"Go Pro" users...

[inkjunkie]

I'm sure there is more than one of you on here. From what I have read there is not much, more like nada, in regards to long range remotes available for the Go Pro cameras. What I am wanting to do is mount a camera in a drag car and be able to control it remotely, the camera not the car. Only remote that I have seen, other than the Bluetooth App for a phone, only has a range of 5-600'. Anyone have something that is not widely known about?

 

[straightlinespeed]

I'm sure there is more than one of you on here. From what I have read there is not much, more like nada, in regards to long range remotes available for the Go Pro cameras. What I am wanting to do is mount a camera in a drag car and be able to control it remotely, the camera not the car. Only remote that I have seen, other than the Bluetooth App for a phone, only has a range of 5-600'. Anyone have something that is not widely known about?

Sorry, Even the GoPro remote only reaches 600'. If you find one please let me know... I've needed a longer range one as well, but just stick with the App.

 

[67Dart273]

Can't you be close enough at the starting line to turn it on (remote or otherwise) , and then just not worry about the "off"? I realize you may go through batteries or memory cards...........................

It would require more equipment, and may border on illegality, but there are ways to control "stuff" with two way radio. Maybe you should consider getting your amateur license?

 

[1969383S]

Why not get a big memory card and turn it on in the staging lane then edit out what you do not want? Memory is getting cheaper all the time!

 

[inkjunkie]

Why not get a big memory card and turn it on in the staging lane then edit out what you do not want? Memory is getting cheaper all the time!

Have thought about this. Thing is I am a one man show. I will be taking still images from both lanes this year. I will have a camera setup 600-800' out shooting video. I will also be up in the stands shooting images and video.

Then there is an apparent issue with Go Pro cameras shutting off. From what little reading I have done they apparently have some sort of thermal switch in them that trips after they have been running for a set time.

I will be sending out a message to all the racers that have volunteered to help, asking if they would be willing to start stop the camera for me.

 

[inkjunkie]

Sorry, Even the GoPro remote only reaches 600'. If you find one please let me know... I've needed a longer range one as well, but just stick with the App.

Someone one on a forum did tell me that the first generation Go Pros were compatible with Pocket Wizard radios....

 

[pishta]

Why not get a big memory card and turn it on in the staging lane then edit out what you do not want? Memory is getting cheaper all the time!

Use the vented back of the polycarbonate housing, not the sealed waterproof one. Maybe that will keep it a little cooler. Just pop a 32G in there, a nice fresh battery...set it and forget it!

"With a single battery, you will get approximately 2.5 hours of continuous video recording time in mild and warmer temperatures*. Cold temps will reduce run times somewhat, however the camera helps to minimize this by transferring the normal heat generated during operation towards the battery"


HD HERO2 Recording Time in Each Video Setting
Question
What is the Recording Time in Each Video Setting on the HD HERO2?
Where does it apply?

• HD HERO2

Answer
Recording time will vary according to the resolution setting used and the card capacity. Here are the average recording storage times for an HD HERO2 camera with a 32GB SD card:

• 1080p (30 fps): 4h 21m
• 960p (30 fps): 5h 26m
• 720p (60 fps): 4h 21
• 720p (30 fps): 8h 09m
• WVGA (60 fps): 8h 09m

Reduce the record times to half for a 16GB SDHC memory cards.

 

[inkjunkie]

Can't you be close enough at the starting line to turn it on (remote or otherwise) , and then just not worry about the "off"? I realize you may go through batteries or memory cards...........................

It would require more equipment, and may border on illegality, but there are ways to control "stuff" with two way radio. Maybe you should consider getting your amateur license?

Not sure how much truth there is here...SCR has a very strict no drone zone. That much is true. The following....well....have been told that due to the tracks closeness to both the airport and Fairchild AFB that radio signals are closely "monitored". Was told that the aerial footage on the SCR site was taken with a drone....and that law enforcement showed up within a couple of minutes of the drone lifting off. Supposedly the drones operator was cited...and the drone was confiscated.
I do know a few years back someone ignored the no drone signs...drone was not even airborne for 115 seconds before he was told to ground it...the owner of the drone was tossed from the facility. Like I said, don't know how true the bulk of what I said is true but I'm not willing to take any chances.

