Go-pro for car fun. Need advice

[Nicks67GTO]

Im probably going to want to take video with my car this summer weather it be auto x or just jacking around but im 100% clueless on what to get. What do I need to make this happen? Do I need the latest and greatest go-pro/mount or can I get an older model that will serve its good purpose? What kind of mounts do I need for the outside of the car? Inside of the car?

School me on this

[hotrodalex]

GoPro's basic Hero model is only $130 for 1080p video, I think it's a steal. You can get the more expensive ones to get 4k video and more MP for still photos, but they're $400-500.

For mounts, they have a couple of good options. There's the basic suction cup mount to put it almost anywhere on the outside of your car (fender, hood, window, etc), a rollbar mount, and flex-clamp mount that might be useful if you want to attach it to a bumper or something.

[BMR Sales]

The Newest & Best Models have Higher Resolution and they have Remote Control (whether the Go-Pro Remote or you can download an App for your Smart Phone).

There are a lot of different mounts. I have a Suction Cup mount (& tethers) for outside the car, a Roll Bar Mount, a windshield mount, and a mount on my helmet.

You can shoot a video with an older Go-Pro & Stick-on mounts no problem

[bryant]

i have a hero 3. it has wifi. the wifi feature is great. allows you use a phone or tablet to turn it on and off, watch what you have recorded on the camera, and see the real time angle of the camera. i use the go pro suction cup for the out side of the car. i learned quickly that it cant be over a paint line for stripes! it will fall off. it does stick well to mild curved surfaces. i use roll bar clamps for in car views. heres my you tube channel https://www.youtube.com/user/72grabbermav
you can see the different views that the camera can get.
the biggest thing i wish was better was the sound. out side of the car you just end up with wind noise.

[SSLance]

Look up RAM mounts... They use a variety of base mounts with a rubber ball, then you get another mount for whatever camera you have, and a piece to connect the two. These make mounting the camera anywhere very safe and secure, plus make pointing the camera much easier at the same time. I use several different version of RAM mounts for my cameras and wouldn't use anything else.

Regarding the camera itself, most issues with beginning GoPro users revolve around not turning the camera on or leaving it on and running the battery down too fast. One way around that is to get a camera that has WiFi capability and use an app on your phone to preview, start stop and turn off the camera to preserve battery life. I have a Hero 3 Silver and it has all of that and works great.

The Garmin VIRB is a new option that is more user friendly (one slide button to turn on and record and no exterior case needed) but has a few limitations on video recording where the Hero 3 outshines it.

[hotrodalex]

i have a hero 3. it has wifi. the wifi feature is great. allows you use a phone or tablet to turn it on and off, watch what you have recorded on the camera, and see the real time angle of the camera. i use the go pro suction cup for the out side of the car. i learned quickly that it cant be over a paint line for stripes! it will fall off. it does stick well to mild curved surfaces. i use roll bar clamps for in car views. heres my you tube channel https://www.youtube.com/user/72grabbermav
you can see the different views that the camera can get.
the biggest thing i wish was better was the sound. out side of the car you just end up with wind noise.

Do you have a waterproof case? That should cut down on a lot of wind noise.

[Project92rs]

I'm going to second Lance's comment on the Garmin Virb Elite. We started using one earlier this year for the added feature of a built in GPS and accelerometer allowing you to overlay speeds, G forces, and a course / route map onto the video.

Having owned both GoPro and the Virb, I can't see any real difference in video quality for file sizes that can be posted on the internet. The Virb is easier to operate with the large slider button to operate it. Both camera's current models have smartphone apps to control them and handheld remotes though. The GoPro is smaller which allows for some mounting options that are harder to do with the Virb. Take a look at both and decide which has the features and price point you are looking for.

[CarlC]

The GoPro wind noise can be reduced by using a remote microphone. We added one to ours with the microphone just aft of the rear tire, near the exhaust outlet. The sound is far better but it's quite a long wire run with the camera mounted on the front/center of the roof. Any of the cases alone does not fix the wind noise.

A hole must be added to the waterproof case to get the wire through.

[minendrews68]

I have the Hero 2. I'm happy with it, You can add the Wi-Fi back to it as well. As Lance said above, whatever you do, go with the Ram mount. Very well built, even better than the GroPro one in my opinion. i have a blast with mine.

[bryant]

ive been using the skeleton case. ill try the waterproof case next time.

[WallaceMFG]

the biggest thing i wish was better was the sound. out side of the car you just end up with wind noise.

My Hero 3 Black came with two back doors for the waterproof case, one of them has holes in it. They say for speeds under 120 mph you should use the one with holes in it for better sound quality, have you tried that?

For the original question, any GoPro model will work, but the earlier models (Hero, HeroHD, Hero 2) had some small issues that were pretty much fixed when the Hero 3 was released. I'd look for at least a Hero 3 Silver or newer, the Hero 3 white is basically just a re-bodied Hero 2. The wifi remote is nice because you can control everything on the camera from it, but the app is awesome. If you don't have a screen on your camera you can use the app to help aim it where you want and not aim at the sky, ask me how I know that... haha. The only complaint I have from my camera is the battery life, but they have extended batteries you can buy. And the GoPro Cineform Studio is pretty good for making small videos, it's pretty easy to use.

[BMR Sales]

For the Battery, I have a Go Puck Lithium Ion portable charger

https://gopuck.com/