The all GoPro models discussion thread

[JonRB]

Pet Troll said:

I have never had a suction mount fail and have done a lot of miles with them on the outside of the car (probably 2000 miles or so) nor has anyone I know had one fail. I even did about 800 miles in one go without 're-fitting' the suction mount and it was still as strong as ever when I came to remove it.

I've never had one fail either. So this kind of makes whether or not to tether somewhat superfluous, surely?

Pet Troll said:

Personally I can't see how any significant damage would get done if it were to fail, a few scratches possibly, but most of it is plastic and there would be minimal horizontal force if it did fail, it would mainly just dangle there flapping about a bit in the wind.

Very much depends on the driving you're doing, surely? If you're doing a track day with violent direction changes then there is more scope for it bashing around.

Pet Troll said:

Also with regard weighing up the cost, it's not difficult to have in excess of £1k worth of camera equipment on a suction mount(s) so it would take an awful lot of paint damage to outweigh that.

I'd like to see the GoPro setup hanging off one suction mount that is in excess of £1k. This was a discussion about tethering a GoPro setup and whether the cost of a GoPro setup would be less or more than the cost of the damage it may cause. That's rather changing the parameters of the discussion if you start talking about a £1k setup. Why not make it a £10,000 diamond-encrusted gold bar whilst you're at it?

Pet Troll said:

Last but not least, if you have 3rd party insurance for filming and are covered for filming from a car then a tether is a requirement of all the policies I looked at.

For commercial filming, yes. But you'll find that most people in this thread are hobbyists spending their own money and covering their costs, and that was what was being discussed. If you are fully insured and your insurance stipulates that you tether then you tether and if your car gets damaged then they pay out. Well, duh. This seems rather a moot (and obvious) point.

Edited by JonRB on Friday 30th May 09:21

[IvanSTi]

Tether doesn't cut if for me, presuming the suction cup fails and not the mount, you've got the Gopro and the suction cup rattling around your paintwork, I'd rather go hunting for the GoPro in the bushes.

Anyway, anyone got any good ideas for an external microphone, or any way to stop the wind noise in the mic when they're mounted on the outside of the car?

[Pet Troll]

JonRB said:

I've never had one fail either. So this kind of makes whether or not to tether somewhat superfluous, surely?

Pretty much, yes. I like to have the tether in case one day it fails. I value my camera equipment and footage more than what is most likely going to be a small scratch or two in my cars paintwork. I appreciate that this won't be the case for everyone as cars vary in value etc.

JonRB said:

Very much depends on the driving you're doing, surely? If you're doing a track day with violent direction changes then there is more scope for it bashing around.

Very true, I don't know of any tracks that allow the public to use cameras on the outside of the car, but that doesn't mean it can't happen. If my suction mount failed I would pull over and not continue to drive.

JonRB said:

I'd like to see the GoPro setup hanging off one suction mount that is in excess of £1k. This was a discussion about tethering a GoPro setup and whether the cost of a GoPro setup would be less or more than the cost of the damage it may cause. That's rather changing the parameters of the discussion if you start talking about a £1k setup. Why not make it a £10,000 diamond-encrusted gold bar whilst you're at it?

Ok maybe not £1k for a single GoPro (although this is the case for me video camera), however you can easily have a single GoPro + equipment worth around £500 once you add in the cost of the battery backpack, memory card, different lenses, lens hood/filter adapter and filters. I personally have 3 GoPros (2x hero3+ black and one hero3 black) so if they are all on the car at the same time that is a fairly high value to risk falling off (admittedly it's spread over 3 suction mounts).

JonRB said:

For commercial filming, yes. But you'll find that most people in this thread are hobbyists spending their own money and covering their costs, and that was what was being discussed. If you are fully insured and your insurance stipulates that you tether then you tether and if your car gets damaged then they pay out. Well, duh. This seems rather a moot (and obvious) point.

Myself included, I do it purely as a hobby, I have never been paid anything for any of the videos I have made, I just do it because I enjoy it. However, my camera equipment is worth a lot to me, I have spent (what I consider) a lot of money on it all so choose to insure it, especially as most of the time I use it is when I am abroad and it has to be left in a car, unattended.

I'm just trying to put across my point of view

[JonRB]

Pet Troll said:

I'm just trying to put across my point of view

Oh, absolutely. And I apologise if I came across as abrasive because it wasn't my intention.

I think that at the end of the day, it comes down to a personal assessment of relative cost. For me, given the cost of paint and labour on a fibreglass car like the Sagaris, I'd rather use man-maths to trade up to a 3+ if I lost a 3 than to have it damage the car. For other cars, maybe a tethered GoPro would cause little enough damage that one of those mobile repair people could fix any minor scratches for less than the price of a GoPro.

My experience of track days is that many organisers are ok with external suction mounts so long as they are tethered, which rather makes the argument moot of course.