Use the vented back of the polycarbonate housing, not the sealed waterproof one. Maybe that will keep it a little cooler. Just pop a 32G in there, a nice fresh battery...set it and forget it!

"With a single battery, you will get approximately 2.5 hours of continuous video recording time in mild and warmer temperatures*. Cold temps will reduce run times somewhat, however the camera helps to minimize this by transferring the normal heat generated during operation towards the battery"


HD HERO2 Recording Time in Each Video Setting
Question
What is the Recording Time in Each Video Setting on the HD HERO2?
Where does it apply?

• HD HERO2

Answer
Recording time will vary according to the resolution setting used and the card capacity. Here are the average recording storage times for an HD HERO2 camera with a 32GB SD card:

• 1080p (30 fps): 4h 21m
• 960p (30 fps): 5h 26m
• 720p (60 fps): 4h 21
• 720p (30 fps): 8h 09m
• WVGA (60 fps): 8h 09m

Reduce the record times to half for a 16GB SDHC memory cards.

That is a whole lot of footage for pass or 2. I will send out a group message asking all the volunteers if they would be willing to work the camera.
Noticed that several of the cameras are "voice activated", so really don't see the lack of being able to remotely control the Go Pro being a problem....hopefully.

Just don't see why Go Pro sees to it that only there remote works there gear.

Not a big fan of the endless depth of field look but....

 

[pishta]

Not a big fan of the endless depth of field look but....

But everything is in focus! Whats the f-stop on these? Hero-2 HD is fixed...must be high.

 

[inkjunkie]

But everything is in focus! Whats the f-stop on these? Hero-2 HD is fixed...must be high.

That's the thing, I like the "blurry background" look. I only have one fixed Neutral Density filter right now, don't even remember how many stops it is. But as luck would have it the thing fit on one of my lenses. I went out and shot some footage on my DSLR yesterday. Shot it in TV mode. 30 frames per second, shutter speed of 1/60. Without the ND filter the aperture was f/5.6 and up. Put the ND filter on, the aperture stayed at f/2.8ish. The only thing that was in focus was the dog that I was using as my subject. When she walked past the pump house she stayed in focus, the pump house was not....which made me keep my eyes on the pup. In the first video my eyes wandered around, looking at everything that was in focus.

 

[inkjunkie]

Sorry, Even the GoPro remote only reaches 600'. If you find one please let me know... I've needed a longer range one as well, but just stick with the App.

I just spoke with Pocket Wizard. I mentioned using a Go Pro with a Pocket Wizard. She told me that, depending on which Go Pro I have I can use Pocket Wizards to control a Go Pro, just take a special cable. I did not get into any detail with her over this as I have more than enough on my plate right now. But before I make up my mind on the Go Pro I will talk with the folks from Pocket Wizard again.

Here is what I will be dealing with. One remote fired camera on a wall mount for still images. One handheld camera in the other lane, with a radio mounted on its hot shoe to control the other still image camera. I will have a DSLR camera shooting video mounted on the wall, either aimed at the burnout box or the tree. This camera will have a remote on another channel. Will also have a DSLR camera, shooting video, at about the half track mark. This will have a radio on the same channel as the other DSLR shooting video. Tethered to my wrist will be a radio to fire both of the video cameras at once. If I really want to make things challenging I can set each video camera up on its own zone and fire them separately.

So the last thing I need is to have to scroll thru hours of Go Pro footage to get a few minutes of burnout/pass footage. I have spoken with a couple of my "volunteers", they both said they will not have a problem dealing with the Go Pro...

 

[straightlinespeed]

I just spoke with Pocket Wizard. I mentioned using a Go Pro with a Pocket Wizard. She told me that, depending on which Go Pro I have I can use Pocket Wizards to control a Go Pro, just take a special cable. I did not get into any detail with her over this as I have more than enough on my plate right now. But before I make up my mind on the Go Pro I will talk with the folks from Pocket Wizard again.

