Best Locations for GoPro placement?

"oldestyoungn" (oldestyoungn) 05/30/2014 at 11:17 • Filed to: None

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Going to autocross for the first time tomorrow and I have yet a chance to really play with the GoPro and experiment. Anyone have spots they've found to work almost every time?

Car is a Focus ST if that helps. I'll probably just go outside, scream that my phone won't live monitor because the GoPro WiFi doesn't have internet access, and inevitably drop the camera scratching paint.

Brian, The Life of > oldestyoungn 05/30/2014 at 11:25

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For autox, on the fender behind the right front tire seems to be the popular spot.

MPA > oldestyoungn 05/30/2014 at 11:27

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If you're going to stick it on a painted area, make sure it's CLEAN or the camera will fall off.

I usually place mine on the glass for that reason - usually at the top of the windshield - but putting it in a location that allows you to see the front wheel steering would be cool. Maybe on the driver's side rear door glass as well, so you can see yourself steering.

BoulderZ > oldestyoungn 05/30/2014 at 11:32

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At track days, I've mounted mine on the strut brace in the hatch, looking forward between the seats. In the Z, this shows the full windshield view, plus a lot of what I'm doing in the driver's seat, for figuring out later what the change/improve. I've seen some decent results from strapping the camera to the front passenger headrest, too, though it's more difficult to balance forward/driver views. Neither are the most exciting views, though. I'm testing out some different setups for sound, and drove to work yesterday with the camera mounted on the little quarter window, outside, just behind the driver's window. For driver action, you can only see what I'm doing with the wheel, but the view is much more visually interesting, and the sound was better. I'm still going to get an external mic with a "dead cat" cover for the track day, though. Wind noise above 25 mph is too much.

oldestyoungn > Brian, The Life of 05/30/2014 at 11:35

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Ok.

oldestyoungn > MPA 05/30/2014 at 11:36

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I actually learned the dirt is bad lesson the hard way. Camera fell off on the freeway onto a downhill super busy road. How it survived I still to this day do not know.

I'll definitely try the rear glass idea.

oldestyoungn > BoulderZ 05/30/2014 at 11:37

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Definitely doing to try a in car view. It'll be interesting to see how me and my dad compare.

MPA > oldestyoungn 05/30/2014 at 11:44

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same happened to me in a Miata - with the top down I wanted to mount it right behind the top. Pulled over, mounted it, accelerated and it fell off immediately. Thankfully I had pulled over on the highway to place it, so it remained on the side of the highway, but it took me about 5 minutes to get back to the spot lol. Scratched the case, but that's about it.

Jayhawk Jake > oldestyoungn 05/30/2014 at 11:50

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First of all Go Pro WiFi doesn't need internet access: you connect to the go pro directly.

Secondly, put it wherever. Doesn't really matter. You might want to put it within reach so you can start/stop recording between runs. I put it inside on the upper passenger side corner of the windshield and was pretty pleased, and I stuck it to my driver side rear door window and liked it as well. I don't think there's anywhere terrible to put it so long as it's facing forward.

BoulderZ > oldestyoungn 05/30/2014 at 11:58

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In-car, be sure to use the skeleton back. For me, the sound is still muffled but much better than with the solid back. A full skeleton case is probably even better (I'm ordering mine today), if you have one or can get one in time.

Santiago of Escuderia Boricua > oldestyoungn 05/30/2014 at 12:27

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I like the drivers side rear window facing forward. You can see the course, front tire, and steering inputs

oldestyoungn > Santiago of Escuderia Boricua 05/30/2014 at 12:57

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High or low on the window?

oldestyoungn > BoulderZ 05/30/2014 at 12:58

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Haven't seen/heard of the full skeleton case. Definitely going to check that out.

oldestyoungn > Jayhawk Jake 05/30/2014 at 13:00

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My wonderful Galaxy S4 decides because the GoPro's WiFi has no internet access it won't connect. Very annoying.

Luckily I have the handy WiFi remote and I plan on charging inbetween runs for short bursts so battery shouldn't bother me. (Then again if there's not many people I might not have much time inbetween.)

oldestyoungn > MPA 05/30/2014 at 13:02

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I didn't get back for 5 days and luckily no street cleaner came by, no one ran it over, and only the metal around the camera lens part of the case got scratched. (Badly I might add.)

I wonder if even if some ran it over... could it have survived a-ok? I've seen those ones of them falling out of the sky.

EDIT: Nevermind I found a few different videos showing they were fine.

BoulderZ > oldestyoungn 05/30/2014 at 13:44

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It's basically just a standard case, but with cutouts for all the ports. It also allows for less sound damping around the mic port, generally. Of course, with all that openness on the case, it would probably be nothing but wind noise if it was mounted outside the car. Inside, though, might be just the ticket. Link to them on GoPro's site: http://gopro.com/camera-accesso…

Santiago of Escuderia Boricua > oldestyoungn 05/30/2014 at 14:14

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My FR-S has tiny rear windows. Play with it, probably lower would be better. The live preview on the gopro app is really useful

oldestyoungn > Santiago of Escuderia Boricua 05/30/2014 at 17:20

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If only my phone would decide the GoPro's WiFi is worthy of connecting to.