NORRA Racers with On Board Cameras

[Team Todo En]

Curious what everyone's using for on board cameras.
I've been running a GoPro Hero 4 silver for a few years in my Vintage Bronco that seems to do the trick but I see the 7 out now that's supposed to be a much smoother video and holds up to a 256GB card which is 4 times the capacity of the Hero 4.
We're setting up the new Pioneer Bronco and wondering if anyone has experience with the 7, if the difference between the 7 & 4 is that much, or is there a much cheaper camera option with the quality and image stability instead of being sucked into the GP world again.

 

[Zambo]

Can't speak for the 7, but the image quality on my Hero5 is very nice. The stabilization seems really good if you ask me.

 

[Radiobirdman32]

Can't speak for the 7, but the image quality on my Hero5 is very nice. The stabilization seems really good if you ask me.

X2 Zambo. Love my 5.

 

[landshark]

I have been searching around for an onboard camera as well, the Hero 7 does have complaints of overheating but not sure how prevalent that is..

 

[TRAVISD]

I have been using this dash cam.

https://www.blackvue.com/dr900s-2ch/

Quality is great and you hard wire it in, thus you have continues recording. I just did a Baja run in my CanAm and have over 60 hours of video.

 

[jeff]

The Hero 7 does overheat... a well known problem that's especially bad when recording in 4k at 60 FPS. At a lower resolution and lower FPS you'd probably be AOK but why risk it? A Hero 7 sitting in the sun on a hot day is asking for trouble no matter what HD resolution you choose.

You probably wouldn't want to try recording at the maximum 4k / 60 FPS during the NORRA anyway. Even with the longer run times the larger maximum sized 256gb cards offer they are also known to get corrupted during really long recording sessions. Smaller cards changed out more frequently reduce the chances of lost footage but that's more work for you or your co-driver. I'd go with an older and more robust HERO option or consider a non-HERO product. HERO helped create this market but a bunch of other companies are offering as good or better options now.

Aloha

 

[jeff]

I have been using this dash cam.

https://www.blackvue.com/dr900s-2ch/

Quality is great and you hard wire it in, thus you have continues recording. I just did a Baja run in my CanAm and have over 60 hours of video.

Boyd Jaynes ran the DR900S in the Bronco for an entire NORRA and I think it worked perfectly. Not sure of the price but their videos came out very nice.

Aloha

 

[Zambo]

Its good to figure out your camera's loop or tag option. That way you can save good parts of your trip without having to sift through 20 hours of footage afterward.

 

[Team Todo En]

Thanks for all your input, much appreciated. All good advice.
The Hero 4 I use is finicky and doesn't seem to like the vibrations of off road. The RAM mounts are the best thing going out there IMO, but still let the camera take the hits.
I'm going to check out the DR900S, but I think the owner is leaning toward the GP7. I like the idea of smaller cards. Maybe swap out two 128mb each day and run it in 1080, not 4k, to not tax the system and overheat.

 

[landshark]

I will probably go with the dr900s-1ch - and pick up a few 128GB cards. i see they are picky with the brand/speed of the memory cards as are the Go Pros.. .

 

[TRAVISD]

I purchased my cards on Amazon and got one for each day. Never had any issues, just need to remeber to format each card.