Here is what I will be dealing with. One remote fired camera on a wall mount for still images. One handheld camera in the other lane, with a radio mounted on its hot shoe to control the other still image camera. I will have a DSLR camera shooting video mounted on the wall, either aimed at the burnout box or the tree. This camera will have a remote on another channel. Will also have a DSLR camera, shooting video, at about the half track mark. This will have a radio on the same channel as the other DSLR shooting video. Tethered to my wrist will be a radio to fire both of the video cameras at once. If I really want to make things challenging I can set each video camera up on its own zone and fire them separately.

So the last thing I need is to have to scroll thru hours of Go Pro footage to get a few minutes of burnout/pass footage. I have spoken with a couple of my "volunteers", they both said they will not have a problem dealing with the Go Pro...

Damn that is a plate full for sure! I like the idea your going for... Please keep us posted on how your doing with it.

 

[1969383S]

Have a Hero 3 with a 512g card. No drags but record time is awesome even at 4K.

The iphone app and remote is definitely short distance. Thought originally you were recording the underside or something or even multiple on the body.

 

[inkjunkie]

One thing I am curious about....can Go Pro footage be edited with any video editing software (just want the clips taken on the track) or do you need to use Go Pros own software? Or worse yet, an APP on a tablet or phone? I am assuming that it records in .mov or MP4 format, so clips from it can be merged with clips from my DSLR?

Spent some time hunting for DSLR roll cage mounts. Found this thing....

Not exactly cheap at $120 but given the fact that I already have a DSLR, the Pocket Wizard radio for it as well as a RODE mic will be a bit easier on the wallet.
I spoke with the guy that is listed as the "Manager" of the drag strip yesterday. He did say that he will not have a problem with me putting cameras inside of cars, as long as the mounts are secure. He did say that it is NOT going to happen at the 2 Funny car events....I mentioned I know of at least 1 racer who has a Go Pro mounted in his car at every event...and was told well then I guess the Funny Car events will not be a problem then .

Not real sure how I am going to do this just yet. Was mindlessly scrolling thru FB Marketplace last night and found a decent deal on a "kit" DSLR. It is the one previous ot the "kit" DSLR rig that I have...While they don't hold a candle to my good gear when it comes to images they are just fine for video. The one I found even has the same mic that I use....and for the price it will be hard for me not to get it. Could get 2 of the above mounts and have 2 cameras in cars shooting videos as well as the one down track. Could use the one in my hand to shoot burn out/launch videos.

Have a lot of stuff to sort thru. Just not much in the mood to do anything right now...that whole pain thing...

Debating on where I am going to store the video clips. I have a 4T drive for this years images. It should be more than enough room, but I kind of want to keep the video files separate. I have one more available SATA port on the mother board in my desktop, and 2 available slots in the box I use for creating a copy of the drives I use. I tried using an external USB3 drive....was far to slow giving the amount of stuff I will be needing to edit....hmmm...

 

[1969383S]

One thing I am curious about....can Go Pro footage be edited with any video editing software (just want the clips taken on the track) or do you need to use Go Pros own software? Or worse yet, an APP on a tablet or phone? I am assuming that it records in .mov or MP4 format, so clips from it can be merged with clips from my DSLR?

Spent some time hunting for DSLR roll cage mounts. Found this thing....View attachment 1715485386 Not exactly cheap at $120 but given the fact that I already have a DSLR, the Pocket Wizard radio for it as well as a RODE mic will be a bit easier on the wallet.
I spoke with the guy that is listed as the "Manager" of the drag strip yesterday. He did say that he will not have a problem with me putting cameras inside of cars, as long as the mounts are secure. He did say that it is NOT going to happen at the 2 Funny car events....I mentioned I know of at least 1 racer who has a Go Pro mounted in his car at every event...and was told well then I guess the Funny Car events will not be a problem then .

Not real sure how I am going to do this just yet. Was mindlessly scrolling thru FB Marketplace last night and found a decent deal on a "kit" DSLR. It is the one previous ot the "kit" DSLR rig that I have...While they don't hold a candle to my good gear when it comes to images they are just fine for video. The one I found even has the same mic that I use....and for the price it will be hard for me not to get it. Could get 2 of the above mounts and have 2 cameras in cars shooting videos as well as the one down track. Could use the one in my hand to shoot burn out/launch videos.

Have a lot of stuff to sort thru. Just not much in the mood to do anything right now...that whole pain thing...

