talented as Steve on the music side, I've added a nice ZZ Top track which makes it slightly more watchable (233Mb).
Here
GreigM said:
After seeing this I ran out and bought one (and roll-bar mount)....so far very pleased. A wee sample I took while out testing the car's electrics is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LuQsz9v26w
Can't seem to get the quality to translate onto youtube though - the original 720p edited video (from Windows live movie maker) looks good enough, on youtube it looks terrible.
Apart from that there's some "wobble" in the picture which I assume is down to vibration through the roll bar, so will look at putting some padding on to try and reduce that - but I like the field of view and it'll make for some interesting track day videos.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LuQsz9v26w&fmt=22Can't seem to get the quality to translate onto youtube though - the original 720p edited video (from Windows live movie maker) looks good enough, on youtube it looks terrible.
Apart from that there's some "wobble" in the picture which I assume is down to vibration through the roll bar, so will look at putting some padding on to try and reduce that - but I like the field of view and it'll make for some interesting track day videos.
to view any youtube video in the highest quality put &fmt=18 at the end of the URL for 480p and &fmt=22 for the 720p
GreigM said:
After seeing this I ran out and bought one (and roll-bar mount)....so far very pleased. A wee sample I took while out testing the car's electrics is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LuQsz9v26w
Can't seem to get the quality to translate onto youtube though - the original 720p edited video (from Windows live movie maker) looks good enough, on youtube it looks terrible.
Apart from that there's some "wobble" in the picture which I assume is down to vibration through the roll bar, so will look at putting some padding on to try and reduce that - but I like the field of view and it'll make for some interesting track day videos.
Love the dash mounted shift. I used a lengthened lever on the tunnel to reduce the distance from wheel to lever. I then fitted a trickshifter for clutchless up and down shifts - worked a treat.Can't seem to get the quality to translate onto youtube though - the original 720p edited video (from Windows live movie maker) looks good enough, on youtube it looks terrible.
Apart from that there's some "wobble" in the picture which I assume is down to vibration through the roll bar, so will look at putting some padding on to try and reduce that - but I like the field of view and it'll make for some interesting track day videos.
Has the engine been breathed on a lot? The reason I ask is that it does seem very tail happy. What set up are you running. My old car (albeit a megabird) so less torque, was never as twitchy as that - my set up was front/rear ARBs, Nitrons, Quaife ATB diff, and 48Rs. Even when cold they would take some series abuse before letting go. Generally the road had to be greasy, or wet, for it to do so.
Looks a nice bit of kit though
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