GoPro or what?

[boarder4life81]

I did a quick search for reviews or threads about what kinds of cameras people are using to record their rides and didn't come up with any. I'm looking into mounting a camera on my bike to record my rides and I'm curious what people are using. Obviously GoPro is a very popular brand, but which model do you like and why? Are there other cameras I should be looking at? Budget wise I'm looking to keep it around $300 for the camera.

 

[Flat_FZ6]

I've got a gopro hero3+ Black edition and absolutely love it! I use it for everything. It takes great night footage on my bike, I can swim with it, and I've gotten some super cool views playing fetch with my dog.

Image quality is great, but battery life can be lacking. I always take two spare batteries with me if I'm going to be doing a lot of recording. You can get a two battery pack and charger on amazon for cheap, so it's not a big deal.

Just remember to factor in the cost of mounts when you're budgeting. Also, if you get a gorpro I would suggest sticking with gopro brand mounts and accessories, the ebay ones don't work well.

 

[yamihoe]

the new gopros are alot better than the original, in the dark, you cant see JACK with the original hero. I have mine mounted on the chin of my helmet...its great! I can see everything *almost as if its through my eyes..

 

[tejkowskit]

I have a hero 3 white edition and it does everything I wanted it for when I bought it. Im not huge into video editing; just wanted something to capture memories and fun stuff. The Silver and black have so many more features and shooting modes. I just opted for the white because I couldn't justify spending that much more when i would only use the basic functions of the camera anyways. Although having a higher frame rate was tempting.. Decide for yourself which model you need based on how you plan to use the camera. If you're creative and artsy and wanna Shoot extremely high quality videos and edit awesome videos go with the black. If you're like me and wanna shoot really good quality videos occasionally the silver or white do it plenty well. And you can still edit awesome videos with a good editing software. Look at the specs and see if the extra features of the more expensive model will be worth it for you.

The camera has great picture in light and dark, wifi to connect to mobile device (very handy when trying to figure out the right angle). Takes good still pictures so long as a zoom isn't needed.

As mentioned the only draw backs are battery life (but spare batteries are rather cheap. Also, if you mainly are going to use it to record riding you can also rig up a 12v cigarette outlet to plug it into and you won't have to worry about battery while riding) and having to buy the fairly expensive mounts on top of the cost of the camera (the cost adds up).

If you end up getting one I suggest installing the mobile app if you have a mobile device. Also, do a Google and YouTube search for diy go pro mounts. There are some very clever ones out there that may save you some money.

 

[Xavias]

GoPro HD Hero 3 Silver edition here. Absolutely love this camera. GREAT video and sound in my opinion.

Here's a little diddy I put together from my track day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UatgZIwpTJ4

 

[erburtt]

Waspcam Gideon, I have one my friend who works for the company hooked me up with, it does 16mp pictures, 1080p video at 60fps, and all the other settings; 1080p @30fps, 720p@120fps, 480p@240fps... It has a wrist remote with a screen on it so you can see real time what your camera is seeing, and finally it has an auto looping feature for dash cam style recording. You can also buy a little adaptor which makes it fit with all the GoPro mounts

 

[2wheelieadv]

I have Drift HD Ghost $300 in B&H or I got on ebay store for $262.
It does all kind of stuff and more... Waterproof without the bulky case, and rotating lens. 2 inch built in screen and more. Remote control where you can see what mode the camera is, and what it's doing... You can even shoot pics while recording! But the best feature is tagging which allow you to record something you have missed up to 10 mins ago!!
Do your research and comparisons online, and find what will serve your needs.