GoPro or ?

[BKennedy]

I am thinking of purchasing a GoPro or like product to use mostly as a dash cam, and use it to record some of my off-road adventures. Those of you that know me, know I am not a selfie type of person so not interested in having myself in a bunch of videos and pictures. The Explorer yes, me no. I have looked at a bunch of dash cams and it seems to me the GoPro's would do the same job and record much longer and not "loop" recordings so they get lost. I need to be able to move it from vehicle to vehicle easily, and the GoPro's fit that bill. It also looks like I could switch out SD cards and then download what I want to keep onto a laptop or PC. Don't really need or want motion sensors or shock sensors that seem to be the big thing for dash cams. If someone runs into the Explorer while its parked, I am always nearby, and they will probably get the worst of it.

What are the pro and cons of using a GoPro as a dash cam?

I am looking at this one
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MT0TJOM/?tag=serious-20

If this is a good one, what accessories do I need and for what do I need them? I can seen the immediate need for a magnetic mount, just because it would be great to video driveline issues and flexy suspensions.

If you think I should get a dedicated dash cam, why?

 

[Joe Stewart]

I was looking at the same thing. I ended up going with the Kenwood DRV-A301W. I also purchased the hardwire kit and am going to install tomorrow. I am going to tap into the map light circuit for constant power. The Kenwood shuts itself down and with the hardwire kit will automatically come on if the auto is hit. I also purchased the 264gb card to replace the 16gb that came with it. I liked the fact that it came with options for mounting.

 

[BKennedy]

@Rick, @Brian1, What do you guys think of me using a GoPro as a dash cam?

 

[Brian1]

For what you describe I think it would work fine and be more versatile then a dedicated dash cam. You can run an external power cord and loop record for dash cam and then change it up for recording other stuff.

I think GoPros are very overpriced compared to the rest of the market, I've been using a much cheaper action cam from Amazon, an Akaso EK7000 Pro and it works good for my needs. My last few videos Ive used it on so you can see what it looks like (a few posted towards the end of my registry thread). It has a touch screen back and includes many accessories instead of being separate like the GoPro accessories.

 

[Rick]

Joe makes some good points for the dedicated dashcam. I have one in my Ram, and Char has the same model in her Scion. We both have Cobras.
As Joe mentioned it starts up, and shuts down on it's own. It will detect a crash and automatically save the video to a special folder. You can chose whether or not to record audio with the video stream. I don't like audio recording what's going on in the vehicle.

I have a couple Gopros, but I don't think they would make a good every day dash cam.

 

[BKennedy]

I have looked at a bunch of dash cams, but also wanted to record some of my off road trips. Not something I would use daily, just on long road trips with the RV, and getting to and during off road adventures.

@Brian1, are you talking about this one?
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HGM33HG/?tag=serious-20
Then I got looking at this one, its still $100 less than the GoPro and has a bunch more accessories.
Amazon.com : AKASO V50X Native 4K30fps WiFi Action Camera with EIS Touch Screen 4X Zoom Web Camera 131 feet Waterproof Camera Support External Mic Remote Control Sports Camera with Helmet Accessories Kit : Camera & Photo

One more thing. Can I turn the audio off and just run video?

 

[Brian1]

Close, but I have the "Pro" version of it. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07JR1XZ78/?tag=serious-20

Im not sure if you can turn the audio recording off, I haven't paid attention to if there is a setting for that since I don't have a reason to do so.

 

[BKennedy]

Thanks, have fun in Colorado

 

[Brian1]

I just went through my camera menu and couldn't find a setting to turn off audio recording. Maybe GoPro can?

 

[Joe Stewart]

My Kenwood has a mute button

 

[BKennedy]

I ordered this one because its supposed to be a true 4x zoom, and the price point is outstanding. I was reading where you can set it to the external mike without using one and it mutes audio. This is my first jump into video recorders other than mobile phones in many, many years.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07TYKS8SF/?tag=serious-20

 

[BKennedy]

I have been playing around with my new video recorder today. It has a bunch of features I didn't know it had when purchased. One of them is the "Drive" mode. If you have it plugged into external power and in the "Drive" mode, it will act as a dash cam turning on and off when the key is turned on. Will not work for me unless I modify one of my power ports to only work with the key on, but hey, its there.

Picture quality is good. It has a loop feature as well, but the max loop is only seven minutes. That's just long enough to have something happen on the highway and while dealing with it remember you have your video recorder in loop mode and your video record of the events is gone.

It came with a bunch of accessories that I probably won't be able to use, mostly mounting functions that won't work for me. I purchased a clamp mount for my roll cage dash cross bar that is where it will be hanging out most of the time it's on, and have a magnetic mount incomming for side suspension flex videos (got to have those). It did come with a sticky mount that I am thinking of mounting to the plastic dash of the RV. That would make swapping it over to the RV easy.

It says its formatted for Micro SD cards up to 64 Gigs, but I have a 128 Gig in there now and its recording. The charge cord it comes with is stupid short, so I had to dig up another one in my old not used anymore drawer of cords.

Its true that if you put it in "external mic mode" and don't actually use a external mic it doesn't record any sound.

 

[knottyhalt]

GoPro all the way! Can't go wrong with it.

 

[BKennedy]

GoPro all the way! Can't go wrong with it.

Ummmmm, I already purchased the Akaso V50X

 

[RockRanger]

It has been a month and no videos yet? For what it is worth I have the same brand but much older version and it works well. Would be nice if it had some video stabilization that yours may have. Yours has way more options then mine does. I have put it in the water proof case and gave it to Bailey to take in the pool. The fun part comes when it is time to edit the videos.

 

[BKennedy]

Mine is supposed to have video stabilization. I had it recording when I went over to the parent's house a few weeks ago, but haven't reviewed the footage yet. I will get to it soon and then figure out how to post a video somewhere. no off-road video's around here since its been too hot for the desert and all the National Forests were closed. I am hoping to get up to the Arizona property this or next month for at least a few weeks so will have video then.

 

[Allen Clark]

An additional vote for GoPro since that's the only that I use.

 

[BKennedy]

GoPro all the way! Can't go wrong with it.

Ummmmm, I already purchased the Akaso V50X

An additional vote for GoPro since that's the only that I use.

I get the feeling that some posters are only reading the first post before responding.

 

[Joe Stewart]

I got my daughters go pro’s and they used them once. I am going to attempt to use one of them as rear view.

 

[BKennedy]

The other day I went down a dirt road in Rancho Santa Fe that I haven't been to in about 25 years. I messed around with the camera and took a few test videos. I don't know if I like that geostabilize feature. Had to figure out how to upload videos to YouTube since I have never done that either.

Second video is when I almost drove over this clown's Panamara.