GoPro Hero

A while back I thought adding a dash cam to my vehicle would be a good idea. I see more distracted drivers every day and I live in a no fault state meaning that as far as accidents go unless someone is clearly in the wrong each party is liable for their own damages. I tried a highly rated conventional dash cam (see my review on the absolutely unreliable Falcon Zero) but it didn't work consistently and sometimes not at all. We came as close as could be to getting in a head on collision when another driver, talking on his cell phone veered into my lane and we missed by inches and when the Falcon didn't record it (even though it was on and appeared to be) I realized it's time to move on. So I thought, just about every video I see on YouTube is shot with a GoPro. I did a little research and found many videos posted by people who are using it as a dash cam. I bought the original GoPro Hero shown here. It was actually $10 less than the Falcon Zero and it's 100% reliable. Sure the GoPro Hero has been revised several times since this was originally released but 5 megapixels of 1080 video at 30 frames per second is great for a dash cam. The GoPro Hero is durable, can stand up to heat/cold extreme temps while sitting in a car outside for extended periods of time and at $129 it was cheaper than the Falcon or most others and it isn't a $500 GoPro 4 that I'd be nervous about leaving in my car in the first place. Here is some information that should be helpful if you decide to use this as a dash cam. - There isn't an auto on feature or motion detector so in my opinion the only down side is you need to be OK with turning the camera on and off each time you drive. No biggie I got used to it within a day or two. - There is however an internal battery that I'm finding gives me 2.5 - 3 hours of use (couldn't find any dash cams with this feature) - You can buy a USB to mini USB long cable and car adapter and continuously power it - Don't pay a lot of money buying a GoPro branded windshield mount. You can find several aftermarket ones like I did for $10 or less - If you hang it from the windshield it will be upside down but you can change the video recording orientation so videos appear normal (this is a one time setting change) - You'll want to install the skeleton back cover which is included (not waterproof and exposes the USB port) which is fine for use where you won't be coming in contact with water. I found that also removing the O-ring from skeleton cover allows more sound into the microphone so you can hear music, conversations, engine roar etc... without it all are muffled, which might be desirable for those only wanting to really capture video or don't mind the sound being low volume - You'll also want to disable the indicator light on the front of the camera (again a one time setting change) that flashes when the camera is recording as it will likely reflect off the windshield especially at night. There is a rear indicator light that basically let's you know it's recording which I haven't observed it interfering with the video - Lining it up can be a bit of a challenge as there isn't a rear LCD display (to show you what's being recorded) but I actually like this. Most other dash cams do have a rear LCD display but I found that distracting while driving. I found the best way to line this up is to keep it mounted high and pitched up slightly, else you'll have some dashboard and upper part of your hood in the video. What I did was put it in picture mode and snap a series of pictures taking note which position my adjustable mount was in for each. I came inside, uploaded the pics to my computer and found the one that worked best and set my mount adjustments permanently to that position. - Simply plugging the camera into my MAC causes iphoto to open and upload all pictures. Works wonderfully, no specific software needed to import like you do with other cameras. - I also bought a 2nd 32GB micro SD card and I'm finding it's easier to swap cards when I want to upload pics instead of dismounting the camera. Not that the latter is difficult, just my preference. By the way, 32GB is the largest card this will take but can record about 4-5 hours of video. - Records very well at day and at night. I've even been on some country roads with no street lights and just my head lights alone were enough to basically capture video that appears to be what I'm seeing when driving. -The camera also comes with two mounts that do allow you to mount it right side up. They are adhesive mounts that aren't going to work well on a car dash and my car is leased so didn't want to take a chance there but if you search Amazon for GoPro accessories you'll find many and I'm sure there are alternate ways of mounting the camera as well. I hope this was helpful. Again I can't emphasize enough what a good, durable and reliable camera this is and if you can live with manually turning it on and off I personally think it's superior to any other purpose built dash cam (at least consumer grade) on the market in the same price range.

Awesome product! Simply amazing for how cheep it is. Yes the best you can do is 1080P @30FPS, which does suck sometimes if you do auto racing you can notice it a bit (if your eyes are trained to 60FPS or higher [gaming]). The camera itself is awesome! Green lights look GREEN! I made a test video and someone thought I bought a Hero 4. I think I do want to upgrade eventually BUT for my dashcam/ fun camera it is amazing bang for buck! Highly recommend trying this to see if you want to invest much much more. The drawbacks: The battery lasts ~~2 hours? which sucks considering that you can record 4 hours 44 minutes 1080P @30FPS. For some reason when you record in 720P @60FPS it does not let you record longer? I may just be over thinking it but it should record longer... If you are going to use this as a dashcam like I do most of the time I'd recommend using the voice case and get a USB adapter and extender for your car. This is awesome, but being limited by your battery and not being able to change it does suck. The actual camera does not come out of the housing the only thing you can do is change the backdoor (pro tip! leave the doors [hehe the doors] where you will not loose them! I lost my waterproof backdoor and had to order the floating backdoor to get a new waterproof backdoor{side side note, the floating backdoor has a hero3/3+ backdoor, BUT does come with a smaller door no clue why this is done like that but that is your replacement waterproof backdoor}) So all in all Picture quality: 8/10 For the price of this vs the quality you get the video does lack because of the low FPS but it is tolerable. Quality: 9/10 because, The top clip feels a little.... untrustworthy... but should not be a problem at all. Price: 10/10 For the Price and the quality it really is well made, waterproof, and gives you an amazing entry level camera without digging into your pockets. Usability: 7/10 (depending on your usage) I am able to mount this wherever I want, all you need to do is snap it in an adapter! But being limited by your battery does hurt this very much. Lasting appeal: 6.5/10 Although I say how well it is, eventually that 1080P is going to look bad and the frame rate will bother you (did from day one for me!) BUT! If you treat your technology right, you may be able to give this to your kid, even though it will most likely make you feel so behind on technology and "uncool" Overall 8/10 Being limited to battery does hurt this so much, along with the limitation to 32GB of storage and only 30FPS @1080 This does stick out like a soar thumb just as a warning, This is primarily my dash cam and people just stare at it like you are screaming at them through the window, BUT! being so obvious people rage less knowing that they are being recorded and will not get away with lying to the cops trying to get a "juvenile delinquent's" license revoked. I hope you enjoyed reading and this helps you in your decision. :3

Basic GoPro. No screen and few features but set it and forget it. Use it a lot at the rink to record half ice sets.

This product from GoPro is simply amazing and excellent on taking portrait photographs aswell. The horizontal levelling is the most amazing features on this Hero 9 as all our videos improved.

excelente equipo y condiciones muy recomendable

This is just a great piece of kit. Easy to use. Recorded some fantastic footage. I mounted it on top of a motorcycle helmet for a motorcycle tour. It was a good choice I now have some marvellous footage of a great holiday. Downside battery life not great and it is a pity it won't support a larger memory card. The photo I have posted was accidentally taken when I was looking to see if I had selected the video mode.

SanDisk製のマイクロSDカード（SanDisk microSDHC Ultra 80MB/s 32GB UHS-I SDSQUNC-032G Class10 SD変換アダプター付属 サンディスク 海外パッケージ品 [並行輸入品]）使用で不具合が発生しましたが、別のカメラ（FS-SDVF9）で使用していたamazon限定のマイクロSDカード（Transcend microSDHCカード 32GB Class10）を使用すれば、録画失敗などの不具合はなくなりました。 GoProの最新機種との比較では、画質面では劣りますが、自分の使用用途（オートバイ用のドライブレコーダー）では機能面も含めて十分でした。