Hi all, I am wondering if any of you have used a dash cam (video with microphone) or similar, for driving at night often at slow speeds up to 40- 60kph to spot birds? Instead of holding my video camera or phone, it would be nice to have something mounted that could pick up things on the track, enough for ID purposes at least. If you can recommend any I would appreciate it if you could please let me know as there seems to be a few out there and not sure what distance most cover or if some brands are better than others? Many thanks Carla Bellawongarah, NSW
Birding-Aus mailing list
Birding-Aus@birding-aus.org
To change settings or unsubscribe visit:
http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org
Hi Carla, Like David I have a GoPro. My wife thought that I would spend a few weeks wearing a back-to-front baseball cap then the fad would be over. However I use it regularly with good results. Sometimes I mount it on a phone suction cup bracket on the windscreen. I have captured emus & such but the view is wide (even in ‘Narrow” mode) so that smaller fauna are not that well seen. I use 1080 x 50fps to maximise resolution. It is quite light sensitive so good highbeam or LED torch will be sufficient for night use. I have also mounted it on front of car with spotlight on outback trip, but no Night Parrots seen. There are half-price Chinese knockoffs available but I don’t think any of these has the iPhone WiFi App which dramatically enhances the facility of the GoPro & makes it much more useable. It is so much easier to change setting through the App, & it functions as a remote control & viewfinder. So I also use it mounted on back of the car to hook up the camper trailer on my own, or to back the trailer. So much more marriage friendly arrangement! (The picture can be flipped vertically to suit the mounting arrangement but unfortunately not horizontally as would be useful as a general rear view camera.) And also the more obvious uses such as with the family at the beach, lowered into Powerful Owl’s hollows, & clipped to the birdbath. The waterproof case has been proven to be Satin Bowerbird proof.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZw0mQwp9uw&feature=youtu.be If used WiFi remotely, battery life is about 50 mins. The generic batteries & charger are cheap so I swap batteries rather than opt for the OEM larger battery & case option. The waterproof case attenuates sound recording but an open back for the case is an included option for non-weather proof use. Chris Chris Charles +61412911184 Licole Monopods http://www.licole.com.au
Birding-Aus mailing list
Birding-Aus@birding-aus.org
To change settings or unsubscribe visit:
http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org
I have a GoPro. I have hardly used it but other folk get very good results (not necessarily for birds though). The advantages of GoPros are that they have a water and dust resistant case and can be mounted on the outside of the vehicle (controlled by smartphone). I am sure other folk will have greater expertise with them. I am apprehensive about driving at night in the outback and only do so if there’s no alternative. Even at 40-60kph, you will have very little time to react if a kangaroo, or something larger, appears in front of the car. Cheers David On Sun, Apr 12, 2015 at 6:37 PM, Ian & Carla Jackett < bellawongarah@bigpond.com> wrote:
Birding-Aus mailing list
Birding-Aus@birding-aus.org
To change settings or unsubscribe visit:
http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org