Best way to record road trip... Dashcam or GoPro etc?
Discussion
Afternoon everyone. After feeling really gutted that I didn't have a way to record the driving footage from my European tour last summer, I'm looking to get a recording device ahead of my tour of the Highlands in a couple of weeks. So basically I'm looking for a cam that I can attach to the windscreen. Is there a favoured way of doing this? I've been looking at the pros and cons of dashcams compared to action cameras (GoPros etc) and it's still a bit of a mystery.
I'm not really interested in a having a dashcam installed in the car permanently, so it would only be used for special road trips and driving events. The advantage of something like the GoPro is that I can also use it outside the car and mountain biking etc. But the battery life seems very low compared to dashcams and I can't loop the footage it seems so will need multiple SD cards.
Are you able to charge the GoPros via the cigarette lighter whilst they're recording?
I was looking at the basic GoPro Hero which can be bought for £130. Apparently with a simple firmware update it can be upgraded to the same specs as the Hero 5!
I'm not really interested in a having a dashcam installed in the car permanently, so it would only be used for special road trips and driving events. The advantage of something like the GoPro is that I can also use it outside the car and mountain biking etc. But the battery life seems very low compared to dashcams and I can't loop the footage it seems so will need multiple SD cards.
Are you able to charge the GoPros via the cigarette lighter whilst they're recording?
I was looking at the basic GoPro Hero which can be bought for £130. Apparently with a simple firmware update it can be upgraded to the same specs as the Hero 5!
IMO GoPro type setup is the only way to go. I use the old hero device as you can mount it to the windscreen with the backing plate hinged open and a charging lead runs from there down to the glove box.
GoPro picture quality is way ahead of my dashcams but others will likely say go and get a GoPro hero (latest model) as you are right it can be 'flashed' to become a 5 (although there is some debate about warranties etc.)
Personally, I recommend grabbing whatever GoPro floats your boat and thinking far more about how you will mount the camera and edit the video. Don't stop at the windscreen either, I mount mine to the side of the car, back bumper, roll bars & front bumper. Then have a think about how you want to edit your footage together, otherwise it will be just a regular piece of dashcam footage, albeit 4k/60fps etc. Regular GoPro stuff is pretty meh without nice editing/grading & all that jazz.
You can pick up 32gb SD cards for around £6-£7 without any hassle nowadays so storage is not an issue. When I'm on tour I take a netbook & hard drive to download everything, (gopro/camera/phone etc.).
GoPro picture quality is way ahead of my dashcams but others will likely say go and get a GoPro hero (latest model) as you are right it can be 'flashed' to become a 5 (although there is some debate about warranties etc.)
Personally, I recommend grabbing whatever GoPro floats your boat and thinking far more about how you will mount the camera and edit the video. Don't stop at the windscreen either, I mount mine to the side of the car, back bumper, roll bars & front bumper. Then have a think about how you want to edit your footage together, otherwise it will be just a regular piece of dashcam footage, albeit 4k/60fps etc. Regular GoPro stuff is pretty meh without nice editing/grading & all that jazz.
You can pick up 32gb SD cards for around £6-£7 without any hassle nowadays so storage is not an issue. When I'm on tour I take a netbook & hard drive to download everything, (gopro/camera/phone etc.).
Dannythemusicman said:
IMO GoPro type setup is the only way to go. I use the old hero device as you can mount it to the windscreen with the backing plate hinged open and a charging lead runs from there down to the glove box.
GoPro picture quality is way ahead of my dashcams but others will likely say go and get a GoPro hero (latest model) as you are right it can be 'flashed' to become a 5 (although there is some debate about warranties etc.)
Personally, I recommend grabbing whatever GoPro floats your boat and thinking far more about how you will mount the camera and edit the video. Don't stop at the windscreen either, I mount mine to the side of the car, back bumper, roll bars & front bumper. Then have a think about how you want to edit your footage together, otherwise it will be just a regular piece of dashcam footage, albeit 4k/60fps etc. Regular GoPro stuff is pretty meh without nice editing/grading & all that jazz.
You can pick up 32gb SD cards for around £6-£7 without any hassle nowadays so storage is not an issue. When I'm on tour I take a netbook & hard drive to download everything, (gopro/camera/phone etc.).
Thanks for the tips. Is there any windows based editing software that you'd recommend? Preferably free GoPro picture quality is way ahead of my dashcams but others will likely say go and get a GoPro hero (latest model) as you are right it can be 'flashed' to become a 5 (although there is some debate about warranties etc.)
Personally, I recommend grabbing whatever GoPro floats your boat and thinking far more about how you will mount the camera and edit the video. Don't stop at the windscreen either, I mount mine to the side of the car, back bumper, roll bars & front bumper. Then have a think about how you want to edit your footage together, otherwise it will be just a regular piece of dashcam footage, albeit 4k/60fps etc. Regular GoPro stuff is pretty meh without nice editing/grading & all that jazz.
You can pick up 32gb SD cards for around £6-£7 without any hassle nowadays so storage is not an issue. When I'm on tour I take a netbook & hard drive to download everything, (gopro/camera/phone etc.).
There are plenty of options out there but I myself use Davinci Resolve 14 - this includes all the key features for free but special effects are only available in the paid for version. I think you can still use the lite version for free but I haven't needed to update mine in a while.
Some mates bang on about Final Cut Pro & Adobe Premiere but (and I'll be blunt here) most people can't edit amateur videos for s
t if their life depended on it (myself included!). It takes time & practice and its not worth buying anything professional until you can be sure you will get your moneys worth. I've been editing on & off for a few years and sometimes I feel like I only just scratch the surface. FCP & AP are crazy prices for the average punter.
That being said, piecing together a car vid is pretty straight forward and I know GoPro still bundle their own basic editing software with their cameras. I used their older version for a few years (I think it was called GoPro Studio...) and it was good enough.
Edited to add both GoPro editing software & Davinci Resolve are windows based
Some mates bang on about Final Cut Pro & Adobe Premiere but (and I'll be blunt here) most people can't edit amateur videos for s
t if their life depended on it (myself included!). It takes time & practice and its not worth buying anything professional until you can be sure you will get your moneys worth. I've been editing on & off for a few years and sometimes I feel like I only just scratch the surface. FCP & AP are crazy prices for the average punter.That being said, piecing together a car vid is pretty straight forward and I know GoPro still bundle their own basic editing software with their cameras. I used their older version for a few years (I think it was called GoPro Studio...) and it was good enough.
Edited to add both GoPro editing software & Davinci Resolve are windows based
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