Go pro vs traditional digital in car cameras
 

we all know the convienience and cost of the gopro is amazing. BUT, ive never had very good luck with it in the car, only rear view, side view, suspension cam, etc. in the car, the wide angle is just too wide for a good incar footage.

Here is a few stills of the newer Gopro Hero3 vs the original (non wide angle ) and traditional (the one I used now... sony handycam)

the worst thing is the incar area is esposed correctly with the sony. the heros all overexpose the video out the window . however, there is a "spot" mode you can select to darken the target focused video out the front windshield.

anyone have any decent go pro video with the "spot" selected, and is there a way to narrow the view with less of a wide angle???

1st two pics are the same car (Vantage) and same go pro location, just old camera with less wide angle vs new HD go pro3. last pic is the same relative position with the Sony in the race car.

Your camera is located too far back IMHO. Bring it more forward and you'll get much better picture.

I have GoPro 3 and it works quite well:

that looks acceptable.... did you select the "spot" to darken the exposure out the window. (to keep from being way overexposed? )

actually the camera was just an arms length back.. I could reach back and turn it on. I could move it a little forward, but I don't think that will help that much. no roll bar in the students or my street car. using the suction cups and 2 extensions to move it toward the windshield.

did you narrow the field of view with a setting change??

but look how much better the sony is . the go pro also has all sorts of scaling issues. (field is too narrow and stretched vertically ) there is no reason why gopro cant match that kind of view for racers! :(

+1. My GoPro 2HD is just behind the seats with spot mode exposure and it works fine with my all black interior even on bright sunny days. It did take quite a bit of futzing with it to get it all right. Mount is custom using assembled PVC fittings clamped to the roll bar. View couldn't get much better and is more limited by helmeted heads and the halos. I get a decent front view, 1/2 the passenger window when alone, 90% of my hands, the shifter, where my head is pointing, and I can see a bit of operation of the pedals. (ETA: 720P60 in the widest mode).


My gripe with the GoPros is I wish they were more reliable. My internal mic doesn't work, it has developed a tendency to lock up once in a while (requiring a battery pull), and also has another annoying quirk where sometimes the audio sync is off by about 2 seconds. I could warranty it, but I'm afraid what I get back will be worse.

I think a lot of this comes from the camera being compact. They would be better if they were a bit larger, but I don't think it will ever happen because the mainstream wants smaller.

-Mike

Here is another angle that Rob Slonaker showed me - mounted to the B pillar roll bar. I don't think there is any way to narrow the field. of vision.

B pillar looks like the best option presented so far.

Thanks! that doesn't look bad, and if that's the same resolution setting , then that might work if I can get the camera farther forward. The "spot" setting seems to be the fix for the main issue I have..

what you might want to do , is tilt the camera down a little... I hate to have any ceiling in the picture, its pure wasted space. better to get the legs and pedals than the black ceiling

that's a good idea! what do you know about the resolution settings. I think that's a way to narrow the view. I thought it was only for quality, but it might help in the problem I see.

I agree! (edit) Hmmmmmm I think I don't like the A pillar in the way of all the car action... I think it still needs to be centered.. too wide of an angle also.. Just don't think the go pro has what it takes for the main view.... outside the car, yes, inside, not what I have seen so far.

It's a compromise. If I tilt it down, then the the view out the windscreen and down the track is degraded. It was actually pretty tricky to find a spot that offered the widest FOV, got most of me, didn't look directly at the pavement, and didn't have the rear view mirror blocking a big part of the view. Another concern was keeping the camera as close to the roll bar as possible, as the more it is cantilevered off the bar, the more the camera shakes. Camera mounts have to be very stout, or you get camera shake which looks like crap. YMMV.

I do like the B-pillar idea, but I don't think that works in two seat cars.

-Mike

Yes use spot metering. You can set the field of view as well.

http://abekislevitz.com/understanding-your-new-gopro/

http://abekislevitz.com/understandin...-in-the-hero4/

I never had an issue with FOV...always thought it looked pretty good, though our GoPro is an original HD
I can't remember where I have it set, but in the manual (yes...I read that!!) it explained what was best for Motorsports use.

that's a good point.. you cant just move a wide angle camera down. I think you have maximized it quite well. ill try and get it more forward but its going to be tough in the cars with no roll bar and the extensions I have for the camera. (with no roll bar)

I've had GoPros and traditional handheld cams but now I have an AIM SC HD and this - Drift HD Ghost.

The AIM is for mainly dash integration and data but the Drift is better as a camera in every way. And better vs. the GoPros IMHO.

Big screen for set up and playback, adj FOV and exposure settings, digital zoom., frame rate up to 30 fps, great audio via external mike, can set up and view via smartphone with wifi and has bigass remote with just two large buttons that you can Velcro to the dash. Easy to operate with gloves on and with big colour coded lights, you'll always know when it's on.

Had it for 3 years and my son snowboards with his- no issues.

My videos look like this one from Drift except that they have better editing (and droving).

I have a Drift Hd as well; bought it for kayaking in Alaska and Maine and it's terrific. Chose it because it is waterproof to -10' without a case. And for the big remote.
I've tried it skiing but the vids are boring (probably a good thing).
Have thought about using it as a 2nd camera driving but at this point not interested enough in a second view. But I could be convinced.
A great product overshadowed by GoPro.

Fixed it for you! ;)

Good information here. Lots of easily noticeable fish eye in the video shot on the drift camera though. But it was cool to actually see where all of the cameras were mounted in that video. I liked the results from the rollbar mount the best.