[Boro]

Costs of damaged bodywork could also vary massively. A run of the mill daily driver/track car might cost a couple of hundred pounds to have a panel or two painted. Your beloved Ferrari, a whole different story. You really do have to weigh up the pros and cons before tethering.

[JonRB]

Boro said:

Costs of damaged bodywork could also vary massively. A run of the mill daily driver/track car might cost a couple of hundred pounds to have a panel or two painted. Your beloved Ferrari, a whole different story. You really do have to weigh up the pros and cons before tethering.

That's pretty much what I was trying to say.

[Boro]

100% agree with your comments/thoughts ;-)

[IvanSTi]

IvanSTi said:

Anyway, anyone got any good ideas for an external microphone, or any way to stop the wind noise in the mic when they're mounted on the outside of the car?

Anyone?

[JonRB]

IvanSTi said:

IvanSTi said:

Anyway, anyone got any good ideas for an external microphone, or any way to stop the wind noise in the mic when they're mounted on the outside of the car?

Anyone?

I know it is a long thread but we've discussed this many times. If you read back you'll find lots of options.

We should really start a separate wiki-style page for our findings on things like this.

[Pet Troll]

IvanSTi said:

IvanSTi said:

Anyway, anyone got any good ideas for an external microphone, or any way to stop the wind noise in the mic when they're mounted on the outside of the car?

Anyone?

I use a Rode stereo videomic with a dead kitten windshield for recording out doors. When stuck to the car or if it's very windy I put a sock over the 'dead kitten' to stop it flapping around and causing unwanted noise.

[Moycie]

JonRB said:

IvanSTi said:

IvanSTi said:

Anyway, anyone got any good ideas for an external microphone, or any way to stop the wind noise in the mic when they're mounted on the outside of the car?

Anyone?

I know it is a long thread but we've discussed this many times. If you read back you'll find lots of options.

We should really start a separate wiki-style page for our findings on things like this.

On the back of recommendations here and elsewhere, I got one of these....UltraDisk 4033 (3 metre PC Laptop Lapel Tie Clip Voice Recorder Microphone 3.5mm). Seems to work well so far.

[IvanSTi]

Pet Troll said:

IvanSTi said:

IvanSTi said:

Anyway, anyone got any good ideas for an external microphone, or any way to stop the wind noise in the mic when they're mounted on the outside of the car?

Anyone?

I use a Rode stereo videomic with a dead kitten windshield for recording out doors. When stuck to the car or if it's very windy I put a sock over the 'dead kitten' to stop it flapping around and causing unwanted noise.

Thanks, looks great, will take a look into it.

[ParanoidAndroid]

Rather than start a whole new topic does anyone know when the Gopro Hero 4 is due out? Seen rumours its due for a summer release then others saying October (which I think was when the Hero 3 was launched last time). Only reason I'm asking is thinking of getting a Gopro to take on holiday but would be a bit miffed if I bought the Hero 3 only to find the 4 is out a week later!

[Boro]

ParanoidAndroid said:

Rather than start a whole new topic does anyone know when the Gopro Hero 4 is due out? Seen rumours its due for a summer release then others saying October (which I think was when the Hero 3 was launched last time). Only reason I'm asking is thinking of getting a Gopro to take on holiday but would be a bit miffed if I bought the Hero 3 only to find the 4 is out a week later!

My guess is still October based on historical release dates but that's only a guestimate. Even as dealers we never know until the last minute.

[rehab71]

Hi all, pleas help!

I've bought the below for my Gopro Hero 3+ Silver. I've plugged it all in but it's just not working! I've tested the mic on my SLR so I know it works. Am I doing something wrong or is the camera dud?

[rehab71]

Anyone?

[r1flyguy1]

Maybe it just doesn't like that mic????

I have pretty much the same set up but bought this model UltraDisk 4033 5 metre PC Laptop Lapel Tie Clip Voice Recorder Microphone 3.5mm

I've tested it and it seems to work fine

Which model do you have

I've also tested a couple of mic since bought from maplins and again they seem to work fine!!!

[JonRB]

I've had no problems with my GoPro 3 Silver and the official GoPro mic cable and any mic I throw at it.

I can't quite tell from your pic - is that the official GoPro cable?

[rehab71]

JonRB said:

I've had no problems with my GoPro 3 Silver and the official GoPro mic cable and any mic I throw at it.

I can't quite tell from your pic - is that the official GoPro cable?

Yes, it's an official Gopro cable, I've tested the mic on my Cannon SLR and it works fine!

Could it be the camera?

[JonRB]

rehab71 said:

Yes, it's an official Gopro cable, I've tested the mic on my Cannon SLR and it works fine!

Could it be the camera?

I thought it might be the official cable; I just wasn't totally sure from the pic.

Does the mic have a mono or stereo jack? I know that the Canon is mono so if it is a mono mic you could try a mono to stereo converter (available at Maplin etc) as it might possibly be that. Beyond that I don't know.