basic newbie questions on equipment

[bluejeep]

I have been offroading since 97 but now want to start documenting my adventures on the trail, just for my own viewing, not official publishing or anything. Got a couple of questions about the basics. Typically I am on the trail independently, no passenger and not in a group
Budget $200 - 300, unless I need to raise that just to make it worthwhile. Having said that however, I feel a $1500 follow-me drone is beyond what I need
I do have a nice sanyo pocket camera so the trail camera does not need to serve double duty for pics around the campsite. This sanyo does not take videos any longer than 30 seconds tho, so I need something else

? So for recording the time driving on the trail.......

Action cam or dash cam or smart phone
mount inside or outside
If mount outside, would you recommend near the driver side outer mirror, or closer to the front of the vehicle, or on the roof or ?
solid mount or gimbal
remote control (via smart phone or handheld remote) or not
buy used equipment or is that not safe
are there any cameras specifically geared to vehicle based off road travel
An option might be something I could easily remove and put on a tripod to have an external capture of driving thru a specific section (ie - little sluice on the rubicon)

I probably don't know what I don't know so if there are other questions I should be asking, feel free to school me

thanks

 

[v_man]

I find a GoPro works well for my off road video needs. They are easy to mount in various positions, angles, perspectives etc. They're pretty robust as well. This might be pushing your budget but I recommend some sort of handheld stabilizer. You can get a mechanical gimbal style one or a battery powered stabilizer. I have the latter and it has really improved my videos. This would be for handheld shots (obviously) as opposed to mounted-on-vehicle shots. There is nothing more irritating than shaky and unstable shots.

Next best advice I'd share is just get out and start filming. See what shots are interesting, there really is an artistic element involved with taking a bunch of off road clips and turning them into a story. Here's a vid from the Dusy-Ershim trail...

 

[rcharrette]

I just picked up a new GoPro hero 6 and it actually can shoot the normal (super wide) as well as in linear (no fish eye look) and in some modes it now has a zoom. It's a fairly capable little unit. I'd start with one of those and buy some mounts and accessories for it. When making video's it's best to get multiple angles to keep it interesting. If you start to get more serious down the road then a good camera and Adobe Lightroom will take your pictures to the next level for sure. But i'd just start with the hero 6 as a good all rounder.