Go Pro cams on MRR advice


cowenox

cowenox

New Member
I recently looked at Go Pro helmet cams for shooting Model RR video in HD with a better DOF than my Sony A55 SLR shooting video. I almost bought one but noticed JVC and several others make some even smaller. Does anyone have any experience with these cameras? Some seem small enough to put on a flatcar and get through HO scale tunnels.
 
I almost bought a GoPro Hero4 when they came out as they were small enough to mount to a flatcar and run around the layout, but the price scared me off. The current smallest GoPro (as far as I can tell) is the Hero11 mini. Looking at the pics online, I would say it too big to fit in my tunnels.

A couple of years ago I picked up a "Key-Fob" camera off Amazon for $5.00. We'll just say that I got what I paid for. :rolleyes: There are certainly some good options out there. You just have to be careful with your purchase.
 
I use this little cam for on board camera. Sony HDRAS20
I made the cam holder out of styrene sheet material and just use duct tape to hold it on the flat car.
Also a clip of what the video looks like. Has sterio audio pickup as well. There are apps on line you can use to control it with a smart phone. The cam provides a wifi cast of what it's looking at but records onto an on board SD card. The cam can record right side up or upside down.

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IMG_6929 (2020_11_17 02_20_59 UTC).JPG



 
I 3d printed a custom car for holding my Insta360 X. Unfortunately I'm still in the process of refining it. It has shown potential. I'm willing to share my design if anyone is interested I'll start a separate thread. The "Insta360 Go also has some potential but I don't have any experience with it.
 
Well for me, I find Youtube videos made with a camera on a flatcar or whatever with the "rider/passenger" view to be very boring. They tend to get old real fast for me. To watch a train go through the inside of a tunnel with nothing but random bench work and wires running in different directions just doesn't thrill me. I would much rather see a loco traveling on the rails while moving or from a fixed perspective. I guess I like the "railfan" type of viewing better as opposed to the "in Cab" view. But that is just my 2 cents worth.

John
 
westtexjohn said:
Well for me, I find Youtube videos made with a camera on a flatcar or whatever with the "rider/passenger" view to be very boring. They tend to get old real fast for me. To watch a train go through the inside of a tunnel with nothing but random bench work and wires running in different directions just doesn't thrill me. I would much rather see a loco traveling on the rails while moving or from a fixed perspective. I guess I like the "railfan" type of viewing better as opposed to the "in Cab" view. But that is just my 2 cents worth.

John
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I enjoy the cab view videos. Not the ones that have the cab interiors overlaying the video. That’s annoying. I like looking at the track work, switches and ballasting. But that’s just me.
 
I'm in the camp that likes cab-ride videos. I do however agree with John that longer tunnels and helixes are quite boring. rgeiter, yours looks pretty good to me. I look forward to seeing an updated one to see how the scenery and stuff has progressed.
 
santafewillie said:
I'm in the camp that likes cab-ride videos. I do however agree with John that longer tunnels and helixes are quite boring. rgeiter, yours looks pretty good to me. I look forward to seeing an updated one to see how the scenery and stuff has progressed.
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Hopefully I can get that done between Christmas and New Years while I’m on vacation.
 
I guess it boils down to, you are a lover of scenery and structures, watching switches come and go, seeing the winding track work ahead, seeing the station/platforms go by, hills, running through bridges as you command your locomotive.
Or you like that vantage point/rail fan view. For me I like watching a steam loco pulling a string of cars, rounding a curve watching the loco slowly make it over a curved trestle, side rods and all the side linkage whirring around......its a mechanical work of art. Or a loco passing through a girder bridge and disappearing into a tunnel, soon to reappear on the other side. I can then imagine myself sitting in the engineers seat with all that power pounding the rails , the throttle in one hand and the whistle cord in the other.
No matter which school of thought or preference you may have, it is ALL good. Nothing like model railroading. Enjoy it while we can.

John
 
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