GoPro Hero outlet and car charger question. at DVinfo.net

Jeff Troiano · December 19th, 2010, 05:35 PM

I just ordered a GoPro Hero (motor sports package). I was thinking about ordering the wall and car charger, when I noticed they are simply a piece that the USB cable will plug into, then those into their respective outlets. I have an iPhone, and it uses a similar thing for home and car charging. I was wondering if any knew, could I use my car charger (USB port that plugs into lighter outlet), that charges my iPhone, by plugging in my gopro's USB cable. Will it charge, or blow up the camera? Same thing with iPhone wall charger?

Anyone tried this?

Thanks,
Jeff

Greg Bellotte · December 20th, 2010, 12:18 AM

Any USB charger works. I use the gopro cable with an ipod brick, and also a motorola bluetooth charger that has the same mini usb plug on it. any port in a storm...standards are a good thing!

Randy Sanchez · March 17th, 2011, 03:04 PM

does the gopro hero record right up until it fills the SD card if it is plugged into power ? I am thinking about getting one to use indoors so the battery isnt as important for my situation but i need it to be able to record for up to 6 hours non stop if i can at 1080p. Im not even sure if a 32gig card will hold that much ? But i need considerably more than 2 hours..

Also if it does record off power do you still need the battery present in the camera or will it work without it ?

Jeff Troiano · March 17th, 2011, 09:05 PM

The gopro site gives recording times, for 32 gig cards. At 1080p, your not going to get 6 hours, but you will at 30p720.

HD HERO Naked Camera: #1 Wearable, Waterproof HD Sports Video Camera

All that info is on left side, down a little bit. You would also have to get te skeleton housing (if you need to use the mounts). It has the side cutout, where the connectors are, so you can plug the USB (charging cable) into the camera.

Randy Sanchez · March 17th, 2011, 10:24 PM

would you presume id get more recording time on 32GB card as PAL instead of NTSC ? 5 frames less a sec is 16% difference.. If that was the case id get just over 5 hours as PAL and 4 hrs 21min on NTSC.. 5 hours would maybe be enough for what i want..

That page doesnt really answer my other question though, which is whether or not the battery has to be present in order to use the camera on power and if it will continue recording to the SD card after the battery has charged.. The way its worded on the site they say you can "use the camera while its charging" but it doesnt give any indication that it will operate independant of the battery.. I would think it would be just making sure..

I also wanted to make sure if its running on power that it will fill the 32gb card in one long recording and not cut out for any reason..

Kevin McRoberts · March 18th, 2011, 02:24 PM

Yes, it'll work fine. I have a stupidly long and boring recording of a drive to VA Beach to prove it.

EDIT: Actually, not sure whether it'll just fill up the card and leave you with a useable file. May want to test by filling up an old 2GB card and seeing if it closes the file once capacity is reached.

Ian Newland · April 2nd, 2011, 09:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Randy Sanchez

That page doesnt really answer my other question though, which is whether or not the battery has to be present in order to use the camera on power and if it will continue recording to the SD card after the battery has charged.. The way its worded on the site they say you can "use the camera while its charging" but it doesnt give any indication that it will operate independant of the battery.. I would think it would be just making sure..

I also wanted to make sure if its running on power that it will fill the 32gb card in one long recording and not cut out for any reason..

1. Yes you can record until the card is full on external power, however the battery must be fully charged before you start. The correct sequence with a full battery is to turn the camera on then plugin the external power. The LCD will blank out then reappear after 2 seconds, then you can press record.

2. The GoPro will record a 3.8Gb file the close that file and automatically start another and continue to do this until the card is full. So you will end up with multiple 3.8Gb files which can be seamlessly joined in your editor. (it cannot record files longer than 3.8Gb due to the FAT32 limitation of the card format)

Just one warning - the Gopro will get warm in the case if left for extended periods, if water/dust is no issue, leave the rear door ajar or use the open back accessory which has openings designed for better audio recordings.
Hope that helps.

Cheers

March 17th, 2011, 03:04 PM	#3
Randy Sanchez Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Sydney, Australia Posts: 109	Re: GoPro Hero outlet and car charger question. does the gopro hero record right up until it fills the SD card if it is plugged into power ? I am thinking about getting one to use indoors so the battery isnt as important for my situation but i need it to be able to record for up to 6 hours non stop if i can at 1080p. Im not even sure if a 32gig card will hold that much ? But i need considerably more than 2 hours.. Also if it does record off power do you still need the battery present in the camera or will it work without it ?

March 17th, 2011, 09:05 PM	#4
Jeff Troiano Major Player Join Date: May 2003 Location: Nashville TN Posts: 480	Re: GoPro Hero outlet and car charger question. The gopro site gives recording times, for 32 gig cards. At 1080p, your not going to get 6 hours, but you will at 30p720. HD HERO Naked Camera: #1 Wearable, Waterproof HD Sports Video Camera All that info is on left side, down a little bit. You would also have to get te skeleton housing (if you need to use the mounts). It has the side cutout, where the connectors are, so you can plug the USB (charging cable) into the camera.

March 17th, 2011, 10:24 PM	#5
Randy Sanchez Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Sydney, Australia Posts: 109	Re: GoPro Hero outlet and car charger question. would you presume id get more recording time on 32GB card as PAL instead of NTSC ? 5 frames less a sec is 16% difference.. If that was the case id get just over 5 hours as PAL and 4 hrs 21min on NTSC.. 5 hours would maybe be enough for what i want.. That page doesnt really answer my other question though, which is whether or not the battery has to be present in order to use the camera on power and if it will continue recording to the SD card after the battery has charged.. The way its worded on the site they say you can "use the camera while its charging" but it doesnt give any indication that it will operate independant of the battery.. I would think it would be just making sure.. I also wanted to make sure if its running on power that it will fill the 32gb card in one long recording and not cut out for any reason..

March 18th, 2011, 02:24 PM	#6
Kevin McRoberts Major Player Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Charlottesville, VA Posts: 700	Re: GoPro Hero outlet and car charger question. Yes, it'll work fine. I have a stupidly long and boring recording of a drive to VA Beach to prove it. EDIT: Actually, not sure whether it'll just fill up the card and leave you with a useable file. May want to test by filling up an old 2GB card and seeing if it closes the file once capacity is reached.

December 19th, 2010, 05:35 PM	#1
Jeff Troiano Major Player Join Date: May 2003 Location: Nashville TN Posts: 480	GoPro Hero outlet and car charger question. I just ordered a GoPro Hero (motor sports package). I was thinking about ordering the wall and car charger, when I noticed they are simply a piece that the USB cable will plug into, then those into their respective outlets. I have an iPhone, and it uses a similar thing for home and car charging. I was wondering if any knew, could I use my car charger (USB port that plugs into lighter outlet), that charges my iPhone, by plugging in my gopro's USB cable. Will it charge, or blow up the camera? Same thing with iPhone wall charger? Anyone tried this? Thanks, Jeff

December 20th, 2010, 12:18 AM	#2
Greg Bellotte Major Player Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: SLC, UT Posts: 291	Any USB charger works. I use the gopro cable with an ipod brick, and also a motorola bluetooth charger that has the same mini usb plug on it. any port in a storm...standards are a good thing!