Mid-Illini Jeepers

Who uses a dash cam? What brans do you prefer? Or do you just use the camera from your phone?

We have a go pro hero 3+..

Have a suction cup mount... and a mount that can attatch to a rod or bar(bicycle handle bar mount)

Wish it had better battery life...

I know some people that mount one on front , one on back when they trail ride.

I have been trying a magnetic base as well.

my son has a lot of experience with Go Pro's on construction equipment and loves them.

I'm just gonna throw this out there: as someone who has slogged through a lot of dash-cam video when putting together the MIJC videos, I find it to be completely unimpressive. The problem is that from the camera's perspective, which is basically bolted to the Jeep and pointed forwards, you get no sense of how steep the ground is when you're climbing or descending a hill. It just looks like you're driving up a flat trail, even if you are on a 60-degree incline. Ditto for someone standing and shooting you from the top or bottom of the hill.

The only way to really appreciate the gravity of your situation on video is to shoot the action from the side, which usually involves someone trekking through the brush a bit to get away from the trail/hill. In other words, you want the Jeep to be traveling through the frame from side to side, not towards or away from you. Getting this type of footage is not easy or super-convenient, and impossible if you don't have a passenger or bystander who will get out and shoot for you.

I've seen some video that Jon Martin took with his GoPro mounted way up on the peak of his spare tire mount at the back of the Jeep, and that was all right. The mount is made of steel tubing so it was easy to bolt the camera on there. The camera's wide-angle lens showed the entire interior of the Jeep, the driver's actions and extended out to the sides and ahead. The shot gave you a pretty good feel for what was going on. It was pretty cool when he was doing some rock-crawling at the Badlands. Perhaps he will pipe up here and post some stuff he's shot so you can see what I'm talking about. But of course this type of mount isn't terribly convenient either, as he can't reach the camera without stopping and getting out.

Mounting a camera to your dash and shooting out through the windshield is super-easy to set up, and the camera is within reach so you can start and stop it. But I think you'll find that you end up with hours of completely underwhelming footage, unless someone in front of you happens to do something cool. You're better off inviting a friend to ride shotgun and handing them a camera.

I have a GoPro 3 and I rarely use it due to the horrible battery life, I should probably order a couple spare batteries. It would be great for brief events, like a particular hill climb or mud puddle, but not for an all day trail ride. However, one nice feature it has is a WiFi connection to a smart phone. This allows me to preview the frame and most importantly start and stop recording remotely.

With the go pro... there is an application you can download to your phone or to another device to use as a remote control. We have an ipod dedicated to controlling ours. But wholeheartedly agree with the unimpressive footage... for killer vids you really do need to get side shots.. i have thought about using a tripod... but you will have to get out set it up... then go back and retrieve it... not a bad option for a place like the rock quarry at badlands... but very inconvenient.

PS. The GoPro manual does state that one way to improve battery life is to turn off the WiFi.

What? You read the manual? It had one? Is that what that paper was. I did think about getting a second case for the camera and drilling a hole... and leaving it plugged into the lighter plug. But slightly alters its ability to be waterproof.

I have a 6 foot telescopic pole that the go pro mounts on. I can get some very interesting view points this way. I did learn the hard way not to let it rest on the jeep while shooting footage or the vibrations and noise will be horrible.

I can ask my son about mounts and locations on how he gets good shots on promotional videos for contruction equipment, if you want. Or I can bring him to a future club meeting.

Do you really need it to be waterproof if it's mounted to the dash?

I have 2 gopro cams. Took them with us to Hawaii last summer. Best you are going to do with a battery when talking video is about an hour and a half, depending on the resolution you are shooting with. As far as mounts, go pro has a ton of vehicle mounting options, both top and side. I have lots of sticky mounts, clamps, you name it. Realistically, if you can get 2 angles of the same shot, it makes your editing a lot cooler and a much more interesting playback.

wdln.. if you only mount to the dash..clearly the answer is no. but if you move it to an external mount then you might consider getting a second case that is still waterproof. or consider making a fixture to hold the camera while mounted inside? I have been experimenting with a magnetic base for some unusual camera angles. some under the vehicle. we are still playing around with our go pro... for things other than just on the jeep. it is a cool little toy.

http://www.driving.co.uk/car-clinic/buy ... -reviewed/ maybe this article will help