Debating on where I am going to store the video clips. I have a 4T drive for this years images. It should be more than enough room, but I kind of want to keep the video files separate. I have one more available SATA port on the mother board in my desktop, and 2 available slots in the box I use for creating a copy of the drives I use. I tried using an external USB3 drive....was far to slow giving the amount of stuff I will be needing to edit....hmmm...

I usually use the moviemaker app in win 10. Can edit anyway I like mostly.

 

[inkjunkie]

I usually use the moviemaker app in win 10. Can edit anyway I like mostly.

Thank You. I don't do any video editing, other than trimming the footage if necessary. I use Windows 10 Movie Maker or Filmora9.

 

[inkjunkie]

Sorry, Even the GoPro remote only reaches 600'. If you find one please let me know... I've needed a longer range one as well, but just stick with the App.

Got a response from Pocket Wizard. She was just a tad misinformed..only Go Pro that this worked with, as far as either one of us could find was the Hero 1 and the Hero 2. Guess after that Go Pro had enough of non-propriety gear being used and changed things up some. Never mind that...the company that made the cable that was needed, HydRemote, is apparently long gone. Searched Ebay, could not find one. Googled HydRemote, the only things I found were related to the one YouTube video. Anyway, it WAS a fairly simple deal, just plug the HydRemote cable into the Go Pro, buy the adapter that was needed to plug into the Pocket Wizard and that was basically it.

Have decided that I will not be using a Go Pro in any way. Have done some research. If I were to get there new "top dog", MAX, from what I have seen, even using an external mic is out of the question. Have seen more than one Go Pro video with absolutely horrendous audio, nothing is a bigger turn off for me than attempting to watch a video of something auto related and hearing just a resonating, rumbling audio track. Sort of like being in a hot rod with mufflers that just emit that obnoxious resonating tone inside the car. Another one of the Go Pros, the Hero 8, requires an add on device in order to use an external mic. Problem is this add on device is not readily available just yet...and the reviews I have seen of it make it sound of questionable build quality. Can only speak for myself, but when I am watching a video and the audio starts getting that resonating tone I just stop watching the video. Not going to put all sorts of time into editing/blending video clips together only to have folks stop watching it thanks to the horrible audio. Lack of remote control is a serious problem for me. I also have a serious problem with the endless depth of field. While a lot of my video will be shot in semi auto mode where the camera will be control of the aperture there is probably going to be quite a bit of video where it will be shot with only the vehicles being in focus, the back ground will have the "bokeh blur" similar to this image.

Notice how the Christmas Tree, the cone etc are all out of focus? That is the look I will be going for, when I am focusing on shooting video. In order to be able to do this you need to be paying attention to the aperture. Be shooting in Manual mode, 30fps with a shutter speed of 1/60. Will be using Neutral Density filters (sunglasses for the lens) so that I can shoot video with an aperture of f/2.8 or f/1.4, depending on the lens I will be using. Hell, just dropped close to a grand on various filters in order to be able to do this. Have been meaning to buy these filters for quite a while now, I just never have. I will also be using them for some of my still images at the track...and I finally will be able to teach myself some of the things I have been wanting to as certain types of photography require a slow shutter speed...which these filters allow. Blurry cloud images, images of streams and water falls where the water looks almost like it is smooth

...This is something that a Go Pro, despite being how good it is, simply can not do....and if the Go Pro is capable of it I have yet to find anyone sharing how they pull it off.
I am not 100% certain I will still be putting a camera or 2 inside of cars. I have found a commercially available mount. I also have thought of a much less expensive mount that I can build using a couple of brackets available from Jegs in combination with a piece of steel plate and one of the "ball mounts" for a tri pod, just not sure I want to commit a camera body to only obtaining footage from one car. Depending on how frequently my buddy that races a bike melts his motor I may be able to recruit his help in moving the camera from car to car. I have another friend that also races a bike that often brings his 14 year old nephew to the track, I may be able to recruit him to move the camera from car to car. I found a recently priced camera on FB Market place. Included in the deal is the very same mic I use. Push comes to shove the mic makes it a deal that is almost to good to pass up. Problem is the guy is more than a bit flaky...he is VERY SLOW to respond to messages...or at least has become so...