It’s been a while since I have posted about some interesting gadgets, and I happen to have come across a few that are post worthy! So here goes.
Having driven the MINI around for the last few months, and being a part of the DC Metro MINI club, I REALLY enjoy my car. Many of the club owners like to make videos of their drives using the GoPro brand cameras. Being a camera type guy, I thought I would check one out and have some fun. So here is my pro/con list
Pro:
- Light weight – Very small for just the camera and easy to pocket.
- TONS of attachments (I got the Motor-sport version)
- Easy to use – Menus are quick and easy
- Cool Wide Angle – Gets everything in the shot
- Good Quality (Not great, but good) – Auto adjustment of speed and ISO does oddly in low light
Con:
- Over Simplified – It would be great if there were a few more options and configurations.
- Low light sucks – In low light it ramps up the ISO a lot so there is some significant grain. But it’s not really meant for low light so….
- Ball Joint mount would rock. – All of the mounts are pivot one way, you can add pivot points in, but it increases vibration.
Overall, I like it. It is currently mounted behind my rear view mirror and is nearly invisible to my FOV while driving.
This ties into another gadget I picked up. The OBDII adapter for Blue-Tooth. This is a chip that plugs into the data-port on my MINI (and any car after 1996) and provides all sorts of information on real time data from the engine to fault codes. I connect to it using my Android phone and an app Called Torque.
Now I just need to know what all that data actually means! (I am still learning).
Now, how does this all come together? Well, there is another android app called aLapRecorder HD. This connects to the OBDII chip and then can record all of that data for a specific drive. I can then output that data into a format that can be overlayed on to the GoPro video.
I will be using this for future drives out with the MINI to record the results. Especially the upcoming MINI’s on The Dragon event. If you have any questions about the above gadgets, please feel free to ask!
