My 2nd consecutive GoPro 11 mini has died in less than 2 years, so I’m looking at other options. I have no current desire for a 360 camera.
What I need is an action camera with good stabilization and for it to work when I turn it on. The smaller and lighter it is, the better. I don’t need 4k video I’d still be fine with 1080 for smaller file size.
The DJI Osmo 4 is the offering I’m considering as a move away from GoPro. Anyone have experience using. DJI in a karting setting? How did it hold up to the vibrations?
Or should I just accept that about a year is all I can expect an action camera to survive in a karting environment?
That’s odd. I have yet to have one die other than blunt force trauma.
The insta 360 ace pro 2 is imminent. This will likely outpace the Osmo and Gopro since it will be new.
Both osmo and insta360 are well regarded.
I have some footage from Ethan of that little cam Kenny uses and it is very convenient. Small and has a cute mount system that is nice on visor.
Personally I find that 1080 is not good enough but I like to watch the videos and make them pretty. For a data tool where all that doesn’t matter, maybe one of those little ones would work.
Here’s the footage. It was shot 1080 and then up scaled. The image quality is ass compared to my 4k stuff. It’s 1080 tho it can shoot 4k. Not sure if the softness and low contrast is dirty cam, resolution or what. But it’s a tiny unit.
Little insta cam (not the ace pro)
Hero 12
Insta360 GO
Insta 360 Ace Pro
Osmo Action 5 pro
The insta360 do much better than GoPro in low light. I imagine also the Osmo.
One thing to consider with GoPro is paying the annual fee and a) unlimited cloud upload space for camera footage which uploads automatically when on WiFi and plugged in, b) discounts on cams and accessories on GoPro store, and c) 2x a year cam replacement for 99 bucks. Even if you squish it.
We have tried the dji osmo action 4 directly mounted to seat struct with Odenthal damper mount. It does not like the vibration and shutoffs during recording. It you mount it on your helmet, it will work fine. Osmo and all newer gopro has removable batteries which does not like vibrations, we actually went back to a Gopro 7 which has a integrated battery. Insta 360 go2 will probably be a better choice IMO.
I have a DJI Action 2 with the power combo. It’s works great, havent had any weird experiences. If you don’t want the power combo (which has a little screen) it can run with just the camera portion (if size and weight are an issue) and stream to your phone.
Many many tracks do not allow helmet mounts. If you mount helmet, lots of cameras work well. If you mount to the kart frame, lots of cameras struggle. We have tried a couple cheapo units and they don’t have good enough video due to vibration. We have also tried 2 newer GoPros, both had random shutdowns when mounted on chassis due to battery vibration. I tried making the batteries fit tighter, but it makes the hard to remove. We also tried the vibration isolator mounts from Odenthal, still experiencing shutdowns.
Finally went to an old school tiny GoPro session with internal battery, works much better. Going to look at smarty cam if budget allows.
Thank you for the feedback. I should have noted before that I’m not mounting to a helmet as it’s not allowed with most orgs I run with.
I can get another 11 mini for $99 which is probably the best move but I’m just annoyed as hell with GoPro at the moment. I actually think the non-removable battery is the issue with this camera as I still have an older 9 I use for my son that just keeps on ticking. With the integrated battery if you let it fully die it then won’t want to charge or come back online and from there it never seems to work the same.
As an update on my choice I went with the new hero 4k since Gro said they couldn’t give me another 11mini.
The good:
it’s small, functional, and easy to use.
One-button operation
it hasn’t done any freezing or had file issues like some of the older cameras except if the battery dies.
The bad:
battery life is only ok. If you’re not fully charged at the beginning of a day or accidentally leave it on after a session then you’re not going to make a full race day and that’s when the non-replaceable battery becomes annoying.
no adjustable video settings. You get what the camera does and that’s it
this is the big one for me, the in-camera stabilization isn’t as good as past cameras! Gro tells you that you’re supposed to use their software to increase the stabilization while editing, BUT you have to pay for a Gro subscription to use that service! Well I’m already a subscriber, and I used it, and it STILL SUCKS. Now, the videos aren’t trash and still very usable, but it’s still really frustrating which I think will finally drive me to try another brand when it’s time to upgrade.
If folks have a MyChron, why don’t you go with a SmartyCam? The integrated data and analysis is worth the extra money IMHO. You also get all the data on the video, so you can see speed, RPM, G forces, predictive time, lap time, etc.
The first gen smarty cams were definitely behind the curve on video quality and digital stabilization compared to the GoPro. Fine for doing personal driving review, but definitely less impressive if you were looking to make clips to show your friends or generate promo material.
From what I’ve seen, they’ve gotten better, but are still paying catch up to get the ultra-smooth, great color footage that GoPro has
Like Elliot said, I think a lot of people were turned off by having to pay a lot of money for the SmartyCam, but it was a crap camera. After that I guess I’ve never taken a serious look at them again as an option.
I should look again for my son as the data overlay would be nice. For myself when I’m pulling data it’s typically to compare to my brother so SmartyCam has less value there.
Yeah the small one has the stabilization done in the app. Are you sure you need a sub? The app is free.
I am not sure if Gopro Player (desktop) supports.
And yeah, despite the awesomeness of the data integration of the smarty cam, the actual camera is hot garbage for the money. Way way way behind the curve.
@Kutschca the word I’m getting is while the workflow of having to import to quik for stabilization is annoying, the “post” stabilization is better than hypersmooth in camera.
Since you are a subscriber you do have access to the stabilization on the desktop app: GoPro player.
GoPro Quik App:
Automatic Stabilization: The Quik app automatically applies Hypersmooth stabilization when you upload and play footage from compatible GoPro cameras.
**No In-App Purchase Needed:**Hypersmooth stabilization in the Quik app is free to use.
GoPro Player App (Desktop):
HyperSmooth Pro:
The GoPro Player app supports HyperSmooth Pro, a more advanced stabilization feature, but requires a separate in-app purchase.
I didn’t use the Quick app on my phone, but used the player app on desktop. I found the post hypersmoothing to first add a fisheye type of distortion to the video. Then after figuring out how to minimize that, it still just seemed to crop the edges of the video without much real stabilization.
I’ll have to cut some smaller clips to compare with and without, but we’re racing the next 3 weekends so spare time will be hard to find.
