Rally Colorado and GoPros...

I just met the (or one of the) GoPro guys in San Diego at a trade show. We were thinking of using their equipment as well. I'd be interested to hear from any of you using them to see how it goes/went.
thanks, MJ

I've tested the GoPro system before. very easy to use; just remember to get a good quality SD card. The main problem I have w/ this setup is that in changing lighting environments; trees...etc. the autofocus on the camera tries fix everything and picture quality isn't that great. This bugs the hell out of me.

If you are in a consistent lighting environment, the picture quality is pretty good. I just want a camera where I can just set the manual focus at one distance and go.

I don't have a GoPro, but my pet peeve with them is that if you want shots from outside of the car, you either end up with long periods of wasted film, or you need someone at the start line to turn on the cameras for you.

I use a chasecam, and while more expensive, the picture quality is better and I haven't had any issue with the re-focusing that allmotorking mentioned.

You can see videos recorded on my chase cam if you follow the link in my signature to my in-car footage.

Dave

i would basically agree with what dave said. they are nice, but a bit inconvenient at times. nice for getting that incar since you can just reach and push the button. i've also had problems with batteries but i read somewhere that you have to use a specific type due to the vibration they experience.

some out of car: http://videos.streetfire.net/video/Car-449-Temple-Canyon-2_161561.htm

at the hill climbs i just climb out, hit the button and wait for 5 minutes or so, but it does allow me for a bunch of different angles. i have 4 different angles from this event though this vid only has the one. if i knew how to work adobe i'd put up the others or make something nice.

they are also nice for that occasional goofing around.

DaveK said:

I don't have a GoPro, but my pet peeve with them is that if you want shots from outside of the car, you either end up with long periods of wasted film, or you need someone at the start line to turn on the cameras for you.

I use a chasecam, and while more expensive, the picture quality is better and I haven't had any issue with the re-focusing that allmotorking mentioned.

You can see videos recorded on my chase cam if you follow the link in my signature to my in-car footage.

Dave

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You also just compared a Ford to a Ferrari.

When I was looking at options, the minimum for a 2 camera setup for the ChaseCam was $1500. We've got 3 of the GoPros and, while not the greatest camera in the world, would have only cost us about $500.

When ChaseCam gives us an entire 2 camera system for free, we'll gladly switch. Until then, I'll keep pressing the record button at the start line and press it once again at the finish line.

Regardless, Kevin, if you can pick up 3-4 of the 10mbps cards, I'll have money waiting for you on Friday.

akneipp said:

You also just compared a Ford to a Ferrari.

When I was looking at options, the minimum for a 2 camera setup for the ChaseCam was $1500. We've got 3 of the GoPros and, while not the greatest camera in the world, would have only cost us about $500.

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Yep, you're totally right on the costs, but you can just buy the chase cam cameras (~$250ea.) and plug them right into whatever digital video camera you already have. Our PPIHC roof-cam was recorded onto a $180 digital hand-held with a decent bullet cam (unsure of make). That's still not as cheap as free though.

Chasecam does have some extra options that are cool, like adding a G meter, or the ability to record picture-in-picture...but they're not giving me anything for free, so we don't have any of that stuff.

Dave

I'll be using a Go pro for taking footage of my ugly face at Cog. My main complaints with them is that they seem to stop recording randomly at times (at least on my car) and that the sound quality is absolute piss.
I'm going back to an old Sony D8 and Supercircuits lipstick cam like I used on the Audi in 2005.

granthughes said:

I'll be using a Go pro for taking footage of my ugly face at Cog. My main complaints with them is that they seem to stop recording randomly at times (at least on my car) and that the sound quality is absolute piss.
I'm going back to an old Sony D8 and Supercircuits lipstick cam like I used on the Audi in 2005.

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if i can find the second one we can have two views of that mug.

btw, anyone who has one, my missing one has a line on the back drawn in sharpie indicating it's camera one.

DaveK said:

Our PPIHC roof-cam was recorded onto a $180 digital hand-held with a decent bullet cam (unsure of make)

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The prices have gone down about $20, and you can get them off ebay for half of that. My favorite part is that you use the built in camera or and a bullet cam like Josh did with yours, and because it has a built in screen you can review your clips right away without having to upload to a PC. Aptek 1080p Although I will admit that it is not as durable the GoPros and would not do well outside of the car, unless you are using a bullet cam.

akneipp said:

You also just compared a Ford to a Ferrari.

When I was looking at options, the minimum for a 2 camera setup for the ChaseCam was $1500. We've got 3 of the GoPros and, while not the greatest camera in the world, would have only cost us about $500.

When ChaseCam gives us an entire 2 camera system for free, we'll gladly switch. Until then, I'll keep pressing the record button at the start line and press it once again at the finish line.

Regardless, Kevin, if you can pick up 3-4 of the 10mbps cards, I'll have money waiting for you on Friday.

Click to expand...

They come in pairs. So it is either 2 or 4 unless someone else wants one...

I've heard this same info from others, Kenny Bartram was using some as well and said,
"My main complaints with them is that they seem to stop recording randomly at times (at least on my car) and that the sound quality is absolute piss."

AND, I'm likely going to go back to the below setup which was the best I ever used from 05 in the GT car.
"I'm going back to an old Sony MiniDV and Supercircuits lipstick cam like I used on the Audi in 2005(WRX in 05..)"

I'm looking at the GoPro for those fun shots and stuff that's a pain to get w/ other stuff.

I have a Chase cam system currently, two camera w mixer.... and it's been a pain and I've never gotten good footage from it, it always has lines and stuff in it. AND my laptop is such a sad sucker it makes managing a lot of big files a big pain.

See ya'll soon,
MJ

Matthew Johnson CarolinaRS said:

I have a Chase cam system currently, two camera w mixer.... and it's been a pain and I've never gotten good footage from it, it always has lines and stuff in it.

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Interesting. I wonder if its the mixer box that's screwing it up? I was thinking of buying one, but maybe I'll just look at getting a second camera setup. I've never had any issues with my single chasecam setup, though you do get some vertical bright lines when you're running into the sun at sunrise or sunset.

Not much you can do on the file size thing, but if you want something that looks good on a TV, the files are going to be big. Chasecam is 1gb/15 minutes of recording time on high resolution. I typically burn events onto a disc once I've got enough to fill a DVD. PPIHC took 2 of em!

Dave

KevinG5Hahn said:

They come in pairs. So it is either 2 or 4 unless someone else wants one...

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4 it is then!

akneipp said:

4 it is then!

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With tax they came out to be ~$16.25 each or $65.00 total (sorry that I forgot about the sales tax).