Go Pro

[Kenho21]

I'm thinking of picking up a Go Pro camera. I don't plan on being a Youtuber or anything like that. I just want something to maybe video some cool rides and for speed runs and such. I don't care about 4K, but do want decent video quality and don't want something that will be so cumbersome that it will hinder my riding experience at all.

Any recommendations? 90GTVert, I'm sure you may have an opinion here.

[90GTVert]

I'm still using old Hero4 GoPros. They are up to Hero8 now, so they've been around for a while. One's rear screen no longer works after soaking it with swamp water on the back of T2 without a sealed case, but the cam still functions and gets used regularly. I'd have no trouble recommending them, especially if you don't care about the latest and greatest and just want something decent. Not sure where the current prices are on them. I think the 4 has a better mic than a lot of the ones that came after it. Pretty hassle free. I actually prefer the case vs some that now are made to be out of a case. Easier to deal with IMO when it will be hit with bugs every day and occasionally dropped or chipped by debris (just replace a case quickly and cheaply).

I do like the image stabilization that the newer models have. That looks very nice. I would have actually bought a newer one a while back, but the mic bugged me. TBH I haven't looked into the 8 much. The 7 can sound good, maybe better than the 4, but you have to figure it out. I just run a case with mic fur on the back and it works well and I don't have to mess with picking any settings.

Anyway, GoPro is the leader and probably will stay the leader. I don't think you're going to find cameras that take abuse much better or have more accessories. You can walk into Wal-Mart and get some GoPro accessories if you need them and that's not something that you can say for all of the action cams.

Lots and lots of comparisons on YouTube so you can decide for yourself which one is right for you.

EDIT : I see that you can get the 4 pretty cheap on eBay. Make sure you get some different mounts and accessories though, with whatever you get. They will come in handy and you will never mind having spare batteries. I've used Smatree batts with reasonable success. They are not as good as genuine GoPro batteries, but I own about 30 of them and that would cost a small fortune for GoPro. I basically plan a 1hr swap time. As long as the battery is good, that's no problem and leaves some margin for error.

Also wanted to mention that newer models do have larger memory card capacity, but unless you film in 2K or 4K or high frame rates, the card capacity of the older ones probably won't bother you. I use 1080p60fps and the 64GB (max for Hero4) card is good for ~4 hours.

[90GTVert]

Also, if you want a helmet mount then check the link below out. Some helmets are nice for mounting a GoPro, some aren't. This helps if yours isn't. You can mount to the top or side etc... but this has been the best for me. Also draws less attention than having it sticking out of the side or top of your helmet. Be sure to check that you cna still use vents and the visor and so on before doing any mounting.

49ccscoot.proboards.com/thread/24195/mounting-gopro-helmets-large-surfaces

[Kenho21]

Yeah, I think 1080P 60fps will be just fine for my purposes and I really don't feel like spending a fortune. A decent mic out of the box would be preferable too. I think the 4 with some accessories may be my ticket.

Thank you.

[Kenho21]

Picked this up for $80: shorturl.at/sLOU8

I'm going to order a few extra batteries as well and some mic fur. It comes with a 16GB memory card. At 1080P 60FPS (or less if it makes a big difference), how much record time would I roughly be looking at? Debating whether or not to pickup a larger SD card or steal the 128GB one I bought my gf for her Nintendo Switch lol.

[90GTVert]

The link doesn't work, so I'm not sure what you got... but if you search for GoPro Hero_ record times, there are rundowns posted for each video mode so you can see the difference. With my Hero4, 16GB would be ~1hr. It may be a little more with newer models that use different compression.

[Kenho21]

Oops... shorturl.at/htBFI

It's a Hero 4 Silver starter pack. Picked up some batteries and now looking for a chin mount. I'm trying to find a solution that isn't permanently attached to my helmet. Lots of those chin strap type mounts, but they mostly seem to be pretty poor quality and produced in the same factory in China and sold by a million different companies.